On August 10th 2012 15 year old Zachary Davis bludgeoned his mother to death, whilst she slept, with a sledgehammer.
From Childhood Tragedy To Murder.
They were a happy family however tragedy struck when Zach was only 9 and his father died. In later interviews with police he claimed to not have been emotionally affected by his father’s death, however we know from multiple sources that this had a huge impact on Zach. Already the shy and quiet child, Zachary became even more withdrawn enough so his mother took him to see therapists. His brother Josh gives a description of his brother in a police interview which gives insight into his brother's personality. ‘He’s always been kinda like quiet’, ‘I guess odd’. It is clear at this point his fathers passing has had a huge emotional effect on the young boy.
By the age of 15 Zach was an outcast at school talking in a low mumble most of the time and wearing the same hoodie to school each day. We know from police evidence that Zachary had an obsession with serial killers and began to idolize them. Upon his capture police searched through his phone and found gore images along with bookmarked pages to gruesome murders. However they also found a page bookmarked which was called ‘understanding schizophrenia’ this shows he clearly had some issues which he was trying to deal with himself and had the mental capacity to try and find solutions.
In a note written by Zachary he spoke about his relationship with one of his teachers Mr Voss. ‘He’s the only person I’ve ever met that sincerely cared about me. Hell, he’s like a father to me’. This statement shows that Zachary was capable of creating friendship albeit not with people of his age. It also proves that Zarchary is capable of showing emotion, something which is later important when we come to his interviews. Further to emphasize the point of displaying emotion the police later found text messages to his mother which were pleasant and loving. In most she addressed him as sweetie or sweetheart and he responded with similar pleasantries.
On the day of the murder Zachary went to watch a movie along with his brother and mother. There were no indications of what Zachary planned to do that night with his brother describing how it was a fairly normal day for the family. Despite the seemingly normal day the night brought with it something sinister. Zachary sat in the family ‘game room’ waiting for his mother and brother to fall asleep before he could carry out his sick plan. Later on Zachary talks about how he checked on his mom and brother multiple times to ensure they were sleeping. Once he was sure they were asleep, at around 11pm, Zachary went to the basement and grabbed the sledgehammer. He then crept into his mothers room and began swinging the sledgehammer multiple times into his mothers head. He describes the only sound as the ‘wet thumping sound’ the sledgehammer made as it made contact with his mother’s head. He then checked her pulse before exiting the room and locking the door behind him. He then attempted to drag the lawn mower upstairs with the intention of emptying the fuel can in order to start a fire, this however didn’t work and Zach used a whisky bottle to set the house on fire. He told police that he was expecting his brother to die in the fire.
The fire didn’t take hold and Zachary's brother Josh was able to wake before being killed. Zach having already fled at this point, Josh immediately went to his mothers room in order to get her out of the house. When Josh came across the locked door he broke it down and was greeted with the horrifying scene. During the police interview Josh stated ‘I saw her and freaked out’. Clearly this would be a very traumatizing incident for a child of only 17 and in the interview Josh displayed signs of shock at what he had witnessed.
After murdering his mother, Zachary fled on foot and stopped at a convenience store to buy a Pepsi before continuing his ‘escape’. He was picked up by police around ten miles from his home and brought into police custody where he would give one of the most fascinating interviews of all time. We have broken down some of the key moments from the interview below.
The Police Interview.
During the interview Zachary spoke in a monotone and robotic voice never showing any emotion. At a certain point during the interview detectives questioned whether this was all an act, however when talking to his brother he confirmed that this was how he spoke most of the time ‘for as long as’ he could remember. Now let's dive into some of the shocking comments to come out of this interview.
Only a short time into the interview Zachary states ‘I killed my Mom in her sleep with a sledgehammer’. Clearly he had no intentions of denying his crime. Whilst listening to this statement it almost seems as if he was proud of this fact. Given his obsession with killers it is likely he idolized those people and this was now his chance to become like them.
The interviews then begin to ask about his brother to which he says ‘I was kinda hoping the fire would kill him’. He also follows this up with stating if he could go back he would ‘probably kill Josh with the sledgehammer too’. This is a shocking comment to make about a brother which he reportedly got along with and had a good relationship with. Again we don’t know how much of these comments are real or whether they are an attempt to make himself into an even more evil killer. A third reason for this could be his mental health issues meaning he was unable to form close relationships with anyone, even his own brother.
Following on from the comments about his brother, Zachary then stated ‘I didn’t feel anything’ when killing his mother. This portrays his lack of emotion at something as shocking as killing his own mother. Whether he actually felt nothing or was just putting on an act he was clearly devoid of enough emotion to kill his mother in cold blood with a sledgehammer.
This clip is shocking and my mouth actually came open as I listened to this one. Firstly he demonstrates how he swung the hammer but then moves on when the officer spots a stain on his pants, to which he replies ‘oh yeah this is my mother's blood’. A truly cold statement which portrays the lack of feelings this killer had. The officer then asks if he has changed his shirt to which he says yes ‘it had pieces of my mothers brain stuck to it’. Incredible. How can someone be so matter of fact when making a comment of this nature. Many people suspect he was putting on an act but I don’t think any normal person would have been able to keep an act like this going. These comments come straight from the mind of a sick and evil person.
If this comment is true then it really shows what an evil and twisted person Zachary is. I mean even committing this crime is terrible but being able to laugh whilst doing it just seems unexplainable. Many suspected this was a lie, however having watched the full interview I’m not so sure.
This is possibly one of the best clips for an insight into the mind of our killer. His laugh and proud smile when the detective says his demeanor makes him look more evil, is clear to see. He was clearly proud of the crime he had committed and the subsequent interview had only served to inflate his ego further.
In conclusion we are clearly dealing with a very sick individual who had some violent ideas that led to tragedy. Some of the questions to come out later are interesting to consider. Was this crime premeditated? Was he of sound mind when the crimes were committed? Was he really evil or just mentally ill? Most of these answers we will never know as we cannot enter the mind of Zachary Davis. The only thing that remains is that this was a horrific crime that ended a life and resulted in a teenager being sentenced to life in prison.
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