Offender Record · OFF-2026-145
Frederick Klenner (photo from the Radford University biography)
Frederick Robert Klenner Jr.
Also known as Fritz
Sex
Male
Race
White
Height
6'0"
Born
1952
Custody
Deceased
States
NC, KY, MS, GE
Distinguishing featuresAdmirer of Adolf Hitler and KKK supporter; collected extensive military weapons and equipment
Custody
Died June 3, 1985 in Summerfield, Guilford County, North Carolina during police chase; suicide by bomb detonation.
This record documents arrests, charges and convictions reported by courts, law enforcement agencies and news organizations. Every statement is tied to a cited source with an archived copy. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt; a person charged is presumed innocent unless convicted. Where a record says named by police, no charge was ever filed: the record rests on a law enforcement agency's public identification of the deceased person, cited below. Not guilty by reason of insanity means the court found the act proven but the person not criminally responsible. Solve the Case does not allege that this person committed any offense beyond what the cited records state, and this record is not a suggestion that the person is connected to any unsolved case. How records are built, corrected and removed.
Summary of the record
Frederick Robert Klenner Jr., known as Fritz, is named-deceased by Kentucky and North Carolina law enforcement as the perpetrator of eight homicides spanning July 1984 to June 1985. Klenner killed two women in Prospect, Kentucky in July 1984; three family members in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in May 1985; and his girlfriend and her two sons in Greensboro, North Carolina in June 1985. Klenner died by suicide via bomb detonation on June 3, 1985 during a police chase, before formal arrest and trial.
Documented Arrests, Charges and Convictions
Dispositions are shown exactly as the cited records report them. Pending charges are updated when a court acts; a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed from the site.
Offense date Jul 22, 1984, Prospect, Kentucky
Murder of a female (age 68)
Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shot multiple times at close range with military-style assault rifle at victim's home. Victim was mother of ex-husband of Klenner's girlfriend.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick; Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. memorial
Offense date Jul 22, 1984, Prospect, Kentucky
Murder of a female (age 39)
Jefferson County, Kentucky
Shot multiple times at close range with military-style assault rifle at victim's home. Victim was sister of ex-husband of Klenner's girlfriend.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick; Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. memorial
Offense date May 18, 1985, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Murder of a female (age 85)
Forsyth County, North Carolina
Shot at home. Victim was grandmother of Klenner's girlfriend Susie Newsom Lynch. Body found posed.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick; Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. memorial
Offense date May 18, 1985, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Murder of a female (age 63)
Forsyth County, North Carolina
Stabbed and shot at home. Victim was mother of Klenner's girlfriend Susie Newsom Lynch. Confessed to this murder to informant on wired conversation.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick; Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. memorial
Offense date May 18, 1985, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Murder of a male (age 65)
Forsyth County, North Carolina
Shot at home. Victim was father of Klenner's girlfriend Susie Newsom Lynch. Confessed to this murder to informant on wired conversation.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick; Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. memorial
Offense date Jun 03, 1985, Greensboro, North Carolina
Murder of a male child (age 10)
Guilford County, North Carolina
Poisoned with cyanide and shot in head at close range before car bomb explosion. Victim was son of Klenner's girlfriend Susie Newsom Lynch.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick
Offense date Jun 03, 1985, Greensboro, North Carolina
Murder of a female (age 39)
Guilford County, North Carolina
Killed in car bomb explosion during police chase. Victim was Klenner's first cousin and romantic partner, Susie Newsom Lynch.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick; Summerfield slaughter: Klenner-Lynch deaths
Offense date Jun 03, 1985, Greensboro, North Carolina
Murder of a male child (age 9)
Guilford County, North Carolina
Poisoned with cyanide and shot in head at close range before car bomb explosion. Victim was son of Klenner's girlfriend Susie Newsom Lynch.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick
Pattern and Background
Victim counts and the pattern of the offenses as stated by courts, agencies and the cited reporting. Suspected counts are what officials have said publicly, not a finding of this site.
0
Victims convicted
2
Victims confessed
8
Victims suspected
Active years
1984–1985
Stated motive
Domestic or partner, Anger or revenge
Range from home
regional
Confessed
Yes
Education
some college
Marital history
Divorced
Children
0
Died
1985-06-03 · suicide
Agencies
Law enforcement, prosecutors and corrections agencies the records show dealing with this person. An investigator working a case with a possible connection can start here.
Greensboro Police Department · NC
Involved in police chase and arrest attempt; Officer Tommy Dennis was shot by Klenner
Kentucky Grand Jury · KY
Issued report finding Klenner and Susie Lynch responsible for Kentucky murders
Guilford County Sheriff's Office · NC
Investigation of Summerfield explosion (June 3, 1985) and Greensboro murders
Forsyth County District Attorney's Office · NC
Prosecutorial district 31; charged Klenner for murders committed in Forsyth County
Oldham County Police Department · KY
Initial investigation of Lynch murders (July 22, 1984) in Prospect, Kentucky
Forsyth County Sheriff's Office · NC
Lead investigation of Winston-Salem murders (May 18, 1985); lead detective Allen Gentry
Source: Murderpedia, Radford University Department of Psychology
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation · NC
Crime scene investigation at Summerfield explosion site (June 3, 1985)
Places Lived, Worked and Frequented
Each place and date range comes from a cited record. Dates marked approximate are as reported. Know a place that is missing? Use Edit record under the photo; a moderator reviews it before it appears.
GE
Georgia
1974 – 1977 · Worked as unlicensed assistant in father's medical clinic
KY
Prospect, Kentucky
Jul 1984 – Jul 1984 · Traveled to commit murders on July 22, 1984
MS
Oxford, Mississippi
1970 – 1974 · University of Mississippi, started fall 1970, attended until summer 1974
NC
Rockingham, North Carolina
1952 – 1970 · Born in Rockingham; childhood residence
Rockingham, North Carolina
1964 – 1970 · Public high school 1964-1969, then Woodward Academy private school Georgia 1969-1970
Durham, North Carolina
approx. 1977 – 1985 · Claimed to be enrolled at Duke Medical School; resided in region during this period
Reidsville, North Carolina
approx. 1980 – 1985 · Native of Reidsville; maintained residence there; lived with mother through 1985
Greensboro, North Carolina
1985 – 1985 · Apartment in Greensboro at time of death, June 3, 1985
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
May 1985 – May 1985 · Traveled to commit murders on May 18-19, 1985
Known Vehicles
Vehicles and approximate dates of ownership or use, as reported in the cited records. A photo next to a vehicle is the vehicle itself as published.
black Chevrolet Blazer
approx. 1985
Used to flee police on June 3, 1985; contained bomb that detonated during chase
Timeline
Jul 11, 1952
Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. born in Rockingham, North Carolina.
1964
Klenner begins to obsess over his father's interests including Hitler, firearms, and military propaganda.
1970
Klenner graduates from high school from Woodward Academy, ninth in class of 138.
Sep 1970
Klenner enters University of Mississippi.
1974
Klenner begins working as unlicensed medical assistant in father's clinic.
Jun 1974
Klenner drops out of University of Mississippi during summer school, never completes degree.
Jan 1977
Klenner leaves Georgia for Durham, North Carolina, claiming enrollment at Duke Medical School.
Dec 23, 1978
Klenner marries Ruth Dupree in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1982
Klenner becomes romantically involved with first cousin Susie Newsom Lynch.
May 20, 1984
Klenner's father Dr. Frederick Klenner dies; Fritz inherits $25,000 from life insurance.
Jul 22, 1984
Klenner kills a 68-year-old woman and a 39-year-old woman in Prospect, Kentucky; victims shot at their home.
May 17, 1985
Informant Robert Newsom tells Susie Newsom Lynch he will testify against her in custody case.
May 18, 1985
Klenner kills male aged 65, female aged 63, and female aged 85 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; victims shot and stabbed at home.
Jun 02, 1985
Klenner confesses to the first two Kentucky murders to friend Ian Perkins, whose conversation is recorded on police wire.
Jun 03, 1985
Officers from multiple agencies attempt to arrest Klenner; he opens fire with machine gun, wounding three officers; vehicle containing Klenner, girlfriend Susie Newsom Lynch, and her two sons explodes during chase near Summerfield, North Carolina; all four occupants killed.
Sources
Solve the Case is never the original source. Each item below is the public record a statement on this page rests on, with an archived copy where one exists.
News report · Murderpedia ·
Frederick Klenner“It has been proven that Fritz murdered Lynch's in-laws in Kentucky and is highly suspected that he murdered Lynch's parents and grandmother as well.”
Offender registry · Find a Grave ·
Frederick Robert Klenner Jr. memorial“On July 24, 1984, the dead bodies of Tom's mother and sister, Delores and Janie were discovered in Prospect, Kentucky. On May 19, 1985 the dead bodies of Susie's parents, Robert Newson and Florence Sharp Newson and Susie's paternal grandmother, Hattie Carter Newsom, were found in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.”
News report · Wikipedia ·
Bitter Blood“A ballistics report that linked a bullet which was found at the scene of the Lynch killings to a gun that Klenner and Susie sold to a North Carolina gun dealer.”
News report · North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources ·
The Bizarre 'Bitter Blood' Murders“On June 3, 1985, a Chevrolet Blazer driven by Fritz Klenner exploded during a police chase in Summerfield, north of Greensboro. Klenner, a native of Reidsville, was a suspect in the murders of three people in Winston-Salem and two in Kentucky.”
News report · Greensboro.com ·
Summerfield slaughter: Klenner-Lynch deaths“The murders appear to be rooted in the couple's belief that Lynch's ex-husband and other family were conspiring to take the boys from her. Klenner is suspected of having killed his cousin's former mother-in-law and her daughter in Kentucky in 1984.”
Other · Radford University Department of Psychology ·
Radford University serial killer biography: Klenner, Frederick“Shot Delores Lynch (WF, 68) and Jane Lynch (WF, 39) to death in Prospect, Kentucky on 07/22/1984; shot Robert Newsom, Florence Newsom, and Hattie Newsom to death on 05/19/1985 in Winston-Salem, NC; died in suicide car bomb in Greensboro, NC on 06/03/1985.”
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