A native of Las Vegas, born in 1956, Horton was possessed of an explosive temper and "a bad habit of pulling the trigger" when quarrels erupted into violence. Between the ages of 16 and 20, he dispatched at least one victim per year, regaling the judge at his murder trial with a promise to take more lives in the future, if the opportunity arose.

Horton's first victim was a "Jane Doe," picked up at a liquor store in the latter half of 1972, beaten to death with a jack handle and dumped in the desert when she objected to Wayne's smoking marijuana while driving. Her skeletal remains, complete with shattered skull, were found on February 4, 1973, but the woman remains unidentified today.

On May 12, 1975, Horton tried to rob Edward Buccieri, a 52-year-old shift boss at Caesar's Palace, shooting his victim five times in the head after Buccieri "called him dirty names." Three months later, Horton repeated the performance -- down to the number of gunshots -- with Las Vegas cab driver William Tinnell. Far from insulting Horton, the cabbie was on his knees, pleading for mercy when he died, but Wayne felt no sympathy. As he explained in court, "I don't think he deserved to live."

On April 21, 1976, Horton was jailed in Las Vegas, awaiting trial on charges of rape, robbery, and kidnapping, when he led two cellmates in fatally stabbing 19-year-old Calvin Brinson. All three prisoners were charged with murder, but Horton freely confessed his role in the unprovoked attack, blaming Brinson's death on his own "frustration" at confinement.

On June 5, 1976, Horton pled guilty to the Buccieri and Tinnell murders, giggling as he described the crimes in court. In return for his guilty plea, various other felony charges were dismissed, including the August 1975 strangulation murder of Delmar Bright, later charged to serial slayer Billy Chadd. Three weeks later, Horton received two consecutive terms of life imprisonment without parole, publicly lamenting the fact that he would not be executed. Voicing his intention to claim future victims, Horton said, "There are several people I'm going to kill if I can." When a black prisoner began chuckling nervously, Horton swung around to face him. "Go ahead and laugh, nigger," he snarled. "You might just be the first one."

The killer was more subdued on August 3, when he filed guilty pleas in the deaths of Calvin Brinson and the "Jane Doe" victim, drawing two more terms of life without parole. Nevada authorities announced their intention of seeking Horton's transfer to a California prison, where he would be permanently out of touch with other inmates he has vowed to murder.

Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers

Wayne Donald Horton

Wayne Horton was definetly one sadidtic little fucker as a kid. Everyone knew that he had a violent temper, and they also knew he had no qualms about lashing out at anyone, no matter who they were. The real mystery regarding Horton is why no one seemed to figure out he was going to turn out to be a killer.

At the age of 16 Horton made his first kill. It was late in 1972 when it happened. The victim was picked up at a liquor store by Horton. He promised some marijuana to a young lady if she would come for a drive with him. It seems that young Wayne was able to hide his sadidtic side long enough for her to accept the offer. They drove into the desert smoking pot until Horton decided he had had enough talk. He stopped the car, picked up a jack handle and smashed the stupid bitches head in. He dumped her in the desert - where her skeleton, complete with shattered skull, was found on February 4, 1973. The bones were never identified, so for the purposes of this page we shall just call her 'Jane Doe'.

Wayne Horton seemed to settle for petty crimes over the next year. But the urge to kill came back over him on May 12, 1975. He was attempting to rob Edward Buccieri, 52. According to Horton, Buccieri "called him dirty names", so he decided to shut him up. Five bullets to the head seemed to solve the problem, and from this moment on Buccieri never called anyone else 'dirty names', in fact he didn't even breathe again.

This murder was repeated three months later when Horton robbed cab driver William Tinnell. It seems that Tinnell didn't call Horton any names, but that didn't really matter to Horton. As he said later "I don't think he deserved to live." And for Tinnell this was enough to end his life. He was dispatched with five bullets to the head as he was on his knees pleading with Horton for his life.

In April, 1976, Horton was arrested on charges of rape, kidnapping and robbery.

It seems that this really annoyed him, so him and his cell mates murdered another cell mate, Calvin Brinson, 19. Horton was not actually the murderer here, he just ordered his cell mates to do the stabbing. When caught he openly admitted to his part in the murder. He stated that Brinson died because of his 'frustration' at being in confinement.

On June 5, 1976, Horton pled guilty to the murders of Buccieri and Tinnell. He seemed to be really enjoying himself in court. As he told of his actions in the murders he laughed continuously. In return for these admissions the D.A. dropped other charges they had against Horton including another murder. He was given two sentences of life without parole. this seemed to upset Horton as he publicly stated that he would have preferred the death penalty.

But this wasn't the end for Wayne Horton. From the moment he entered prison he said that he would kill other prisoner that upset him. At one point he stated, "There are several people I am going to kill if I can." At this point a black prisoner laughed leaded Horton to reply, "Go ahead and laugh nigger. You just might be the first one."

On August 3, 1976, two more murder charges were filed against Horton - Jane Doe and Calvin Brinson - for which he eventually received two more life sentences.

Not long after this Nevada officials decided that it was too dangerous to have Horton in there prisons since he had death threats out against too many other prisoners. I'm unsure about what happened with this transfer request but he may have been moved to California.

Interesting Bit:

Wayne Horton was originally charged with the murder of Delmar Bright. This charge was eventually dropped when the real murder was caught. The murderer was another serial killer, Billy Chadd.

The Wacky World of Murder

SEX: M RACE: W TYPE: N MOTIVE: PC/CE

MO: Impulsive killer of victims in arguments and holdups.

DISPOSITION: Four terms of life without parole, 1976.