Jesse Sumner

Jesse Donald Sumner (January 9, 1937 – December 4, 2005) was an American criminal, serial killer, and repeat prison escapee. Originally convicted for the murder of his accomplice, his long prison term was later reduced and he was paroled, after which he murdered three women in the vicinity of the Illinois State University. For the latter crimes, he was given additional long sentences, which he served until his death in 2005. Crimes and murder of Herschel Williams In the early 1960s, Sumner and his alleged accomplice, 40-year-old Herschel Williams Jr., participated in several robberies and hold-ups of various establishments, most notable of which were the Farmers State Bank in Heyworth and a credit union in Bloomington. The two supposedly had a falling out, which Sumner claimed was because Williams was threatening his wife and children. On March 25, 1963, Williams visited Sumner at his barber shop in Danville, asking him to accompany him on another robbery. After refusing and having an argument about it, he then asked for a haircut. Sumner accepted, but at one point while he was cutting Williams' hair, he slashed his throat with the razor. After cleaning up the crime scene, he stuffed the body in a 55-gallon barrel and encased it in concrete, then buried it in a landfill in Bloomington. While it initially remained undiscovered, Sumner would later be arrested and convicted for robbing the credit union and sentenced to a 2-to-5 year sentence. After finally locating the barrels on June 1, 1964, local authorities eventually charged Sumner with Williams' murder. While being escorted out of the jail in Springfield, he attempted to escape but was caught after mere minutes.