The Voice Behind Many Bestselling Books On Tape Is Actually That of An Infamous Serial Killer

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The Voice Behind Many Bestselling Books On Tape Is Actually That of An Infamous Serial Killer

Murder Facts

When listening to an audio book, do you ever wonder who's voice you are hearing on the other end? Now would be a good time to start.

An 1987 article from the Los Angeles Times tells the story of a blind couple showing their appreciation to the prisoners the California Medical Facility State Prison who have voiced audio books for the visually impaired.

Run by serial killer Edmund Kemper, the program, Volunteers of Vacaville or the Blind Project, as referred to by the prison, has inmates record thousands of books; best sellers, textbooks, mysteries, science fiction, Westerns, children's books and cookbooks onto tape cassettes.

From 1977 to 1987, Kemper had spent over 5,000 hours in the recording booth and had more than four million feet of tape and several hundred books to his credit, including: Flowers in the Attic, The Glass Key, Merlin's Mirror, Petals on the Wind, The Rosary Murders, Sphinx, and Star Wars.

Supporters from outside the prison had awarded Kemper with two trophies for his dedication to the program, where both are displayed at the Volunteers prison office. The recordings took place in the same room, which contained eight recording booths, two monitor booths and a batter of sophisticated tape duplication equipment.

"I can't begin to tell you what this has meant to me, to be able to do something constructive for someone else, to be appreciated by so many people, the good feeling it gives me after what I have done," Kemper said.

Kemper, otherwise known as the "Co-ed Killer," is serving eight concurrent life sentences for the slaughter of six female college students, his mother and her friend. He had previously served time at the Atascadero State Hospital for the murders of his parental grandparents.

He is notoriously known for the brutal nature of his killings and for regularly engaging in necrophilia with the butchered corpses.

Listen to a snipet of Kemper reading a passage from Flowers in the Attic:

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