Who Was George Banks? US Man Who Killed 13 Including His 5 Kids Dies At 83

Last Updated:November 06, 2025, 18:21 IST

George Banks, infamous for the 1982 Wilkes-Barre massacre killing 13, died at 83 in Phoenix State Prison after decades in custody, closing a grim chapter in Pennsylvania history

Originally sentenced to death, George Banks’ punishment was commuted to life due to severe mental illness. (News18 Hindi)

George Banks, the man behind one of the deadliest mass killings in Pennsylvania’s history, passed away on Sunday, November 2, at the age of 83. Banks was battling kidney cancer and breathed his last at the Phoenix State Prison, where he had been serving a life sentence.

Banks’ name became infamous in the United States following a horrifying spree on September 25, 1982. On that day, he took the lives of 13 people in a single rampage in Wilkes-Barre. Among the victims were his five children, aged between 1 and 6 years, and four women who were their mothers. Additional victims included two young children, aged 7 and 11, and a teenager who recognised Banks while he was fleeing the scene.

Armed with an AR-15 rifle, Banks fired indiscriminately both inside his home and at a nearby park, killing multiple bystanders. The violent episode ended after a tense four-hour standoff with law enforcement.

Subsequent investigations revealed that Banks suffered from severe mental illness at the time of the killings. Initially sentenced to death, his punishment was later commuted to life imprisonment due to his mental condition.

Banks spent more than four decades behind bars, a period marked by the continued public shock over the scale and brutality of his crimes. His death closes a dark chapter in Pennsylvania’s criminal history, though the memory of the 1982 massacre continues to haunt the community.

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