Jonah Applebaum (alias The Boxcar Basher) is a schizophrenic former athlete who became a homeless street performer and a serial killer active nationwide.
Background[]
Applebaum was a hopeful for Olympic pole-vaulting when he was 23. Because he had a drug problem, it led to a car accident that broke his arm, ruining his career. When his arm was repaired, he showed signs of paranoid schizophrenia, which he sought help for with the support of his cousin Jen Nelson, who Applebaum stayed with after he got estranged from his brother in California. When Applebaum stopped attending appointments, he became a homeless street performer with a unique style of dancing and singing on roller skates, which coined the moniker "Bipolar Roller" for him.
Two brothers, Bob and Grant Carpenter, wanted to try and design a fashion line inspired by Applebaum's style and notoriety, which gave Applebaum the royalties and left Jen his heir. Unbeknownst to all of them, Applebaum was a train-hopping serial killer of transient men he met on the railways, ending up with the nickname "The Boxcar Basher" from the FBI. Applebaum was motivated by his paranoid delusions, which were always about Russian spies he alleged caused his accident and he saw all the victims as. At least nine men were killed in such fashions, including in Buffalo.
Skate or Die[]
The Carpenters wanted to sell the brand to overseas producers, which meant Applebaum needed to be ruined to stop him from being the face of the business. When they realized his murders, they saw an opportunity. They killed Paco, his friend in the homeless population with Applebaum's Olympic roller skates as a birthday present, and two other transient men in Manhattan who were witnesses, inaccurately carving and drawing symbols all over their bodies based on a fan site made from the murders. Because they originally tried to kill Applebaum but saw the wrong man, they were hoping Applebaum would be framed.
The plan almost worked, as Applebaum was arrested for the murders. His brother came from California to post his bail, Applebaum was detained again on conclusive evidence. He was brought to testify against Bob and Grant to ensure they'd be put away. However, with Applebaum refusing his medicine, his psychosis left him incoherent and unstable on the stand, to the point his testimony was unreliable. Cutter resorted to provoking Applebaum's paranoia with lies about the "Russian spies", which made Applebaum lunge at Cutter, who headbutted him and ordered him on meds against his will. With his coherence back, he successfully revealed he was the target of the brothers, remorsefully confessing to his own murders on the stand. The Carpenters were provoked to want to negotiate a deal, while Applebaum was institutionalized to get proper treatment.
Known Victims[]
- Nine unnamed homeless men
- EADA Michael Cutter (assaulted)