South Carolina’s most feared serial murderer was born on March 13, 1933 in Florence County. He was five-foot, four-inch tall, Donald Henry Gaskins Jr. Between the years of 1953 and 1982 he had committed 9 proven murders, but according to his own words and the research of others, it is believed that he may have committed as many as one hundred!

Gaskin’s life began as a disruptive, unstructured existence. He was born out of wedlock and his mother lived with several different men during Donald’s childhood. Most of these men wanted nothing to do with him other than wanting him out of their way. He was frequently beaten while his mother did little or nothing to protect him. He raised himself from an early age. His mother finally did marry, but the new husband beat Donald regularly, as he did Donald’s half siblings.

By the time he started elementary school, Donald was known as “Pee Wee“, due to his diminutive stature. He made failing grades and his methods of dealing with others was violent. He knew that at home, violence worked. He fought almost daily and was frequently being disciplined by the teachers. From that early age, he had a burning hatred for people, women more so than men. At eleven years of age, he dropped out of school to work for an auto repair facility, while helping out at the family farm. While working part time at the garage, he met two other boys named Danny and Marsh. The three became friends and began to call themselves the Trouble Trio. The Trouble Trio engaged in various illegal activities, including burglaries, rapes and threats against victims to keep them from telling the police.

During one episode, the trio gang-raped Marsh's younger sister. When the girl told of the attack, all the parents got together, tied the three hoodlums up and beat them until they bled! Following this, Danny and Marsh left the area. However, Gaskins remained, staying active in minor criminal activity.

REFORM SCHOOL

When he was thirteen years of age, a young female schoolmate recognized him as he attempted to burglarize the girl’s home. She grabbed a hatchet and pursued Gaskins. He managed to get the hatchet from her and struck her on the head and arm with it. He simply left her lying there. It was for this crime that he got his first supervised sentence at a reform school. The girl survived the attack. Gaskins was found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon and the intent to kill. He was sentenced to the South Carolina Industrial School for Boys until he turned 18 years of age.

Reform school was rough on Gaskins. He was raped repeatedly and spent much of his time plotting escape attempts. During much of his time there, he performed sexual favors for the gang leaders in exchange for protection. He was frequently punished for his escape attempts.

In March, 1951, Gaskins was released.