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Christopher
Dwayne PETERSON
A.K.A.: "Shotgun Killer" - "Obadayah Ben-Yisrayl"
Classification:
Spree killer
Characteristics:
Robberies
Number of victims: 7
Date of murders:
October-December
1990
Date of birth: January 20, 1969
Victims profile: Lawrence
Mill / Rhonda L. Hammersley / Harchand Singh Dhaliwal, 54 /
Marie Meitzler, 48 /
Ora L. Wildermuth /
Brothers Eli, 60, and George Balovski, 66
Method of murder:
Shooting (sawed-off
shotgun)
Location: Indiana, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on June 5, 1992. Commuted to life in
prison on July 23, 2003
PETERSON, CHRISTOPHER D. # 73
(a.k.a. Obadayah Ben-Yisrayl)
OFF DEATH ROW SINCE 07-23-03
DOB: 01-20-1969
DOC#: 922005 Black Male
Porter County Superior Court
Judge Thomas W. Webber
Prosecutor: James H. Douglas, Gwen R.
Rinkenberger
Defense: Jerry T. Jarrett, Alex
Woloshansky
Date of Murder: December 13 & 15, 1990
Victim(s): Marie Meitzler W/F/48;
Harchand Dhaliwal I/M/54 (No relationship to Peterson)
Method of Murder: shooting with sawed-off
shotgun
Summary: Harchand Dhaliwal
was working alone in the evening as an attendant at a Hudson Oil
station in Portage. He was robbed and shot in the head at close
range with a .12 gauge shotgun.
Two days later, Marie Meitzler was working
alone in the evening as the desk clerk in a Howard Johnson
motel. She was robbed and shot in the neck at close range with a
.12 gauge shotgun.
Three days later, George and Eli Balovsky
were found dead following a robbery in their tailor shop in Gary
(Lake County). Both were shot in the head at close range by a
.12 gauge shotgun.
A sawed-off shotgun, identified as the murder
weapon in all four murders, was later recovered from Peterson's
home after his mother consented to the search.
Peterson made incriminating statements to an
acquaintance, and gave a complete confession to police. Evidence
of the Lake County murders of the Balovsky brothers was admitted
into evidence at the Porter County trial.
Peterson was also convicted of the 1991
Attempted Murder/Armed Robbery of Ronald Nitsch in Lake County,
and was sentenced to 50 years and 20 years imprisonment on
11-16-93.
Aggravating Circumstances: b (1)
Robbery, 2 murders
Mitigating Circumstances: None
PETERSON,
CHRISTOPHER D. # 74
(a.k.a. Obadayah Ben-Yisrayl)
OFF DEATH ROW SINCE 07-23-03
DOB: 01-20-1969
DOC#: 922005 Black Male
Lake County Superior Court
Judge James L. Clement
Prosecutor: James J. Olszewski, Ralph
Staples, John G. Evon
Defense: Alex Woloshansky, Jerry T.
Jarrett
Date of Murder: December 18, 1990
Victim(s): Eli Balovsky W/M/60; George
Balovsky W/M/66 No relationship to Peterson)
Method of Murder: shooting with sawed-off
shotgun
Summary: The Balovsky
brothers were found dead in their tailor shop as a result of
shotgun wounds to the head.
A sawed-off shotgun, identified as the murder
weapon, was later recovered from Peterson's home after his
mother consented to the search.
Peterson made incriminating statements to an
acquaintance, and gave a complete confession to police. He also
confessed to two additional murders in Porter County, for which
he was later convicted. These convictions served as the basis
for a second aggravating circumstance in the case.
Conviction: Murder, Murder
Sentencing: June 5, 1992 (Death
Sentence)
Aggravating Circumstances:
Convicted of two other murders in Porter County, 2 murders
Mitigating Circumstances:
Neglected in childhood by Father, caring and supportive of
others, particularly girlfriend and baby, good and quiet
prisoner during confinement, extreme emotional disturbance, high
school graduate, two years in Marines, Father of 11 month old
baby, 21 years old at time of murders.
Christopher
Peterson (born
January 20, 1969 in Gary, Indiana, USA) is an American serial
killer also known as the "Shotgun Killer" & "Shotgun Peterson".
He is now known as Obadyah Ben Yisrayl.
Victims
October 30,
1990: Insurance agent Lawrence Mill was shot to death in his car
in front of the American Legion Post 66 in Griffith. No
eyewitnesses.
October 30,
1990: Two and a half hours later, Rhonda L. Hammersley, who
worked at a gas station in Cedar Lake, was shot in the parking
lot. An eyewitness described the perpetrator as a young white
man with long, stringy hair.
December 13,
1990: Harchand Singh Dhaliwal (54) was shot while working at a
gas station. $327.55 was missing from the cash register.
December 15,
1990: Marie Meitzler was shot while working at a motel reception
desk. $467 was stolen.
December 15,
1990: Six minutes later, Ora L. Wildermuth was shot in front of
an automated teller machine.
December 15,
1990: One hour later, Robert S. Kotso was shot in a highway toll
booth. He survived.
December 18,
1990: Brothers Eli and George Balovski were shot in an adjoining
building to their tailor shop in the late afternoon. They were
the last victims.
All were
killed with a shotgun.
Peterson
confessed to the crimes and was convicted despite eyewitnesses
reports that the killer was white—Peterson is black. He was
given two death sentences. He maintains his innocence, claiming
that he was forced into a false confession at the time, and is
currently sitting on death row where he is considered one of the
many potentially wrongly convicted prisoners.
American death
metal band Macabre have made song about him, titled "Shotgun
Peterson" on their Sinister Slaughter album.
