The Killer Driller (Pt. II): A Serial Contract Killer Case Study - COUNTERPROPAGANDA

Resuming our foray into the sordid, illustrative tale of sus dentist & serial contract killer Glennon Engleman—the Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde of sleepy, military & aerospace manufacturing hub St. Louis in the '50s / '60s / '70s / '80s... We examine his Army Air Corps background, the surprising PTK contours of his case, his Black Widow grooming, his mob enforcer aspirations, and the possible implications of various threads connecting him to organized crime & sexual trafficking in the St. Louis area... Lots of novel research in these two installments, strap in.

This concluding ep of the Engleman contract killing case study is where our investigation really picks up, reaching some climactic revelations, including:

• A quite unexpected & rarely covered New Age mystical undercurrent to the case, including the Engleman family's abiding interest in esoterica (not to mention Glennon’s quasi Manson-esque astral projection prison ministry).

• We learn even more about his mob enforcer aspirations.

• We uncover the Killer Driller victim Frey's work w/ a St. Louis executive class airplane renovating firm that designed luxury cabins for company planes, including hugely successful corporations & conglomerates like Coca-Cola, GM, Northrop Grumman, Anheuser-Busch, etc.

• We tease out the sex trafficking angle to the Bullock cold case, discovering that the Killer Driller was not only performing off the books medical work for what appears to have been a high society escort service, possibly w/ St. Louis organized crime or mafia ties, but that he was also married to one of the Guys & Dolls Club’s most desired prostitutes, aka his first wife Ruthie.

• We even find tell of an Epstein-esque “black book” that named the powerful clientele of this prostitution ring, and by extension, can reasonably speculate that said document played a key role in the coverup of the Bullock murder.

• All in all, peeling back layers to this off the beaten path serial contract killer case in American true crime that most handlings have missed, dimensions to the case study that are even more resonant w/ Programmed to Kill or Eye of the Chickenhawk than I first anticipated.

• And staying true to the Counterpropaganda miniseries & our growing noided media studies department, we also alight upon a film & a prestige TV series that were both inspired by Glennon Engleman… Namely ‘90s body horror flick The Dentist & FX’s Fargo S1.

• I also deliver some closing remarks as to why I think the Killer Driller goes a long way towards contradicting Linklater’s “hit men don’t exist” thesis of “Hit Man”.

Songs & Clips: 

| FBI Files - "Serial Killer Dentist" Intro |

| FBI Files - "Serial Killer Dentist" scene depicting an interaction b/w Glennon's first wife Ruthie & a SLPD officer while awaiting the identification of Bullock's body |

| Vintage KDSK - "Mob violence in St. Louis" |

| MACABRE - "Drill Bit Lobotomy" |

| Sun Kil Moon - "Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes" |