O’Mather Halko was the wife of Danny Rolling, a serial killer who inspired the 1996 movie, Scream. He was known as the ‘Gainesville Ripper’ for terrorizing the Florida college students during a three-day murderous rampage in the summer of 1990. Although they were not married for long, the two had a daughter together.
Rolling had suffered abuse at the hands of his father at a tender age. In his words, the horrendous childhood made him a menace to society. As a result of his violence, his marriage to O’Mather Halko in the 70s did not last long. Keep scrolling to learn more about O’Mather’s killer husband until the time of his execution in 2006.
O’Mather Halko Personal Life
O’Mather Halko was 19 when she married Rolling on September 6, 1974, at the United Pentecostal Church in Shreveport. However, their marriage ended in a few years due to his abusive nature. The couple had a daughter together. Other than that, we can only dwell on the story of Rolling since he is the reason Halko is in the spotlight.
Danny Rolling’s Story
Rolling was born in 1954 in Shreveport, where he grew up in an abusive home in Louisiana. His mother, Claudia, was 19 years old when he was born. His father, James Harold Rolling, was a retired Shreveport, La, police officer who heaped on Rolling physical and emotional abuse over the years. Due to his controlling nature, James fought his wife Claudia and impacted verbal abuse on Rolling and his younger brother, Kevin.
Rolling turned to music and art for solace. He also developed multiple personalities as a defense mechanism from the horrible reality surrounding him. His multiple suicidal attempts had failed to bring an escape.
Danny got kicked out of the Air Force in 1972 after being busted for drug possession. He went to his grandfather’s and met and married O’Mather Halko. Danny exacted similar abuse that he underwent during childhood. After divorce, he raped a woman who physically resembled his ex-wife and continued armed robberies through the 80s. He was in and out of jail several times.
Danny broke into a home in November 1989 and murdered three family members. The following May, he got into an argument with his father and shot him in the head and stomach. His crimes peaked in 1990 when he brutally killed five students in Gainesville. On August 24, he raped and killed Christina Powell and Sonja Larson. The following day he mutilated Christa Hoyt. On August 27, he killed 23-year-old Manuel Taboada and Tracy Paules.
Rolling was charged for the murders two years after he committed them since he had the habit of skipping towns as he committed his crimes. He was already facing multiple life sentences for various armed robberies when he got charged with the murders of the students in June 1992. The jury found him guilty of first-degree murder on all five counts and got a death sentence. He was executed on October 25, 2006, at Florida State Prison, where he sang a religious hymn to the 47 people in the witness room in his last moments.
Wrapping up
The spooked horror movie, Scream, was an epic success and breathed new life into the horror film genre. However, being inspired by the true story of O’Mather Halko’s ex-husband shows how evil society can be.