Mike DeBardeleben

James Mitchell "Mike" DeBardeleben (March 20, 1940 - January 26, 2011) was a convicted rapist and counterfeiter who became known as the "mall passer" due to his practice of passing counterfeit bills in shopping malls across the country. After his arrest for counterfeiting, he was found to have committed much more serious sex crimes. Although he was never brought to trial for murder, he was the principal suspect in two homicides and he remains a suspect in several others. He died of pneumonia at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina in early 2011.^[1].

Background

DeBardeleben grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, the second of three children. He had an older brother named Ralph and a younger sister whose identity is not publicly known. In 1945, when James was five years old, his family moved to Austin, Texas. His father who was serving in the U.S. Navy was then shipped out to the South Pacific for nine months. In 1949, his family moved to Kentucky for a short while before relocating to Frankfurt, Germany but after a year his family moved again.

Adult life

In 1956, at the age of sixteen DeBardeleben physically assaulted his mother; it is unknown what sparked this violent encounter. On September 8 that year, at the age of sixteen, he purchased two handguns and ammunition with a friend. Later that month he was arrested and convicted for his first felony, possessing a concealed firearm. This arrest was the first of many that followed including arrests for sodomy, attempted murder and kidnapping.

In the Spring of 1957 he was expelled from Peter Schuyler High School and did not seek further formal education. In October that year he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. Only after a year he was court-martialed for disorderly behavior and was sentenced to two months in the base stockade. In 1958 he was ordered to see a psychiatrist for counseling after he was pronounced AWOL several times. At the age of eighteen he was discharged from the air force and moved to Fort Worth, Texas with relatives of the family.

In 1959 he attempted school again, enrolling in R.L. Paschal High School, but after three months was expelled. In August that year he married his first wife, Linda Weir, but three weeks later separated from her. Also that month he was arrested for attempted robbery with an accomplice, followed two weeks later by his involvement in a string of auto thefts, and was sentenced to five years probation. In October with an unknown woman, he fathered a premature daughter who was a stillborn.

He later met Charlotte Weber who was seventeen at the time he started courting her. In March of 1960 he impregnated Charlotte and on June 9 the same year, married her. On December 12, 1960 he successfully fathered a daughter, Bethene. Afterward Charlotte became pregnant again with another child but was forced by Michael to give it up for adoption. In August of 1961, his brother Ralph committed suicide for unknown reasons.

Mall passing case

In the early 1980s, Secret Service agents were investigating a string of counterfeiting cases in which a man was determined to be entering a mall with a wad of counterfeit $20 bills, making a small purchase at each store in the mall, and receiving most of the remainder in legitimate cash as change. DeBardeleben was identified as the suspect in these crimes, and a national manhunt ensued.

At the time of his arrest, more wads of counterfeit $20 bills were found in his car, each with a label stating the city in which it would be used. His counterfeiting operation was also discovered, along with evidence of sex crimes.

DeBardeleben was convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to serving a 375-year sentence at Butner Federal Bureau of Prison, North Carolina. ^[2]

The DSM-IV cites DeBardeleben as an example of antisocial personality disorder.^[3]

References

1. ^ http://www.authorlink.com/news/item/2587/Sex-Criminal-DeBardeleben-Dies-Book-Chronicles-Hi
2. ^ http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Debardeleben,%20Mike%20_fall%202007_.pdf
3. ^ http://www.psychiatryonline.com/content.aspx?aID=33062

External links

• First chapter of Stephen Michaud's book Lethal Shadows, about DeBardeleben

Persondata
Name	Debardeleben, James Mitchell "Mike"
Alternative names	"The Mall Passer"
Short description	Counterfeiter, Serial rapist
Date of birth	March 20, 1940
Place of birth	Little Rock, Arkansas
Date of death
Place of death