What did Larry Lee Ranes do?
Larry Lee Ranes is an American serial killer who operated primarily in Kalamazoo, Michigan. On the 30th of May 1964, Larry posed as a hitchhiker and picked up by Gary Albert Smock, a schoolteacher who was just passing through Kalamazoo.
Larry pulled a weapon on Smock and forced him to climb into the trunk of the car. Smock tried to escape from the car, but Ranes stopped the vehicle, tied him up and shot him twice in the back of the head. He stole items from the car and left it on the side of the road, where it was later discovered by police.
Months passed by with no arrests, but Ranes had boasted about the murder to a number of people and was arrested in early June 1964. He admitted to killing Smock.
What happened after Ranes’ arrest and at the trial?
During questioning, Larry told police he killed 4 other people during hold-ups at various gas stations. Ranes said his motive for the killings was robbery. Ranes was declared insane with doctors concluding that trauma inflicted on him by his father caused him to develop a hatred of gas stations, as they brought back memories of his abusive father.
The trial commenced in late September 1964. On the 8th of October, he was found guilty of the murder of Gary Smock, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Where is Larry Lee Ranes now?
Larry Lee Ranes was serving his life sentence at Saginaw Correctional Facility in Freeland, Michigan before his death in November 2023. He was 78 years old.
He Went That Way is a 2023 film about Ranes’ crimes and tells the story of one of the survivors and his ordeals. Jacob Elordi plays Larry Lee Ranes.
Larry’s brother, Danny Arthur Ranes, was also a serial killer who carried out a series of murders separate from his brother’s crimes.
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