Mike DeBardeleben

James Mitchell "Mike" DeBardeleben (March 20, 1940 – January 26, 2011) was an American convicted kidnapper, rapist, counterfeiter, and suspected serial killer who became known as the "mall passer" due to his practice of passing counterfeit bills in shopping malls bordering interstate highways across the US.^[1] After his arrest for counterfeiting, he was found to have committed much more serious sex crimes. He was sentenced to 375 years. Although he was never brought to trial for murder, he was the principal suspect in two homicides and he remains a suspect in several others. He died of pneumonia at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina in early 2011.^[2]

Background

DeBardeleben was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, the second of three children born to James Mitchell DeBardeleben Sr. and Mary Lou Edwards DeBardeleben.^[3] His younger brother Ralph was a U.S. Army paratrooper who committed suicide at age 19.^[3] His older sister, called Michael Linda by the family, is identified in the 1940 U.S. Census as "Linda M. Debardeleben," [sic] aged 1 year at the time of the census.^[4]

After the Pearl Harbor attack, James DeBardeleben Sr. took a commission as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and was posted to Washington, D.C. for the duration of World War II.^[3] In 1945, the family moved to Austin, Texas, and James Sr. was shipped out to the South Pacific for nine months.^[3] In 1949, the family moved briefly to Kentucky before relocating to Frankfurt, Germany.^[3] In 1950, James Sr. was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and the family moved to The Hague in the Netherlands, where James Sr. served for two years as a military adviser for the U.S. embassy.^[3] In 1953, James Sr. retired from the army, and took a federal civil service post in Albany, New York.^[3]

As a child, DeBardeleben was subjected to considerable abuse and neglect by both his mother and father. His father was a punitive man who was very critical of his children and very seldomly praised them for their accomplishments. When Debardeleben was younger, his father would punish him by holding his head underwater in a bathtub and switching him with sticks. According to his siblings, these punishments began before he was old enough to attend school.^[3]

DeBardeleben's mother was a promiscuous and emotionally unstable alcoholic, whose behavior could become violent. His mother often neglected the children when her husband was away, preferring to spend much of her time at the bars drinking and picking up men.^[3] DeBardeleben developed a deep hatred of his mother, which would eventually crystallize into a hatred of women in general.

Adult life

In 1956, at the age of 16, DeBardeleben physically assaulted his mother.^[3] On September 8 of that year, he purchased two handguns and ammunition with a friend. Later that month, he was arrested and convicted of his first felony, possessing a concealed firearm. This arrest was the first of many that followed, on sodomy, attempted murder, kidnapping, and other charges.

In the Spring of 1957, DeBardeleben was expelled from Peter Schuyler High School, which effectively ended his formal education. In October of that year, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. After only a year, he was court-martialed for disorderly behavior and sentenced to two months in the base stockade. In 1958, he was ordered to see a psychiatrist for counseling after he was pronounced AWOL several times. At the age of eighteen, he was discharged from the Air Force and moved in with relatives in Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1959, DeBardeleben attempted school again, enrolling in R.L. Paschal High School, but after three months was expelled. In August of that year, he married his first wife, Linda Weir, but three weeks later separated from her. Also that month, he was arrested for attempted robbery with an accomplice, followed two weeks later by his involvement in a string of auto thefts, and was sentenced to five years probation. In October, he fathered a premature stillborn daughter with an unidentified woman.

DeBardeleben later met Charlotte Weber, who was seventeen at the time he started courting her. In March 1960, he impregnated Charlotte and on June 9 the same year, married her. On December 12, 1960, he successfully fathered a daughter, Bethene. Afterward, Charlotte became pregnant again with another child but was forced by DeBardeleben to give it up for adoption. In August 1961, his brother Ralph committed suicide for undocumented reasons.

"Mall Passer" case

In the early 1980s, Secret Service agents were investigating a string of counterfeiting cases in which a man was determined to be entering malls with counterfeit $20 bills, making a small purchase at stores in the mall, and receiving change in legitimate cash. Following the pattern of his itinerary, Secret Service agents out of Knoxville, Tennessee began passing out his composite sketch to mall clerks in chain stores he had targeted along a hypothesized projected itinerary. DeBardeleben was identified as the suspect in these crimes, and a national manhunt ensued.

At the time of his arrest, more counterfeit $20 bills were found in his car, each with a label stating the city in which they would be used. His counterfeiting operation was also discovered, along with evidence of sex crimes, which consisted of photographs taken during the act of rape/murder. FBI profilers speculate that in photographs where his face is seen along with the victim's, he murdered the woman and disposed of her body; whereas in photographs where he is hiding his face, he allowed the victim to live. DeBardeleben asked to be allowed to represent himself at his trials, which were held in various jurisdictions.

DeBardeleben was convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to 375 years in federal prison.^[3][5]

In personality, DeBardeleben displayed marked schizoid and narcissistic traits, along with the symptoms of psychopathy. He also exemplified all eight of the outdated DSM-III-R criteria for Sadistic Personality Disorder. DeBardeleben was characterized as having a 'Jekyll and Hyde' personality, whose demeanor could shift from affable to extremely cruel. The DSM-IV cites DeBardeleben as an example of both Sexual Sadism and Antisocial Personality Disorder.^[6][7]

Death

On January 26, 2011, DeBardeleben died of pneumonia at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina.^[2]

Television

Debardeleben is featured in a special two-hour episode of The FBI Files entitled "Cruel Deception" (Season 6, Episode 19).^[8][9]

The first episode of the second season of The New Detectives, "Mind Hunters," features a segment on Debardeleben.

In 2017, the Investigation Discovery series Hear No Evil covered Debardeleben's case. For the first time, the disturbing audio tapes Debardeleben made of the torture of victims were broadcast.^[10]

Also, in 2017 Investigation Discovery aired "Unmasking a Serial Killer". Detailing his exploits of counterfeiting. During that investigation and subsequent search of a storage locker, they discovered items that would be used for kidnapping and assaulting female victims. The search also discovered graphic audio tapes of victims being recorded during their kidnapping and assaults.^[11]

References

External links

• First chapter of Stephen Michaud's book Lethal Shadows, about DeBardeleben