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R. C. Hörsch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Raymond Horsch)

R. C. Hörsch
Hörsch, c. 1999
Born
Raymond Charles Hoersch

(1943-05-05)May 5, 1943
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedMay 2025 (aged 82)
Occupations
Spouses
Unknown
​
​
(m. 1964; div. 1970)​
Myroslawa Anna Ferkuniak
​
​
(m. 1980; died 1989)​
Amy McHale
​
​
(m. 2004; div. 2008)​
Relatives
  • Eugene Albert Hörsch (son)
Convictions
Details
Victims1–5 suspected murders

Raymond Charles Hörsch[a] (May 5, 1943 – May 2025) was an American criminal, erotic photographer, and pornographic filmmaker. His 50-year body of work ranged from the poetic to the explicit.[1] His artistic work "often focused on scantily clad women in sadomasochistic settings". He had numerous criminal convictions, including for drug manufacturing and forgery.[2] Critics of his work accuse him of exploiting his subjects.[3][4] In June 2016, his ex-wife Amy McHale, to whom he was married between 2004 and 2008, disappeared.

In 2026, his former residence was searched by police and linked to the disappearance of seven women, five of whom the police believe are dead.[5] Police say they have recovered videos and images that show two women alive in the house and then deceased.[6] Several women in these videos who appeared deceased, went missing and their bodies have never been recovered. Police said they believe another video from the house shows Hörsch killing a woman.[7]

Early life and career

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Hörsch, c. 2014

Raymond Charles Hoersch was born in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, on May 5, 1943.[8] In a 1985 psychological exam, Hörsch claimed that he was raised on a farm in Bucks County by a "strict but fair" father and a "salt of the earth" mother. He also stated that during his adolescence, philosophical differences strained his relationship with his parents and caused him to rebel in school.[9]

In October 1969 he opened an avant-garde cinema, the Underground Cinema 16, in a former live theater at 2021 Sansom Street in Philadelphia as part of a plan to finance a film. Within two weeks, the cinema was closed for operating without a license.[10] The cinema reopened and later became the Roxy. He later directed films, beginning with The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist in 1973, continuing to release films until shortly before his death.[2]

[edit]

In 1973, he pleaded guilty to passing bad checks in North Carolina.[2] In December 1974, he was arrested in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, for passing counterfeit $10 Federal Reserve Notes. At the time, he was driving a stolen car with a fraudulent registration and driver's license. The Secret Service raided Hörsch's home in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, allegedly where the bills were being made, where they arrested an accomplice and seized $180,000 in fake bills along with fake driver's licenses and registrations. He was charged with theft by deception and for making the counterfeit bills.[11] Hörsch received a two-year sentence.[12]

In 1977, police raided his home and discovered equipment that they alleged was used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. Hörsch fled to the West Coast, stole the identity of a Stanley Eugene Stokowski, a chemist with a doctorate from Stanford, and then moved to Timaru, New Zealand in 1980. There he became a high profile chemist, helping to open an ethanol fuel plant.[13] He traveled from New Zealand, using the alias "Richard Harris" in California.[2] In 1984, he was caught reentering New Zealand with five fake passports. He then fled back to the United States, after allegedly breaking into a house and stealing a passport.[13] Hörsch was captured by the FBI in Orlando, Florida in 1985 and extradited to Philadelphia. He was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, and was released early, in 1987.[13]

In March 2009, Hörsch was arrested for attempting to lure a 9-year-old girl into his car in Kensington, Philadelphia. He was charged with corrupting the morals of a minor and two misdemeanor counts of attempting to lure a child into a vehicle. He was found guilty in a 2010 bench trial and sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison.[14][15] Horsch appealed and the prosecutors dropped the charges after the girl refused to testify in a second trial, vacating the conviction. In 2015, Horsch successfully petitioned to have the case expunged.[15]

In July 2009,[16] he was charged with growing over 450 cannabis plants in his Chalfont home; two shotguns were also confiscated. The house was seized by federal authorities.[2] In January 2011, he pleaded guilty to possession of 100 or more marijuana plants with intent to distribute, possession of a short-barreled shotgun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.[17] He was subsequently sentenced to 54 months in prison and released in 2013.[2]

Personal life and death

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Hörsch was married at least three times. In 1964, he married his high school sweetheart, who left him in 1970. In 1980, he married Myroslawa Anna Ferkuniak in Nevada while using the alias Stokowski. They had a son, Eugene. Ferkuniak died in 1989.[18] In 2004, he married Amy McHale. They divorced in 2008, though they stayed close. McHale went missing in 2016.[13]

Hörsch died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in May 2025, at the age of 82.[2]

2026 police investigations

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In 2026, an ongoing investigation was started by the Philadelphia Police Department involving evidence recovered from his former house in the Olney section of Philadelphia after the arrest of his son, Eugene, on gun and drug allegations.[19] A federal grand jury later indicted Eugene on charges of possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of an unlawfully produced document and authentication feature. Pennsylvania prosecutors withdrew five state charges on August 6.[2]

On August 28, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that police believe video recovered from the house shows R. C. Hörsch killing a woman. The police have not found a body.[20] The video shows Hörsch tightening a zip tie around a woman's neck until she passes out. The woman was identified by a family member as Nicole Fusaro, who has been missing since 2018.[21]

Anthologies

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  • The Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography, Maxim Jakubowski (editor), Running Press; Fourth Edition (October 1, 2013), ISBN 978-0762449446
  • The Mammoth Book of Erotic Women, Maxim Jakubowski (editor), Running Press; 1ST edition (October 19, 2005), ISBN 978-0786716029
  • Photo Sex, David Steinberg (editor), Down There Press, San Francisco, 2003, ISBN 978-0940208322
  • Sex in the City – An Illustrated History, by Alison Maddox with foreword by Camille Paglia, Rizzoli Universe Publishing (February 14, 2006), ISBN 978-0789315076
  • Empathy: The Memoir of an Empathetic Serial Killer (2014). ISBN 9781492890553.[22]
  • Annie (2014), with Anna M. Ferkuniak. ISBN 978-1-4929-7105-4.[23]
  • Transgressions (2014). ISBN 9781493512454.[24]
  • Slaves (2014). ISBN 9781492177180.[25]

Notes

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  1. ↑ also spelled Horsch or Hoersch

References

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  1. ↑ Spayde, John. Sex. Utne Reader. September–October 1994, pp. 24–25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Laker, Barbara; Briggs, Ryan (June 27, 2026). "A woman missing since 2016 had close ties to the Olney house that's now the target of a massive investigation". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  3. ↑ Jamison, Mikala (June 3, 2014). "Naked prostitutes and heroin: Is the R.C. Horsch exhibit in Kensington art or porn – or a catalog of victims?". Philadelphia City Paper. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  4. ↑ Hodges, Kate (June 1, 2006). "RC Horsch – Heroin Erotica". Bizarre. Archived from the original on August 22, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  5. ↑ "7 missing women – 5 of whom are believed to be dead – connected to Philadelphia home, officials say". NBC News. September 16, 2026.
  6. ↑ Rushing, Ellie; Laker, Barbara; Marin, Max; Briggs, Ryan W. (August 12, 2026). "Police say at least two missing women likely killed inside Olney home linked to violent pornography". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  7. ↑ Marin, Max; Rushing, Ellie; Briggs, Ryan W. (September 11, 2026). "Nicole Fusaro, missing since 2018, identified as woman who police believe Raymond Horsch killed". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Raymond C Horsch". U.S., Public Records Index, 1950–1993, Volume 1. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  9. ↑ Marin, Max; Briggs, Ryan W.; Rushing, Ellie (September 3, 2026). "'Consumed by anger': Inside the 1985 psych profile of Raymond Horsch". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 3, 2026. Retrieved September 18, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Cinema 16 Shut Down in License Dispute; Owner is 'Confused'". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 30, 1969. p. 19. Retrieved September 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Labig, James (December 11, 1974). "Agents seize bogus money, nab 2". The Evening Times. Retrieved September 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Smith, Jim (April 27, 1984). "Fugitive's Luck Runs Out With 4-Year Jail Sentence". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 8. Retrieved September 17, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Laker, Barbara; Briggs, Ryan W.; Marin, Max; Rushing, Ellie (August 2, 2026). "Dark Arts: A pornographer's obsession and criminal past blur fact and fiction in Philly's missing women mystery". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  14. ↑ Briggs, Ryan W.; Marin, Max (September 24, 2026). "Judge orders temporary halt on destruction of Raymond Horsch child sex offense records". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  15. 1 2 Marin, Max; Rushing, Ellie; Laker, Barbara; Briggs, Ryan W. (September 22, 2026). "Raymond Horsch was convicted of luring a 9-year-old girl to his car in 2009. Now those court records could be destroyed". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Major drug bust in Chalfont". 6abc Philadelphia. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  17. ↑ Coughlin, Matt. "Homeowner pleads guilty to growing marijuana". PhillyBurbs.com. USA Today Co. Retrieved September 27, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Anna M. Horsch (Ferkuniak)". The Morning Call. August 2, 1989. p. C7. Retrieved June 29, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Palmer, Chris (June 26, 2026). "Knives, drugs, and guns: A police report obtained by The Inquirer shows what officers found inside Eugene Albert Horsch's car". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved August 14, 2026.
  20. ↑ Briggs, Ryan W.; Rushing, Ellie; Marin, Max; Laker, Barbara (August 28, 2026). "Police believe a new video shows violent pornographer Raymond 'R.C.' Horsch killing a woman on camera, sources say". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
  21. ↑ Briggs, Ryan W.; Rushing, Ellie; Marin, Max (September 16, 2026). "Police find more photos of women who appear dead in pornographer R.C. Horsch's home, bringing the number of missing to 7". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved September 16, 2026.
  22. ↑ Hörsch, R. C. Empathy: The Memoir of an Empathetic Serial Killer. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Retrieved August 13, 2026 – via AbeBooks.
  23. ↑ Hörsch, R. C.; Ferkuniak, Anna M. Annie. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Retrieved August 13, 2026 – via AbeBooks.
  24. ↑ Hörsch, R. C. Transgressions. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Retrieved August 13, 2026 – via AbeBooks.
  25. ↑ Hörsch, R. C. Slaves. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Retrieved August 13, 2026 – via AbeBooks.
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