Phillip Carl Jablonski
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Phillip Carl Jablonski (January 3, 1946 – December 27, 2019) was an American
serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
convicted of killing five women in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
and
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
between 1978 and 1991.


Early life

Jablonski's alcoholic father beat and sexually abused his wife and children. Jablonski met his first wife, Alice McGowan, in high school. He enlisted in the Army in 1966 and was sent overseas to fight in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. They married in 1968 when he returned to the U.S. While living in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, Jablonski became sexually violent. During sex he put a pillow over McGowan's face and attempted to suffocate her. On several occasions, he
strangled Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hanging ...
her until she was unconscious. After McGowan left him, Jablonski became involved with Jane Sanders, who he met in November 1968. He raped Sanders on their first date, which she did not report. She became pregnant and they moved to California in July 1969, after Jablonski left the military. On one occasion, while having sex, Sanders wanted to stop. Jablonski pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot her if she did not continue. He hit her with the butt of the gun and she passed out. When she regained consciousness, he was raping her. She left him in 1972.


Criminal convictions

In late 1972, Jablonski raped a female acquaintance at knifepoint in her home, while her infant child was in the room. The woman escaped and ran to a neighbor's house, who called the police. Jablonski was arrested and convicted for the rape. In February 1977, Jablonski met Linda Kimball. By August they were living together in
Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...
. Kimball gave birth to their daughter in December 1977. On the evening of July 6, 1978, Kimball's mother Isobel Pahls, who lived nearby, was awakened by Jablonski. He told her he had come to rape her but did not go through with it because when he looked at her face "all he could see was Linda's face." Pahls managed to escape to a neighbor's house and did not report the incident to police. A few days after the incident, Kimball left Jablonski and she and their daughter moved in with Pahls. On the morning of July 16, 1978, Kimball returned to the apartment she had shared with Jablonski to pick up belongings for their baby. That afternoon she was found dead inside the apartment. She had been beaten, stabbed, and strangled. Jablonski was arrested 11 days later. He served 12 years in prison for Kimball's murder; he was released on
parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
for good behavior in 1990, although in 1985 he had attempted to strangle his mother using a shoelace. Carol Spadoni met and married Jablonski in 1982, after answering a newspaper ad placed while Jablonski was serving time in prison. On April 23, 1991, Spadoni, 46, and her mother, Eva Petersen, 72, were murdered at their home in Burlingame. Spadoni was shot, suffocated with duct tape, then stabbed, while Petersen was sexually assaulted and shot. Jablonski was charged with the April 22, 1991, death of Fathyma Vann, 38, in
Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, Califo ...
. Vann was a fellow student at the local community college that Jablonski attended to satisfy conditions of his
parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
. Vann, a recently
widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...
ed mother of two teenage girls, was found shot in the head and
sexually assaulted Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
, lying naked in a shallow ditch in the Indio desert with the words "I Love
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
" carved in her back. Her body had been subjected to other mutilations including removal of her eyes and ears. On April 25, 1991, he stopped at a rest stop in
Uinta County, Wyoming Uinta County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 20,450. Its county seat is Evanston. Its south and west boundary lines abut the Utah state line. Uinta County comprises the Eva ...
and brandished a gun at Yvette Shelby. She was able to escape when he dropped the gun. She drove to the next truck stop and called police. Police questioned him about the incident but claimed that the gun had accidentally fallen out of his car as he was getting out. The officer who questioned him accepted his explanation and let him go. Jablonski was also charged with the robbery and subsequent murder of Margie Rogers, 58, in
Grand County, Utah Grand County is a county on the east central edge of the U.S. state of Utah, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 9,225. Its county seat and largest city is Moab. History Evidence of indigenous occupation up t ...
, on April 27, 1991; she and her husband owned a store on
Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 in ...
, where her body was found. Rogers had been sexually assaulted and shot twice in the head. He was apprehended on April 28, 1991, in
Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. He was found guilty of the murders and
sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. In January 2006, the
California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
upheld Jablonski's death sentence on
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
.


Death

Jablonski died on December 27, 2019, of "unknown causes" at the age of 73 in
San Quentin State Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...
in his cell.


In popular culture

*


Documentary

* Devil Among Us - Murder Diaries (Episode 5)


See all

*
List of serial killers in the United States A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jablonski, Phillip Carl 1946 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American people convicted of murder American people convicted of rape American people who died in prison custody American prisoners sentenced to death American rapists American serial killers Criminals from California Criminals from Los Angeles Criminals of the San Francisco Bay Area Male serial killers Military personnel from California People convicted of murder by California People from Joshua Tree, California Prisoners sentenced to death by California Prisoners who died in California detention San Quentin State Prison inmates Serial killers who died in prison custody Uxoricides Violence against women in the United States