Waldo Grant

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Waldo Grant (November 3, 1946 – June 6, 2023) was an American serial killer who killed four young men in New York City between 1973 and 1976. He confessed to the murders in January 1977 after police questioned him and was sentenced to life in prison the following year. He died in 2023.

Grant was born in Bulloch County, Georgia, one of fifteen children. He grew up in Statesboro and, at age 16, became a self‑ordained minister for a Black gospel church. In 1971, after a failed marriage, he moved north and settled on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Neighbors described him as a quiet loner, though he was known in the area’s gay community.

He was suspected in the murder of Harry Carillo, the last person seen with him. After multiple questions, police brought Grant in again on January 10, 1977. After five hours of questioning, he confessed to Carillo’s murder, saying, “Harry is very attractive to me and I desire him very much and that was the only way I could get him.” He then confessed to the three other killings, stating he had an “uncontrollable urge to kill.” On June 30, 1978, he was found guilty of the four murders and received four concurrent life sentences.

According to the New York State Department of Corrections, Grant died at Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York, on June 6, 2023, aged 76.