Gerald Eugene Stano (born Paul Zeininger; September 12, 1951 – March 23, 1998) was an American convicted serial killer. Stano murdered at least 22 young women and girls, confessed to 41 murders and the police say the number of his victims may be closer to 80. Early life Stano was born as Paul Zeininger on September 12, 1951 in Schenectady, New York, the fifth child born to his mother, and the third she put up for adoption. His biological mother neglected him to such an extent that when she gave him up for adoption at six months old, county doctors declared that he could not be adopted. They said Zeininger was functioning at "an animalistic level", even eating his own faeces to survive. Zeininger had four biological siblings who were given up for adoption. A nurse named Norma Stano eventually adopted Zeininger, giving him her last name. Despite his foster parents being described as loving, Stano continued to have behavioral problems. He was a bed wetter until the age of 10. In school, he earned Cs and Ds in all subjects except music (at which he excelled). He lied compulsively, and was once caught stealing money from his father's wallet to pay members of the track and field team to finish behind him, so he would not be viewed as a complete failure. During his youth, Stano was often bullied. At the age of 14, he was arrested for a false fire alarm and later for throwing rocks at cars from a highway bridge. Stano did not graduate high school until he was 21. After receiving his diploma, he enrolled in a computer school, graduated and began working in a local hospital. Soon after, he was fired for stealing from co-workers. After moving with his parents to Ormond Beach, Florida, he was fired from one job after another, mostly for theft or tardiness. He also once impregnated a mentally disabled girl. Stano's parents paid for her abortion. Murders Stano was arrested on March 25, 1980 after attacking a woman named Donna Hensley, who escaped a hotel room and contacted authorities at a police station. Hensley would tell police that she was a prostitute, and had been approached by a man requesting her services. Once at her motel room, the two began to argue and the man ended up stabbing her thirty times with a knife before insulting her and fleeing.