Childhood and Life before the crimes
Born in 1935 to his 20 year old Mother this led to a turbulent start to life for Jo. Eventually Jo’s father left his mother and she was forced to place Jo in foster care at the age of 2. Jo was then adopted by Stephen and Anna Kallinger, you would have that this would have been a new and happy start for Jo. His parents however were cold and often abused him both physically and emotionally. They only displayed anger towards Jo and treated him only as the heir to their shoe making business, this meant not being allowed outside but being forced to work in the shoe repair shop. Jo was subject to abuse such as, being locked inside closets, consuming excrement, being burned with irons, being beaten and being whipped with belts. His serious mental health issues also began at this age when he began to have hallucinations where he would see and hear.
At age 6 Jo suffered a hernia, the cause of which has been debated. Some reports claimed a local girl kicked him, however others state it was suffered at the hands of his father. Ignoring the cause Jo was taken to hospital to have this operated on. His parents told him that during surgery they had fixed the demon in his penis, meaning it would always be small and never grow hard. This is a damning thing to say to such a young and impressionable mind and led to Jo being insecure about his masculinity throughout his life. By age 7 Jo was working everyday at the shoe repair shop and having a normal childhood ripped from him.
At age 9 Jo was allowed outside however this had disastrous consequences. He was cornered by a group of boys and sexually assaulted at knifepoint. This put a dangerous connection between sex and violence in the young boy's mind. This prompted him to start masturbating with a knife in his hand or stabbing holes in naked women. A dangerous habit for anyone to exhibit but in a young child made it even more concerning.
Once Jo was slightly older he was given money to go to the cinema once a week, however he found it lonely as he had no friends to go with. The only way he could get someone to go with him was if he paid for their ticket, but his parents did not give him enough money for this. This led to Jo stealing money from his parents even if the punishment would be brutal. Eventually his parents found out and proceeded to burn his fingers over the stove in order to drive the demons out.
Jo then began hearing voices which told him to find targets to abuse. He convinced a boy to come to a creek with him and asked him pull his trousers down at knife point before running away. The voices told him to find more targets to perform these acts on.
Jo eventually met Hilda and the two started dating, despite not telling his parents Jo seemed to be happy with her and the two moved in together in 1952. It was during this time Jo had his first visual hallucination when he was instructed by god that he would save the world with his work on feet. Shortly after this Jo and Hilda got married of which his parents actually seemed to approve and were much nicer to him during this time. In 1954 Jo’s first daughter was born which sparked trouble for the relationship as Hilda couldn't cope with a baby. They began to have violent fights, it was also stated during this time that Jo abused his wife however other sources tell it differently. In 1955 Hilda was pregnant again and Jo asked her to get an abortion. The abortion was never carried out and Jo’s son was born in 1956. This caused an already fractured home to become increasingly unstable. Hilda then left Jo in 1956 for a man who lived in a car. Jo couldn't understand why she had left him for a ‘lesser’ man and believed it was because of the fact he was a lousy lover. This again damaged Jo’s already fragile masculinity and made him terrified of abandonment.
In 1957 Jo then met Elizabeth before marrying her in 1958. According to Jo Elizabeth was an excellent homemaker and took care of the kids. However Jo had some unresolved abandonment issues which meant she was only allowed to leave the house with him. He even went so far as to sell her car so she couldn't drive anywhere. This was all in a bid to maintain control over his wife and insure she didn't leave him like his last wife. Despite the improvements in his domestic life,at aged 22, Jo experienced another hallucination in which he was told to burn down his house. Doing as he was told Jo burnt down his house and collected the insurance money of $1900. Jo’s deteriorating mental health was capitulated by the fact he had a black out and woke up in a hospital bed unable to identify himself. Due to this incident Jo was sent to a mental health facility in which he attempted suicide for the first time in his life. When later asked about this incident he said he was sure why he did it. After this incident Jo’s behavior began getting stranger until in 1963 the hooded figure came back and told him to burn down his house for the second time. Jo obliged and set fire to his house numerous times across 1963-1967. Jo then moved his family ,which contained six children by this time, back into his parents house as they had now retired.
Jo’s children were treated poorly and their treatment resembled Jo’s childhood as he would often beat them and force them to work in his shop. Jo has also said during this time he started a ‘relationship’ with his 12 year old daughter. To me the word relationship here is not a correct term to describe what was straight out abuse. Jo has also claimed that he fell in love with her, another worrying statement for a father to be making regarding his own daughter. However Jo ended this ‘relationship’ but would then become jealous once his daughter started dating older boys. The punishments then increased as Jo severely abused his children.
3 children courageously reported Jo to the police for child abuse and he was taken in by the police. In the report Mary Jo stated her father threatened her with a knife, beat her regularly and burnt her buttocks with a hot spatula. While in custody Jo was evaluated and it was recommended that he be hospitalized for mental health issues. Despite all these warning signs Jo was somehow released back to his family in 1972. This arrest and subsequent release only fueled the fire for Jo’s abuse and the children were subject to increased torture from Jo. During this time the hallucinations ramped up and in 1973 god tasked him with slaughtering every living person on earth.
Jo’s reign of terror
In July 1974 Joseph (pictured left) enlisted the help of his then 12 year old son Micheal (pictured right) to help him carry out the orders from God. In search of their first victim Jo and Micheal came across a 10 year old boy. They proceeded to lead him away into an abandoned building before torturing him and cutting off his penis. Jo and Mike finally killed the young boy once they were done. This is a large escalation for Jo and a sickening crime which Jo claimed was driven by the voice of god demanding this from him.
After this murder Jo then had visions of killing his own son Joey Jr. This was not just a vision but a command if he wanted to become god. Jo originally tried to kill Joey by pushing him off a cliff however this plan failed and Jo came up with another plan. With the help of Micheal, Joseph took his sons to an abandoned building in which they came across a spiral staircase submerged in water. Giving Michael the nod, Jo then proceeded to drown his own son. It is unthinkable how someone could do this to their own flesh and blood. Jo returned home with Micheal and reported his son missing, even joining in with later searches for his son. His body was eventually found by some construction workers who reported the find to police. Immediately police suspect Jo given his history of child abuse however without any evidence they were forced to drop the case against him leaving Jo to step up his rampage.
Throughout 1974 Jo and his son went on a crime spree robbing many houses until another vision told Jo the only way to heal his sick daughter would be to create an ointment. This ointment must contain his semen, the vaginal fluid and perfume of another women. Mike and Jo chose Joan Cardy as their target and broke into her home where they bound her. Jo attempted to rape her however could not perform, instead he took some of her vaginal fluid before making a quick exit. After this he and Micheal held 8 women captive, robbing and stealing all their valuables. The voices were telling Jo to murder these women and even scorch one of their eyes, however Jo could not build up the nerve and fled the scene with his son and the valuables. Over this year Jo would break into 2 more homes sexually assaulting the victims but being unable to commit murder, this was until Jo and Micheal’s final attack in January 1975.
In January of 1975 the voices in Jo’s head had grown louder and he was now ready to commit another murder in order to obtain his status as ‘god’. He spotted 28 year old Didi and forced his way into her home prompting her to fight back until Jo pointed a revolver at her 4 year old son. Didi had no choice but to obey Jo as she was tied up. He then forced her legs apart and found out she was menstruating and he removed her tampon in disgust. Shortly after this family members began returning to the house and as they arrived Jo and Micheal bound them at gunpoint. Notably Frank Welby had arrived at this time and he was 6”3 and 200 pounds, this instantly caused a problem for Jo who ordered him downstairs into the basement where he bound and gagged him. Last to arrive at the house was neighbor Maria, she was subject to the same treatment as the other however Joseph selected her to do his bidding for him. He led her down to the basement and ordered her to bite Frank’s penis off. When she declined, Jo became angry and plunged the knife into her multiple times until she stopped moving. Frank later testified to hearing Maria’s scream of “help me” which was followed by a gurgling sound. During this attack one of the victims had broken free and was running down the street shouting for help. After alerting his father Micheal and Jo fled from the scene discarding the items they had stolen and Jo's bloody shirt.
Police were closing in with the mounting evidence however it was the bloody shirt which was analyzed and linked back to Jo that led to his eventual arrest. Jo’s reign of terror was finally over and he was in custody. Jo was later found guilty of all charges and sentenced to life imprisonment however his time behind bars was notable. Whether he was playing the part of insane to reduce his sentences or was actually mentally ill it is not known but his behavior was strange to say the least. He began blocking the toilets and threw cups of excrement and cups of urine at guards whilst rolling on the flow howling. He also claimed that a floating head named “Charlie” was controlling him and was responsible for his actions. His irrational behavior continued and he attempted to kill himself on multiple occasions, once attempting to set fire to himself. In 1978 he cut the throat of another inmate who survived but this incident led to him being transferred to a physiatric unit. It was there he was examined by psychiatrists who stated "I can only concur with Dr. Ariete’s finding and that of the Farview doctors that Mr. Joseph Kallinger chronically suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and that his criminal behavior is a manifestation of his illness.”
Was Joseph sane at the time of the murders?
Yes
No
Possibly but suffering from a serious mental illness.
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