Gaskins was a truly terrifying individual
People like Donald Henry Gaskins are the reason why we are urged to never accept a ride from a stranger. Gaskins, also known as “Pee Wee”, was a prolific serial killer based in South Carolina who was convicted of killing eight people from the 1950s to the 1970s, though the actual number of his victims is unknown. Known also as the “Hitchhiker Killer”, the “Meanest Man in America”, and the “Redneck Charles Manson,” Gaskins was a truly terrifying individual, although those who knew him believed that he was deeply disturbed, but harmless. Nobody could ever have imagined the extent of the atrocities he committed. In 1933, Gaskins was born in the backwoods of South Carolina. Information on his background is muddled, but it is known that his mother, Eulea Parrott, had a string of bad romances and a number of illegitimate children. “Pee Wee” was the youngest–and the smallest. Eventually, Gaskin’s mother married. Her husband abused Gaskins and Eulea’s four other children. Gaskins was cons...