West Haven in South Central Region, Connecticut — The American Northeast (New England)

John Doe

Photographed by Jerry Klinger

1. John Doe Marker

Inscription. John Doe
A 16-year-old Jewish Boy
August 9, 1923
A victim of the sadistic serial murderer, Carl Panzram
Evil - Nurture or Nature?
Donated by the Jewish American Society
for Historic Preservation at 2026
With support from the Oak Grove Cemetery

Erected 2026 by Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Science & Medicine. In addition, it is included in the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. series list. A significant historical date for this entry is August 9, 1923.

Location. 41° 17.034′ N, 72° 57.252′ W. Marker is in West Haven in South Central Region, Connecticut. It can be reached from Campbell Avenue just south of Spring Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: West Haven CT 06516, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Connecticut River Valley,

on the Connecticut Shoreline,

and in Greater New Haven.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in New England.

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Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Haven County

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); VFW Post 1684 Memorial (about 300 feet away); Adjutant William Campbell (approx. 0.8 miles away); West Haven (approx. 0.8 miles away); Allingtown World War I Monument (approx. 0.8 miles away); SSg Thomas E. Vitagliano (approx. 0.9 miles away); West Haven World War I Monument (approx. 0.9 miles away); West Haven Revolutionary War Memorial (approx. 0.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in West Haven.

More about this marker. Evil - Nurture or Nature?

The marker's significance is far beyond the memorialization for an unknown victim.

John Doe was murdered in the background of evolving Darwinian Social theory, Eugenics, Psychology, Criminology, American Societal Transitioning, and the new science of

John Doe Marker <i>( back )</i> image. Click for full size.

April 29, 2026

2. John Doe Marker ( back )

(Hebrew translation)
Here Lies
Unkown Son of Abraham
May his Soul be Bound Up in Everlasting Life

Behavioural Genetics.

The marker's text is a question about the basic nature of evil - nature or nurture? A few years after the boy's death, Adolph Hitler took over in Germany. He believed in the genetic transmission of evil. The result was... the Holocaust.

Giving the boy memory encourages a discussion over fundamental issues. Ironically, the man who worked with Panzram to write his autobiography was a Jewish jailer, Henry Lesser. He too wanted to understand what could make a human being so very evil as to do what Panzram did.

Modern criminal theory about the roots of criminal behavior is a mix of nature (genetics) and nurture (life experiences). The academic answer to the cause of criminal behavior remains contested.

Carl Panzram (1891–1930) was an American serial killer, rapist, and arsonist who claimed to have murdered 21 people and sodomized over 1,000 men and boys. His case is a primary study in the "nature vs. nurture" debate, showcasing a combination of severe environmental abuse and a possible innate predisposition toward violence, leading to a worldview characterized by extreme hatred and nihilism.

Regarding John Doe. On

3. John Doe Marker

August 9, 1923, the badly-decomposed remains of an unknown male were found on Milford Turnpike in West Haven near the New Haven County Home.The John Doe had brown hair, was estimated to be approximately 20 years old, measured 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m), and weighed around 150 pounds. He wore a striped brown suit and had a chauffeur's cap under one arm. The cause of death was determined to be strangulation via a belt drawn tightly around the neck.A handkerchief with a wad of cotton inside had also been tied around his mouth. Two wounds on the victim's chest were initially mistaken for gunshots but were later theorized to be injuries caused by the killer's shoes when holding the victim down.Serial killer Carl Panzram confessed to the murder in 1928, claiming that he had lured the victim into the woods before sexually assaulting and strangling him.Panzram stated that the victim was a 16-year-old Jewish boy who wore thick glasses and was the son or nephew of a New York policeman. A first degree murder warrant was issued for Panzram,but proceedings were interrupted when he murdered a prison guard the following year, for which he was subsequently

4. John Doe Marker

Medical Certificate of Death

executed.

Also see . . .
1. Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeanc (YouTube).

(at 1:17:25) "and I am sorry that I am unable to murder the whole damn human race. All that I leave behind me is smoke,"
(at 1:17:49) "Well, I was just born bad. The bad come to death, desolation and damnation."

(Submitted on May 2, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)

2. Eugenics and Scientific Racism - National Human Genome Research Institute.

Eugenics is an inaccurate theory linked to historical and present-day forms of discrimination, racism, ableism and colonialism. It has persisted in policies and beliefs around the world, including the United States.

(Submitted on May 2, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)

3. Carl Panzram (Wikipedia).

Charles "Carl" Panzram (June 28, 1891 – September 5, 1930) was an American rapist, serial killer, and habitual offender. In prison confessions and in his autobiography, Panzram confessed to having murdered twenty-one boys and men, only five of which could be corroborated. He is suspected of having killed more than a hundred boys
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and men in the United States alone, and several more in Portuguese Angola.

Panzram also confessed to having committed more than a thousand acts of rape against males of all ages. After a lifetime of crime, during which he served many prison terms and escaped from many prisons, Panzram was executed by hanging in 1930 for the murder of a prison employee at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.

(Submitted on May 2, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)

4. Criminologist’s Research Shows Genes Influence Criminal Behavior - University of Texas at Dallas. Your genes could be a strong predictor of whether you stray into a life of crime, according to a research paper co-written by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes. (Submitted on May 2, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)

5. John Doe, the Holocaust and Memory.

Confronted with absolute evil, Henry Lesser asked himself, “Why?” What could make a person so completely hateful, so completely psychopathic?

Henry Lesser was a 26-year-old, idealistic Jewish boy from Falls River, Massachusetts. He took a job in Washington, D.C.’s prison system as a jailer on March 1, 1928. Criminology was a deep interest of his. What was the nature of good and evil? Was it nature or was it nurture?

(Submitted on May 12, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 20, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 30, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 42 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on April 30, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.