Runge was not quite 18 when his mother died. Wickedness reported that this event had quite an impact on the teen. The Chicago Tribune details how Runge lured a 14-year-old girl to his home on the night of August 17, 1987, and held her captive for nearly 15 hours. During that time, the unnamed victim was bound by handcuffs and blindfolded.
When she finally escaped from Runge’s home at 4 p.m. the following day, she detailed her nightmarish experiences to the police. She had been repeatedly raped by Runge, who had also cut her across her stomach with a knife. When he had at last finished with her, he forced her into a sleeping bag and stuffed her into the home’s crawlspace. After freeing herself, she fled to a nearby home and alerted the police.
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Police began their search for Runge immediately, almost apprehending him at a local shopping center. But Runge fled, managing to evade capture. After a week and several phone calls from Runge to the police, he agreed that it would be in his best interest to turn himself in. Police arrived at an address given to them by Runge and he was arrested without incident. Convicted of his brutal crime, Runge was sentenced to 14 years in prison, perhaps with the hope that he would be a reformed man upon his release (via Find Law). Paroled seven years early in 1994, it didn’t take long for Runge to re-offend. But instead of just a rapist on the loose in Chicago, the city now had a bloodthirsty killer to reckon with.
