The Boy Fiend: Jesse Pomeroy was born in Boston on November 29, 1859, he is said to have been born with a defect in his right eye, where white covered even his pupil

The Boy Fiend

Jesse Pomeroy was born in Boston on November 29, 1859, he is said to have been born with a defect in his right eye, where white covered even his pupil. Other kids thought it unusual and would mock him. He became a loner and an avid reader, absorbing his mind into the graphic tales told in “dime novels,” books which were particularly brutal, violent, gore-filled, and possibly influential on a young mind with a vivid imagination.

His father, Thomas Pomeroy, seems to have been particularly repulsed by young Jesse’s eye issue and was outspoken about it. He would savagely beat his son, often stripping the boy naked and using a belt.

Jesse would commit his first violent act on December 22, 1871. He lured a younger boy to a secluded location, stripped him naked, tied him to a beam, and beat him unconscious with a rope. Jesse would then trap and physically attack six more younger boys over the next nine months, eventually incorporating a knife to sadistically torture the children. 

The first murder would occur in March 1874, with the murder of 10 year old Katie Curran. Who was last seen at the Pomeroy family shop. Though he would not be caught till a month later.

In April 1874, a couple of boys who were searching for clams and other various fun items on the beach were about to make a gruesome discovery. In a ditch, they found the body of a four-year-old boy named Horace Millen. The corpse had been nearly torn apart by a savage maniac. Millen’s genitals had almost been entirely cut off, he had stab wounds in “X” shapes all across his body, one of his eyes had been gouged, and his throat had been slit. Young Horace’s body had also been set on fire.

Police found that Jesse had scratches on his skin, defense marks from the attack on Horace, and would find Katie's body in the boys house. He was found guilty in sentenced to death, later changed to life in prison. He would die in 1932, age 72.