Albert Fish was born in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 1870. After his arrest 65 years later, the soon-to-be-convicted killer described his early life to the New York City press.
My father dropped dead October 15, 1875, in the old Pennsylvania Station where President Garfield was shot, and I was placed in St. John’s Orphanage in Washington. I was there till I was nearly nine, and that’s where I got started wrong. We were unmercifully whipped. I saw boys doing many things they should not have done.
Granted, Albert Fish had a tough break when his elderly father died and his mother placed him in the orphanage at 20th and F Street (not far from the White House). But many children have tough starts in life, and they do not end up on death row. What made Albert Fish different?
His defense lawyer later argued that all his years as a painter caused Fish to develop "lead colic." That hardly explains his dastardly, criminal deeds. Even if he had that illness, it doesn’t excuse the horror he inflicted on beautiful little
Grace Budd.