The Karen Grammer Story

Fix Bayonets

This time the victim was a young soldier whose only offense was that he picked the wrong person to buy marijuana from. The young soldier's name was Winfred Profitt and he was just 19 when he approached Corbett and struck up a conversation. Corbett, authorities would later allege, agreed to sell the young soldier some pot, and persuaded Profitt to accompany him to a secluded spot near the shores of Prospect Lake.

The truth was, Corbett had other things on his mind besides helping his comrade-in-arms get high. Like all soldiers, Corbett had gone through basic training and had learned the rudiments of hand-to-hand combat. He had been taught how to handle a bayonet, how to plunge it into an inanimate target and how to pull it back out again in a way calculated to do the maximum amount of damage.

Most soldiers endure the training, but secretly pray that they'll never have to face a situation where they'd have to call upon it. Corbett was different. He, it seemed, really wanted a chance to put his training into practice.

Profitt, authorities would later say, afforded him that opportunity. Once Corbett and Profitt were safely out of view of any potential witnesses, Corbett produced a bayonet and plunged it into the young man's chest.

Location where Winfred Profitt was killed

The motive for the killing was as chilling as it was uncomplicated, Smit later said.

"He wanted to see what it felt like to stick a bayonet in someone."

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1. Blood Trail
2. Dead End
3. By Bread Alone
4. Body Count
5. The Trail Dips South
6. Half a Buck
7. Fix Bayonets
8. Karen Alicia Grammer
9. A Killer's Stare
10. Cheating the Hangman
11. Time Passes
12. Bibliography