John Balaban: Savagery at the Sunshine Cafe

John Balaban was a man with obvious mental health issues, but they would fatally go undiagnosed. After his father’s suicide, John began to study philosphy, claiming to be an atheist, while also claiming God had appeared to him in a dream. He fled to France to escape the Soviet takeover of his native Romania, where he met a woman and they went back to her apartment. For no reason, John strangled her to death in the bedroom and fled the scene. He was able to avoid capture, emigrating to Australia during the post WWII boom. After essentially getting away with murder, John’s new situation down under wasn’t that much better, as four more innocent people would fall victim to his hidden personality.