Gerald and Charlene Gallego, also known as the Love Slave Killers, were a couple who kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and tortured several young teens and adults in California, Oregon, and Nevada between 1978 and 1980. Their crimes were put to an end when the couple was finally arrested in November 1980.
Gerald Armond Gallego was born on July 17, 1946 in Sacramento, California. From a young age, Gerald had a criminal record , which included sexual assault, armed robbery, and domestic violence. To avoid prosecution for his crimes, Gerald used other names, including Stephen Feil or Stephen Styles. Before Gerald and Charlene got together, Gerald had been married 5 times, with most of those marriages only lasting about a month because Gerald was horribly abusive.
Charlene Adell Williams was born on October 10, 1956 in Stockton, California. She had a different upbringing from Gerald and was said to be a very bright and intelligent young woman. However, she began to go down the wrong path when she started using drugs and drinking in high school. Gerald and Charlene met in September of 1977 at a poker club in Sacramento, California. By the time Charlene met Gerald, she had been married and divorced twice.
By December 1977, the couple was engaged. As their relationship grew, Gerald shared with Charlene his fantasy of wanting to kidnap and have sex slaves, specifying that they had to be young girls. At first, Charlene thought this was just a dark fantasy, but it soon came to a reality. On September 11, 1978, the couple committed their first kidnapping.
The couple stopped at a mall in Sacramento and Charlene went to go look for potential victims while Gerald waited in their van. Charlene came across 17 year old Rhonda Scheffler and 16 year old Kippi Vaught and convinced them to come with her to smoke some weed. She then led the 2 girls to their van, where Gerald was waiting in the back aiming a gun at them. He then forced them to get in the van and tied them up with duct tape. Gerald and Charlene then drove the girls to Baxter, California. Once there, Gerald raped and then beat and killed both the girls with a tire iron and gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. Charlene, who was a few months pregnant at the time of these murders, was later forced to have an abortion by Gerald who didn’t want to have another kid.
About 2 weeks after this murder, Gerald learned that there was a warrant for his arrest after his 14 year old daughter from his first marriage reported that he had been sexually abusing her since she was 6. The couple then fled to Reno, Nevada and got married, with Gerald using the fake name “Stephen Feil”.
On June 24, 1979, the couple committed their second kidnapping. While at the Washoe County Fair in Reno, Nevada, the couple spotted 14 year old Brenda Judd and 13 year old Sandra Colley. Charlene then offered the girls some money if they would help her put flyers on cars in the parking lot, to which the girls agreed. They then followed Charlene to the van where Gerald was once again waiting in the back with a gun. Similar to the last time, Gerald made the girls get into the van and tied them up. He then drove to a hardware store and purchased a shovel and hammer. Gerald later made Charlene drive the car out to some isolated area while he got into the back and sexually assaulted the 2 girls.
After arriving in the deserted area, Gerald took Brenda and Sandra from the van one at a time and beat them both to death with the hammer and then buried their bodies. Brenda and Sandra’s bodies weren’t found until about 20 years later in 2000.
By September 1979, Gerald and Charlene moved backed to Sacramento, California. About 10 months after the last murders, Gerald told Charlene that he wanted another victim. On April 24, 1980, Gerald and Charlene went to a mall in Sacramento where they found Stacey Ann Redican and Karen Chipman-Twiggs who were both 17. Like the first time, Charlene asked the girls if they wanted to smoke weed, and they agreed. When Charlene brought the girls to the van, they were then forced inside and sexually assaulted by Gerald. Charlene drove the van near Lovelock, Nevada while this happened. Once they arrived, Gerald beat Stacey and Karen to death with a hammer and shovel. Their bodies were later found in July this year.
Shortly after this murder, Charlene found out she was pregnant again. In June of 1980, the couple took a trip to Gold Beach, Oregon. While driving around Gold Beach on June 6, 1980, the couple spotted 21 year old Linda Teresa Aguilar, who was visibly pregnant, hitchhiking. They offered her a ride, and she got in their van. Linda was then sexually assaulted by Gerald while Charlene drove to an isolated area. After the assault, Gerald beat her with a rock and strangled her. However, Linda’s autopsy showed that there was dirt in her mouth and lungs, meaning that Linda was most likely still alive when she was buried.
On July 17, 1980, while out at a bar called West Sacramento tavern celebrating Gerald’s birthday, the couple set their sights on the bartender 34 year old Virginia Mochel. Instead of going home after leaving the bar, the couple actually sat in their van and waited in the parking lot for Virginia to finish her shift. After Virginia locked up the bar, Gerald approached her with a gun and forced her into their van. Gerald then drove to the couple’s apartment building and he ordered Charlene to go inside while he sexually assaulted Virginia in the van. After the assault, Gerald made Charlene come back and drive the van to an isolated area. Unlike the other victims, Gerald strangled Virginia to death with a cord that was later found with Virginia’s remains.
The couple committed their last kidnapping in November 1980. In the early morning hours of November 2, 1980, after drinking, the couple went out to find new victims. Around 1 AM, they spotted 22 year old Craig Miller and his fiancé 21 year old Mary Elizabeth Sowers who were leaving a fraternity party. Gerald got out of his car and forced the couple to get into the back seat of their car while pointing a gun at then. Friends of Craig and Mary approached the car, but then it sped off with Charlene behind the wheel. The friends thought it was just a strange prank at first, but after not hearing from the couple, the friends reported this to the police and also provided the license plate number of the car.
After kidnapping the young couple, Charlene and Gerald first stopped near Bass Lake, California, where Gerald ordered Craig out of the car and shot him to death. They then drove back to their apartment, where Gerald sexually assaulted Mary before taking her to an empty field in Placer County, California, where he shot her to death as well. Both of their bodies were later found weeks later.
After the friends of Craig and Mary reported the kidnapping, the police tracked the couple down to Charlene’s parents home. Gerald tried to make an escape, but both Charlene and Gerald were arrested on November 17, 1980. Both Charlene and Gerald pled not guilty to the charges they were facing, but Charlene offered to testify against Gerald for a plea deal to reduce her sentence. Charlene’s main defense was that she never physically killed anyone and that she was a victim as well, but she was still just as guilty as Gerald regardless because she’s the one who scouted out and lured victims to Gerald.
In June 1983, Gerald was sentenced to death for the murders of Craig Miller and Mary Sowers, and in June 1984, Gerald was convicted for the murders of Karen Twiggs and Stacey Redican, but this sentenced was later overturned. By July 1997, Charlene completed her 16 year sentence and was released. Gerald later died of cancer while awaiting execution on July 18, 2002.
The crimes that this couple committed are horrifying. It’s insane that someone’s mind can be so sick and twisted to carry out such acts. Gerald and Charlene were absolute monsters. In my eyes, despite her claims Charlene was just as evil as Gerald, even if she didn’t physically harm anyone. The fact that she tried to portray herself as a victim is despicable. It’s really scary and sickening to think that there are many people out there who are capable of doing these things.
Resources-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_and_Charlene_Gallego
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