Horrifying obsession
Who is Charles Albright aka the Eyeball killer and when was he caught by rookie police officer Regina Smith?
Albright was given his nickname because of his horrific way of killing people
CHARLES Albright was a suspected serial killer known as the Eyeball killer, who was caught by rookie police officer Regina Smith.
His terrifying murder spree will be dramatized in the Lifetime movie Searching for a Serial Killer: The Regina Smith Story.
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Troubled upbringing
Albright was born in Amarillo, Texas, on August 10, 1933, and was adopted from an orphanage by Delle and Fred Albright.
By age 13, he had skipped two school grades and was a petty thief.
That same year, he was arrested for aggravated assault.
By the age of fifteen, he graduated from high school and enrolled at North Texas University where he showed an interest in becoming a doctor.
However, Albright’s academic career was put on pause for a year when he was arrested at the age of 16 for the possession of some stolen cash, a rifle and two handguns.
After his release, he attended Arkansas State Teachers College but was later expelled, because he was found with stolen possessions.
Albright falsified a degree and married his college girlfriend in 1965, with the couple going on to have a daughter.
However, they divorced in 1974.
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In 1981, he sexually assaulted the 14-year-old daughter of one of his friends.
Although he later pleaded guilty to this, Albright said that he only did so to avoid a “hassle”.
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Albright’s terrifying murders
Albright’s criminal activities escalated in October 1988, when he allegedly stabbed Rhonda Bowie to death.
Rhonda was just 30 years old at the time and was working as a sex worker in Oak Cliff, Texas.
Abright’s crime spree spanned from that first alleged murder in 1988 until his eventual capture in 1991.
However, Albright was only charged for the murder of one woman during this time.
While he is considered the prime suspect in Rhonda’s murder and two additional killings, the charges against him, in these cases, were dropped.
Albright’s two other alleged victims were Mary Lou Pratt and Susan Peterson, two sex workers who operated on the same street as each other.
Both were brutally killed and had their eyeballs removed, much like Albright’s only confirmed victim: Shirley Williams.
Shirley Williams, a sex worker, is also thought to be Albright’s final victim.
She was found on a curb with her eyeballs removed in 1991.
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Bringing Albright to justice
Albright was finally arrested on March 22, 1991, thanks to the efforts of a rookie police officer named Regina Smith.
Regina had just joined the police force when Mary was found dead.
In light of the horrific murder, she decided to bring the killer to justice.
Unfortunately, the evidence Regina uncovered was only enough to convict Albright of Shirley’s murder but this was enough to put him behind bars for good.
It was later revealed that Albright’s obsession with eyes had begun when his adoptive mother introduced him to taxidermy at the age of 11.
He was inspired to enroll in a taxidermy course and, according to a journalist named Skip Hollandsworth, learned to “pop an eye out of its socket”.
Skip, who wrote for in 1993, said that Albright “wished he could collect them the way other boys collected marbles”.
Years later, Regina opened up about why she was so determined to catch Albright.
She told A&E that she wanted to “give the families closure” and that it was important for her to “find the eyeballs”.
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She was unable to ask Albright in person where the eyeballs were, because he was in the prison hospice by the time that she retired.
Albright died on August 22, 2020, at the age of 87, after being imprisoned since 1991.
Where to watch Serial Killer: The Regina Smith Story
TRUE crime fans can watch Serial Killer: The Regina Smith Story by subscribing to the Lifetime movie club.
For just $4.99 a month, you can access all of Lifetime's movies and stream them on demand as soon as they're released.
The subscription can be used on the Lifetime app, which can be downloaded to any Apple or Android product.
Fans can also watch the movie life on the Lifetime television channel when it premieres at 8 pm ET on Saturday.
Some popular cable plans include Hulu + Life TV, and the streaming service Sling TV.
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