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Scott Lee Kimball is an American serial killer who got the nickname Hannibal for his way of manipulating his victims, before killing them. Meanwhile, Hannibal Lecter is a fictional character, described as an intellectual, cannibalistic serial killer, known for helping the FBI to understand the psyche of complex murder patterns.
The character is created by American author Thomas Harris, who has written a series of suspense novels revolving around this serial killer. Hannibal Lecter first appeared on the screen in the 1986 thriller movie Manhunter, based on Harris' 1981 book Red Dragon.
The character went on to appear in The Silence of the Lambs in 1988, for which Anthony Hopkins received the Oscar, for playing Lecter. The serial killer had his screen time in other works including Hannibal (1999), Hannibal Rising (2006), and the NBC series Hannibal (2013).
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Similar to Hannibal, Kimball is a master con man, with a sharp intelligence, plotting his murders with complex planning, while disguising himself as an FBI informant. The complete story of the real-life Hannibal Lecter is documented in Very Scary People season 6, episode 7 titled The Real Hannibal. The episode was released on January 26, 2025, on Investigation Discovery.
Who is the inspiration behind Hannibal Lecter?
As per The Latin Times article, published on July 19, 2013, Thomas Harris, the creator of Hannibal got his inspiration to create the character, after visiting the Nuevo León State Prison, in the capital city of Monterrey, Mexico. It was during the 1960s when Harris worked as a journalist for the Argosy magazine.
He was tasked to visit the prison in Mexico and interview a mental patient named Dykes Askew Simmons, who was under death sentence, for three murders. He was shot down for escaping by the prison guards and was getting treated by a prison doctor who was known as Dr. Salazar.
Prison guards revealed that Dr. Salazar was a convicted murderer, who could package his victims in a surprisingly small box. Harris later revealed that Dr. Salazar was Doctor Alfredo Ballí Treviño, the last criminal in Mexico to be sentenced to death in 1959. Dr. Salazaar became the inspiration for Harris to create Hannibal Lecter.
What is the story of Scott Lee Kimball?
Born in the city of Boulder, Colorado in 1966, Kimball was ten years old when his parents separated. As per a Daily Camera article, published on March 15, 2010, Kimball had trouble with law enforcement after he shot a gun from the window to the surrounding houses.
He suffered an abusive childhood after he and his brother Brett moved to their grandmother's mobile house. As per the Daily Camera article, one of the neighbors Theodore Peyton, started abusing him sexually at his cabin in Nederland, Colorado. This only stopped when he attempted suicide at the age of 23, which left him in a critical medical condition.
After his recovery, he was mentally deranged and emotionally unfastened. The abuse left him deeply scarred, which later influenced his actions. As per The Snitch, Scott Lee Kimball started committing minor fraud, involving passing bad checks and credit card scams. He repeatedly scammed business associations and individual people but managed to evade law enforcement authorities.
Scott Lee Kimball married three times, but all his partners reported him of assault and abuse. As per The Snitch, his second wife Larissa Hentz charged him with kidnapping and r*pe, however, the charges were dropped. During the time spanning between 2003 and 2004, he was convicted of atleast four murders.
As per the Daily Camera article, Kimball traveled to Alaska and scammed forged checks with a sum of $25,000. He was eventually arrested by the FBI and convicted in March 2003. However, Kimball managed to make a deal with the Federals, to work for them as a paid informant.
He was eventually released, and Scott started abusing his newfound position, to carry out frauds, which eventually shifted to murder. During this time, Kimball went on a killing spree, luring his victims with a promise. Similar to Hannibal Lecter, he disguised himself as an affluent man, promising his victims better jobs, or relationships.
After killing them, he dumped the bodies in such a way, that investigators couldn't manage to find them for years. As per The Snitch, around the time between 2003 and 2004, he was convicted for the murders of LeAnn Emry, Jennifer Marcum, Kaysi McLeod, and Terry Kimball.
Investigators were shocked upon realizing that Kaysi McLeod was his stepdaughter, while Terry Kimball was his own uncle. Three of his victim's remains were discovered several years after the murder, while the body of Jennifer Marcum was never found. Other than the four murders, investigators suspected Scott Lee Kimball, to be involved in 21 more murder cases.
As per The Snitch, it was on October 2009, when Scott Lee Kimball was sentenced to seventy years in prison. As per another Daily Camera article, published on March 2, 2011, while in prison Kimball wrote a long letter to his family, in which he accepted murdering the four victims.
Additionally, he narrated the way he committed the murders, with pre-meditated plans, and utmost intelligence. The letter was also sent to the FBI who discovered that his narration was different from what he said to the investigators. Currently, Scott Lee Kimball is serving his sentence behind bars at the United States Penitentiary, Florence High in the state of Colorado, United States.
To know more about the story of Scott Lee Kimball, the real-life Hannibal Lecter, watch Very Scary People season 6, episode 7 titled The Real Hannibal. The episodes of Very Scary People are available for streaming on Discovery Plus.
