A Lifetime of Violence – Joseph Palczynski

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29th March 2019  •  5 min read

Joseph Palczynski was a spree killer with a very violent history. He attacked a number of teenage girls before finally snapping.


A Lifetime of Violence - Joseph Palczynski

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Morbidology is a weekly true crime podcast created and hosted by Emily G. Thompson. Using investigative research combined with primary audio, Morbidology takes an in-depth look at true crime cases from all across the world.


Today we have an amazing article submitted by Dakota Campbell, the co-producer of the podcast, This Week In Crime. The podcast is weekly true crime podcast focusing on crimes that happen this week in history. Find them on iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere else you find your podcasts. They are also on Instagram and Twitter.They cover this case on Joseph Palczynski on Episode 6.


There isn’t a string of trauma and abuse in Joseph’s past that made him a violent criminal. No, by all accounts he had a loving mother, perhaps too loving and too ready to jump to his defense, a snowplow parent removing any obstacle in her son’s path. He also seems to have a loving step father, someone he kept up with after his mother’s divorce during his adult life. His father, while not always present in his life, has never been accused of abusing him either. When Patsy, his mother, was asked why her son was so violent, she cited a head injury when he was 14.1Joseph had been in a bus accident and hit his head. His violent tendencies began just days later, when he tore up Patsy’s kitchen in a tornado of curses, yelling, and violence. It was so bad, Patsy had to call emergency personnel to come restrain her son, get him over to the hospital and find out just what was going on.

Joesph’s dad, Joseph Palczynski Sr., was not in his life much. Joseph, who went by Joe or Joby, went through his parents divorce when he was in elementary school, and is later cited as saying the older Palczynski meant little to him, if anything at all. But even his father noticed a change in Joby’s behavior around this time, saying to The Washington Post: “It started when he was 15. He’d get really angry sometimes and you never saw it coming.” This bus accident was not the only thing that Joby blamed his violence on. His sister passed away in a car accident when he was 17 and the doctors couldn’t get his medication right – he was taking lithium to treat bipolar disorder1. But violent Joby was. He attacked and assaulted 7 women in thirteen years, some little older then children: Amie, 16, Kimberley, 16, Sharon, 17, Michella, 17, Stacy, 17, and one unnamed Idaho girl, 15.2

But it was his last girlfriend, Tracy Whitehead, 22, who would really see what Joby was capable of.

She was just 20 when she met Joby, who was in late 20s at the time. She had a child, a son, and was a single mother. She knew Joby’s past but believed him when he said that was behind him. She had a past, too. She was 15 when she got pregnant with her son and it was down hill from there, dropping out of school and getting hooked on drugs.3 Joby was trying to get his life back on track it seems, and he’d help her get hers back, too, maybe even so much so that her son could come live with her again. When she was deep in the throws of addiction, she sent her son to live with his grandmother.

The whirlwind romance moved fast. They moved in together and Tracy got a job. She didn’t miss a single day at Dante’s Frozen Pizza, and Joby helped her get clean, and started taking her out to spend time with her son. He also began abusing her. Verbally at first, telling her how she was a bad mother, and a bad person and from a bad family. He accused her of making eyes at other men in the mall. She got a new, better job and began dressing nice to go to work, inciting his rage. He began physically abusing her. Tracy wasn’t one to take this treatment, and left Joby on multiple occasions but every time, he would come around again. But the last time, after two years with Joby, Tracy was done. In a fit of rage, he had admitted to cheating on her, and she made up a lie to get back at him – she was cheating too. When she returned home after this spat, he had destroyed her belongings, all her clothes, everything. It was too much for Tracy, who had just gotten a promotion and knew she deserved better. She couldn’t just up and leave – she had to be patient. And patient she was, combing rental ads and saving money, but she was scared and confided in a woman at work, Gloria Shenk. Gloria had also been in a bad relationship and had stayed for far too long, and was all too willing to help, letting Tracy stay with her and her husband.

Tracy went home to pack up anything she had that Joby hadn’t destroyed, but he was hot on her trail, showing up at her work and demanding to know where she was. He got home before Tracy could leave and was none to happy to find out she was trying to escape. He violently assaulted her, and then made her call work to tell them she wouldn’t be back. Gloria knew better than to think the two had just made up, and asked Tracy if she should call the police. Tracy said yes. Joby was led away in handcuffs, and Tracy was off to Gloria’s to start her new life. Joby wouldn’t get away from the law this time, she thought. Patsy was on scene before they even took Joby away. Joby was already on probation, she told Tracy, you file charges and he’s going to jail for sure. Just let me put you on a bus and send you far, far away. Florida? No. Tracy had built her life, her new life. She wasn’t going to let Joby scare her away.

Joby went to jail but spent less than 24 hours in there before Patsy posted his bail, 7,500 dollars. He went to go visit his mother when he got out, and ask her to buy him a gun. She refused, but one his neighbors didn’t mind doing the favor in her place. That woman would get 16 months in prison for her troubles and the ensuing violence that occurred because of it.4He was going to get his woman back and kill anyone who stood in his way. And those “anyone’s” were Gloria and George Shenk, who were letting Tracy Whitehead live with them. On March 7, 2000, Joby kidnapped Tracy and killed neighbor, David Meyers, who was only trying to help save Tracy.5He took three lives that day. He took Tracy to a motel where he held her captive, but she was able to free herself and get in touch with a police officer who happened to be there. Joby was not apprehended, though, and went on the run. He attempted to carjack a woman, firing a bullet that ricocheted into a passing car and killed a pregnant woman and injure her 2-year-old son. He eventually kidnapped a man and forced him to drive him back to Baltimore from where he had ended up. Tracy had returned to living with her parents but was put up in a hotel by Police once they realized he was coming for her. And come he did, to her parent’s house. 

On March 27, 2000, Joby had one demand as he called police from inside the hostage’s house in the first minutes of their ordeal – bring him Tracy, and he wouldn’t hurt anyone. Police refused to allow them contact over the next four days, for fear that Josby would use a phone call to kill Tracy’s family – her mother, mother’s boyfriend, and little brother – on the phone while she listened. Joby held out for four days, firing his weapon in response to investigators and the family. Lynn Whitehead, Tracy’s mother, was getting frusturated after 4 days held captive in he own house. She devised a plan, drugging Joby with Xanax in his tea and putting him to sleep. She escaped first, out a window, with Andrew McCord, her boyfriend, following. Bradley, the couple’s twelve-year-old son, was left inside for fear that his exit would be too loud and wake up the drugged Joby. Police stormed the home, fearing for Bradley’s safety.

When the struggle was over, and Bradley was safe, Joby was not. He had been shot 27 times, putting an end to the years of violence that he had reigned on unsuspecting women who fell for his trap. Just like that, it was over, and Tracy and Patsy had to return to their lives, both victims of loving an abusive man.

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Footnotes:

  1. The Washington Post, 19 March, 2009 – “A Jekyl and Hide Personality”
  2. The Baltimore Sun, 2 July, 2009 – “A Tragic Trail of Violence”
  3. The Baltimore Sun, 3 July 2009 – “Breaking Point”
  4. The Associated Press, 18 January, 2001 – “Woman Who Bought Gun In Rampage Gets 16 Months In Prison”
  5. The Washington Post, 26 March, 2000 – “Killed For Kindness”

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Ari Hudson
Ari Hudson
4 years ago

What a freak. Some men are such scumbags. All that because his girlfriend left him? Disgusting.

Susanna Vesna
Susanna Vesna
4 years ago

Crazy story. Sorry to say, the article is not very well written, comparing to many others on this site. So many grammatical mistakes. Not saying this to offend anyone, just a suggestion- to proof-read before posting.

KOB
KOB
4 years ago
Reply to  Susanna Vesna

I have to agree with you. I cringed at the writing so many times. It would have been a compelling story, but the errors ruined it for me.

Joanne
Joanne
4 years ago
Reply to  Susanna Vesna

Maybe it has been edited but I like the article. It isn’t written by the normal author I noticed though so the writing style is different…

Lars
Lars
4 years ago
Reply to  Susanna Vesna

The podcast isn’t any better. It’s like listening to my mom and sister talk about shopping. No structure whatsoever.

Brianna
Brianna
4 years ago
Reply to  Lars

Honestly the podcast is good once you skip past all the small chat. I had to skip like the first 30 mins of them speaking about a new job. They should cut that all out and just tell the story because it was interesting… just an idea girls.

Lars
Lars
4 years ago
Reply to  Brianna

Indeed, I admire your patience because I was not interested anymore after one of the ladies mentioned that they were done working and ready to tell people how to do their job.

Aleksandra
Aleksandra
2 months ago
Reply to  Susanna Vesna

Same here, I had so much trouble reading it. Compared to other authors this one is a hard read.

Jax
Jax
4 years ago

Roid rage?

Yael
Yael
4 years ago

This article is incredibly poorly written. It is unfocused, filled with grammatical errors, and just absolutely awkward to read. The name of the suspect about whom this entire article is written is even misspelled twice!

I know this sounds cery harsh, but this is an example of genuinely bad writting and worse editing.

Ambree Barrett
Ambree Barrett
4 years ago

I know there were two more people he assaulted because My sister is Amie… the first one he started with. He kidnapped my sister her best friend and her brother and then beat all three of them for hours and tried to kill my sister. He got sentenced to 10 years for his actions but of course didn’t serve all the time and went right back out to doing it. I’ll never forget .. Jobys mom was begging us to drop the charges and my mom said “he’s going to kill somebody someday, we have to do this” I was… Read more »

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