October 23, 2024

Episode 032: The Real Life Events That Inspired ‘Scream’, Danny Rolling AKA The Gainesville Ripper

1 hour 9 minutes

This week we are covering the horrifying real life events that inspired the horror movie ‘Scream’. The university town of Gainesville Florida was shaken in 1990 when 5 students, Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Tracy Paules, and Manny Taboada, were brutally murdered over the course of 4 days in August, right before the fall semester was about to begin. Investigators eventually linked Danny Rolling to the slayings and he was dubbed ‘The Gainesville Ripper’ by the media. However, investigators would uncover that Danny’s brutal crimes extended beyond Gainesville.

Sources:

William DeLong, “The True Story Of Danny Rolling, The Gainesville Ripper Who Inspired ‘Scream’”, All That’s Interesting, Jan 16, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/danny-rolling-gainesville-ripper, accessed Oct 10, 2024.

Glenn Ruppel, Sean Dooley, and Anthony Rivas, “How a woman in Louisiana helped break the case of 5 student murders in Florida”, ABC News, April 8, 2021, https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-louisiana-helped-break-case-student-murders-florida/story?id=76900692#:~:text=Eighteen-year-old%20Sonja%20Larson%20was%20among%20the%20victims%20of%20the%20so-called#:~:text=Eighteen-year-old%20Sonja%20Larson%20was%20among%20the%20victims%20of%20the%20so-called, accessed Oct 8, 2024.

Tim Ott, “Danny Rolling: The True Story Behind the Killer Who Inspired 'Scream'”, Biography, Oct 14, 2020, https://www.biography.com/crime/danny-rolling-scream-killer-gainesville, accessed Oct 8, 2024.

Michelle Dean, “The True Story Behind the Horrific Murder Spree That Inspired 'Scream'”, Complex, Dec 20, 2016, https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/michelle-dean/scream-20th-anniversary-true-story-serial-killer, accessed Oct 8, 2024.

Staff Writer, “Former suspect in Gainsville killings graduates from UCF” The Ledger, June 5, 2009, https://www.theledger.com/story/news/2000/08/07/former-suspect-in-gainsville-killings/8026682007/, accessed Oct 8, 2024.

“Sondra London”, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sondra_London, accessed Oct 9, 2024.

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