Joseph “The Alligator Man” Ball

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Joe D. Ball born on January 6, 1896 was not a very nice or social able person. Living as a bootlegger in the early 1900’s had more secrets then just illegally selling alcohol. Joe was secretly a murderer, Killing family, friends, and workers. Joe wasn’t always a terrible person, he was part of one of the richest family in Elmendorf but he didn’t stay that way very long because he became known as the alligator man, blue beard, and the butcher of Elmendorf. Ball joined the army to fight in World War I; he saw some action in the frontlines of Europe and was honorably discharged. After the war he returned to his home town of Elmendorf and became a bootlegger driving around selling alcohol during the Prohibition. Then he started hiring black men to do his job and wasn’t very nice to them he would shoot at their feet to make them dance. After Prohibition Joe Ball opened his own tavern and sometimes host his own cock fights for entertainment. At some point in time of him owning his tavern, he went and caught his own alligators and put them in that concrete pool behind his tavern. He would let his customers come and toss small animals such as cats and dogs in the pool to watch the alligators eat, which would help keep his customer coming back. He started hiring women to bartend, be waitresses, and to be dancers. Soon weird things started happening when barmaids and dancers would just end up disappearing. In 1934 he met Big Minnie and fell in love with her and ball had her run the bar but at the same time he started seeing another barmaid named Deloris and she fell in love with him even though he would beat her. Big Minnie didn’t like that and would show that she didn’t like that so one night Big Minnie just suddenly disappeared. In Sept... ... middle of paper ... ... he is one of the first modern serial killers and really was someone that started out as an average man that fought in World War I, but went crazy after and started killing women to get them out of his life. Works Cited "A New Settlement." Joe Ball: The Butcher of Elmendorf — — Crime Library on TruTV.com. David Lohr, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. "Joe Ball and His Alligator Pond." About.com Crime / Punishment. Charles Montaldo, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. "Two Barmaids, Five Alligators, and the Butcher of Elmendorf | Texas Monthly." Texas Monthly. Michael Hall, July 2002. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. "Panache Report Serial Killer And Alligators." Panache Report Serial Killer And Alligators. Myra Panache, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. "Joe Ball | Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers." Joe Ball | Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers. Juan Ignacio Blanco, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

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