{{short description|Canadian serial killer}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Gerald Thomas Archer | birth_date = {{birth-date|1932}} | birth_place = London, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{death year and age|1995|1932}} | death_place = Ontario, Canada | other_names = The Chambermaid Slayer<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/03/10/london-serial-killer-capital-michael-arntfield_n_4937693.html|title = London, Ontario Was Serial Killer Capital Of The World: Book|publisher = The Huffington Post|date = 10 March 2014|website = huffingtonpost.ca|access-date = 25 March 2017}}</ref> <br> The London Chambermaid Killer <br> The London Chambermaid Slayer | conviction_penalty = Life imprisonment with the possibility of parole | conviction_status = Deceased | spouse = Mary Archer (m. 1967) | children = 1 | motive = Sexual sadism<ref name = "En">{{cite book|author = Michael Newton|author-link = Michael Newton (author)|title = The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers|year = 2006|publisher = Checkmark Books|isbn = 9780816061969|page = 312}}</ref> | conviction = Non-capital murder | victims = 3 | beginyear = 31 January 1969 | endyear = 23 January 1971 | country = Canada | locations = Ontario | apprehended = February 1971 }}

'''Gerald Thomas Archer''' (1932 – 1995) was a Canadian serial killer who was active in and around his hometown of London, Ontario from January 1969 to January 1971. Since all three of his confirmed victims were female hotel employees,<ref name = "CTV1">{{cite web|url = https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/serial-killer-capital-of-the-world-a-look-at-london-onts-dark-history/|title = Serial-killer capital of the world? A look at London, Ont.'s dark history|last = Suen|first = Fan-Yee|publisher = CTV News|date = 10 March 2010|website = ctvnews.ca|access-date = 25 March 2017}}</ref> he became known as '''"The London Chambermaid Slayer."'''<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/new-book-claims-london-was-once-serial-killer-capital-of-the-world/|title = New book claims London was once serial killer capital of the world|publisher = CTV News|date = 12 March 2014|website = london.ctvnews.ca|access-date = 25 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/19/serial-killer-london-ontario-canada|title = What turned one city in Canada into the 'serial killer capital' of the world?|last = Lindzon|first = Jared|date = 19 August 2015|website = The Guardian|access-date = 25 March 2017}}</ref>

== Early life == Gerald Thomas Archer was born in London, Ontario in 1932 and by 1950 had a criminal record for offences which included robbery, breaking and entering, and possession. He began corresponding with a woman named Mary in 1966, and met her in person in December 1967. The two wed eleven days after their initial meeting and lived in Merlin until October 1970, when they moved to Adelaide Street South, Chatham.<ref name = "WS">{{cite news|title = Court hears accused's wife|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kTM_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2690%2C1484275|access-date = 25 March 2017|newspaper = Windsor Star|date = 16 June 1971|author = Peter Earle}}</ref><ref name = "WS2">{{cite news|title = Archer trial|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kTM_AAAAIBAJ&pg=2473%2C1474420|access-date = 25 March 2017|newspaper = Windsor Star|date = 16 June 1971|author = Peter Earle}}</ref>

== Murders == '''Jane Wooley''', 62,<ref name = "GM">{{cite news|url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/murder-suspects-dead-cold-squad-determines/article25455328/|title = Murder suspects dead, cold squad determines|publisher = The Globe and Mail|date = 16 February 2000|website = theglobeandmail.com|access-date = 25 March 2017}}</ref> was beaten and stabbed to death in her York Street, London apartment on 31 January 1969.<ref name = "MC">{{cite book|author = Michael Andrew Arntfield|author-link = Michael Andrew Arntfield|title = Murder City: The Untold Story of Canada's Serial Killer Capital, 1954–1984|url = http://www.friesenpress.com/bookstore/title/119734000018536242/Michael-Arntfield-Murder-City|access-date = 25 March 2017|year = 2015|publisher = Friesens|isbn = 9781460261828}}</ref> Her body was discovered by a friend and the police on 3 February. She worked as a chambermaid at a Dundas Street hotel called the London House.<ref name = "FP">{{cite news|title = Area serial killer identified|newspaper = The London Free Press|date = 16 February 2000|author = Roxanne Beaubien}}</ref> Money was stolen from her purse<ref name = "MC">{{cite book|author = Michael Andrew Arntfield|author-link = Michael Andrew Arntfield|title = Murder City: The Untold Story of Canada's Serial Killer Capital, 1954–1984|url = http://www.friesenpress.com/bookstore/title/119734000018536242/Michael-Arntfield-Murder-City|access-date = 25 March 2017|year = 2015|publisher = Friesens|isbn = 9781460261828}}</ref> and most of her clothing had been removed, which led investigators to conclude that she was killed by her assailant while he was in the midst of attempting to rape her.<ref name = "CN">{{cite book|author = Lee Mellor|author-link = Lee Mellor|title = Cold North Killers: Canadian Serial Murder|year = 2012|publisher = Dundurn Press|isbn = 9781459701243|pages = 351–352}}</ref>

'''Edith Authier''', 57,<ref name = "GM"/> was beaten and stabbed to death in her William Street, Merlin home on 4 September 1970.<ref name = "MC"/> Her body was discovered the next day by her neighbour Mary Gray.<ref name = "FP"/> She worked as a chambermaid at the William Pitt Hotel in Chatham, was sexually assaulted before being killed, and had money stolen from her purse.<ref name = "MC"/>

Merrill Hotel chambermaid '''Belva Russell''', 57, was beaten to death in her Adelaide Street South, Chatham apartment on 23 January 1971. Her body was discovered minutes after her death by her common-law husband Reginald Tomlinson, who bumped into an unfamiliar man running out of the building as he was entering it at around 2:00am. Most of Mrs. Russell's clothing had been removed, which led investigators to assume that she had been killed during a struggle with an assailant who had attempted to rape her.<ref name = "WS"/><ref name = "WS2"/><ref name = "WS3">{{cite news|title = Waiter tells of drinking with accused on day of murder|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kTM_AAAAIBAJ&pg=5456%2C768541|access-date = 25 March 2017|newspaper = Windsor Star|date = 16 June 1971|author = Peter Earle}}</ref><ref name = "WS4">{{cite news|title = Archer trial|url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kTM_AAAAIBAJ&pg=3789%2C756585|access-date = 25 March 2017|newspaper = Windsor Star|date = 16 June 1971|author = Peter Earle}}</ref>

== Arrest and trial == Archer was picked up for questioning over the death of Belva Russell by detectives on 12 February 1971, and was arrested and charged with the non-capital murder of Mrs. Russell after being fingerprinted<ref name = "FP"/> and identified in a police line-up by Mr. Tomlinson. Archer's trial began in June, was held in Kent County, and was presided over by Mr. Justice W.F. Donahue.<ref name = "WS"/><ref name = "WS2"/><ref name = "WS3"/><ref name = "WS4"/> When the twelve-man jury finished deliberating and returned with a verdict of guilty, Archer responded to his sentence of life imprisonment<ref name = "FP"/> by shouting, "That's only the first strike against me. The ball game isn't over yet!"<ref name = "CN"/>

== Death == Archer was paroled in 1985, became a drifter, died of a heart attack in 1995, and had his unclaimed body buried in a potter's field. After his death, his estranged wife and daughter both came forward and informed the police that Archer had once drunkenly confessed to them that he had killed Edith Authier. Authorities exhumed Archer's remains in February 2000 to procure DNA samples, which matched DNA extracted from cigarette butts found near Jane Wooley's body.<ref name = "MC"/>

== See also == * List of serial killers by country

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archer, Gerald Thomas}} Category:1932 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Canadian male criminals Category:Canadian people convicted of murder Category:Canadian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Category:Canadian rapists Category:Canadian serial killers Category:20th-century Canadian murderers Category:Crime in Ontario Category:Canadian homeless people Category:People convicted of murder by Canada Category:People from London, Ontario Category:People paroled from life sentence Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Canada Category:Violence against women in Ontario