Sondra London

Sondra London (born 1947 in Florida)[1] is a controversial American true crime author, best known as the onetime girlfriend of convicted murderer and suspected serial killer G.J. Schaefer, and the fiancée of convicted serial killer Danny Rolling. Less well known is the fact she used this access to debrief both of them about their crimes and the thinking behind them, and published the results of her investigations.

Sondra London in front of the courthouse

Writing

In a documentary by Errol Morris, London related how she first was inspired to write about crime after reaching a plateau in her career as a technical writer. She contacted the incarcerated serial killer G.J. Schaefer (an ex-cop doing two life sentences for murder, whom she'd dated in high school) and the two began collaborating on a roman à clef book containing writings by Schaefer that were arguably descriptions of his own crimes. They released a collection of short stories entitled Killer Fiction.[1] During this period the former deputy sheriff became increasingly obsessed with London and began divulging details of his crimes to her in prison visits and handwritten letters. London terminated the professional relationship with Schaefer after he threatened her life if she were to ever show authorities his incriminating letters. London went on to file these written threats and confessions with the court in defense of a lawsuit by Schaefer charging her with falsely stating Schaefer was a serial killer. Upon reading five hundred pages of Schaefer's handwritten statements attached to London's Response, the judge threw Schaefer's lawsuit out. After his death, Sondra London's sworn testimony was used to close two cold-case murders to Schaefer in the Ocala National Forest.

Sondra London collaborated with serial killer Danny Rolling in writing The Making of a Serial Killer: The Real Story of the Gainesville Murders, a psychological memoir which included Rolling's confessions to five murders, along with other capital crimes for which he had not been charged. The book was published by Feral House, and was illustrated by 50 pictures hand-drawn by Rolling in prison. The confessions were published in a three-part series appearing in the Globe. London and Rolling were sued by the State of Florida under the Son of Sam law,[2] which had been declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.[3] Feral House published Sondra London's study of vampirism, True Vampires, in 2004. The book is illustrated by French killer Nicolas Claux.[4]

Sondra London on the set of the biopic by Errol Morris

In 2016, she published Good Little Soldiers: A Memoir of True Horror, co-authored with Dianne Fitzpatrick, who relates an extraordinary tale of murder and military mind control under MK Ultra, at the hands of her father, a homicidal maniac who enlisted her and her brother in the special program of training and experimentation with hallucinogenic drugs, when she was six years old.

Television

In 2000, an episode of director Errol Morris' First Person television series centered on Sondra London. She has appeared on Dateline, Turning Point, Larry King Live, Geraldo, Leeza, A Current Affair, and Court TV in the United States; Channel 4 and BBC in UK; German and French cable, and Australian ABC.

References
  1. London, Sondra. "About Section". official website. Sondra London. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 2, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 11, 2005. Retrieved February 9, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 24, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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