Charlie Brandt

Carl Eric "Charlie" Brandt (February 23, 1957 – September 13, 2004) was an American serial killer who murdered at least four female victims; one in Indiana and three others in Florida.

In September 1968, Herbert was transferred to International Harvester's plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The family frequently vacationed in Florida, where Brandt hunted small game with his father.

Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Brandt shot his parents in their family home on the night of January 3, 1971, when he was 13, killing his pregnant mother and wounding his father.

He spent one year at a psychiatric hospital before being released and was never criminally charged.

On the evening of January 3, 1971, after their children had turned in for the night in their Fort Wayne home, Herbert Brandt was shaving in the bathroom while Ilsa, eight months pregnant, was taking a bath.

Charlie Brandt, then aged 13, abruptly walked into the bathroom and shot both parents at point blank range with his father's handgun, which he had taken from a dresser.

His father survived, but his mother and the fetus were killed instantly.

Brandt then entered his sister Angela's room and attempted to shoot her, but his gun would not fire.

After a physical struggle, Angela managed to calm her brother down by promising him that she would help him figure out what to do.

Angela eventually convinced Brandt to go upstairs to retrieve blankets for their infant sisters, who were unharmed, before fleeing the house and seeking help from neighbors.

After pursuing his terrified sister outside, Brandt knocked on a neighbor's door, telling her, "I just shot my mom and dad."

Herbert later identified his son as his attacker.

After the shooting, Brandt had told Angela that he could not remember what he had done.

Angela described her brother as being in a trance-like state, which had broken during their struggle.

Upon being interviewed by police, Brandt attributed the shooting to "a combination of things" related to school, stating that, "Everything sort of just snapped in my mind. I felt like I never felt before."

Brandt also alluded to an incident that took place a few days before the shooting, near the end of his family's annual Christmas vacation in Florida, in which Herbert shot and killed their dog while the two were hunting.

Three separate psychiatric evaluations failed to determine what triggered the shooting.

Because he was too young to be tried for murder under Indiana state law, Brandt spent one year at a psychiatric hospital before being released back into the custody of his family in June 1972.

The family never spoke of the incident again.

This incident, Brandt's efficiency in killing his wife and niece, and his hidden obsession with human anatomy led investigators to look into the possibility that he had committed other murders since moving to Florida in 1973.

In 1984, Brandt received a degree in electronics and became a radar specialist for Ford Aerospace in Astor.

In 1986, Brandt married his girlfriend Theresa "Teri" Helfrich.

No relatives were invited to their wedding.

His sister Angela and her husband Jim had advised Brandt to tell Teri about the murder of their mother, but it is unclear whether or not he ever did.

The 1989 murder of a homeless woman near Brandt's home was solved as a result of the investigation, as Brandt was found to have been the perpetrator.

The police suspect him in three other Florida murders, but his true number of victims could potentially be more than 30.

Charlie Brandt was the second child of Herbert and Ilsa Brandt, two German immigrants who originally settled in Texas before moving to Connecticut.

Brandt's father worked as a laborer for a division of International Harvester, eventually working his way up to draftsman and project engineer.

The family moved frequently and as a result Brandt and his older sister Angela attended several different schools.

Brandt was regarded as a good student, but was shy and had difficulty adjusting to new surroundings.

The couple settled in a beach house on Big Pine Key in 1989.

33 years later, on September 13, 2004, Brandt stabbed his wife and niece to death and then hanged himself in his niece's garage.

Until 2004, Brandt's two younger sisters had lived under the impression that their mother had been killed in a car accident.

Shortly after Brandt's release, his family relocated to Ormond Beach, Florida.

One year later, Brandt's father (who had remarried) and two younger sisters moved back to Indiana, while Brandt and Angela stayed behind in the care of their grandparents.

On September 2, 2004, Brandt and Teri evacuated from their home ahead of Hurricane Ivan.

Their niece, Michelle Lynn Jones, invited them to stay at her residence near Orlando.

Throughout the visit, Jones kept in regular contact with her mother, Mary Lou, as well as several friends.

On the evening of September 13, one of Jones' friends, Lisa Emmons, was scheduled to visit her house.