The location where Ed Kemper was arrested

This is the location where Ed Kemper was arrested.

It is situated at the corner of Norwood Avenue and East 21st Street in Pueblo, Colorado.

Kemper was arrested at a payphone near this intersection on April 24th, 1973.

Four days earlier, Kemper had killed his mother and her friend at his house in Aptos, California.

Following the murders, the 6'9" serial killer gathered three guns and 200 rounds of ammunition before driving eastward across the United States.

During the journey, "Big Ed" actively listened to radio stations, waiting to hear a news story about the double homicide. In his mind, it was only a matter of time before the bodies were discovered and a nationwide manhunt was launched.

However, that moment never came.

Although Kemper had abducted and brutally murdered six young coeds between May 1972 and February 1973, the real "target" of his rage was his mother, Clarnell Kemper. According to Kemper, his mother was a contemptuous, domineering alcoholic who belittled him and purposely deprived him of affection.

The other victims were merely representations of Clarnell, whom he had been too cowardly to face.

However, that changed on April 20th, 1973, when he walked into his mother's bedroom and bludgeoned her to death with a claw hammer.

As he made his way through the states of Nevada and Utah, it slowly dawned on Kemper that the true source of his anger was now gone. At the same time, he was also beginning to feel emotionally exhausted and weary.

Consequently, he decided that the time had finally come to give himself up. In his own words, "the original purpose was now gone."

After driving for 1,300 miles, he stopped at a payphone near this corner of Norwood Avenue and East 21st Street in Pueblo, Colorado.

At that point, he called 911 and explained each of his murders in detail.

During the call, Kemper was asked to step out of the phone booth, walk to the curb, and look for a street sign.

Moments later, he returned and replied, "21st Street and Norwood Avenue."

At one point during their conversation, Kemper suddenly stopped talking. Following a brief pause, he informed the officer on the other end of the line that the police had arrived and drawn their guns on him.

The responding officers later said that they were relieved when Kemper didn't resist arrest. One of the officers remarked that he was built like a football player who could "beat a mountain lion with a switch."