Joe Baumann, also known as the "Candy Store Killer", is a minor character mentioned in FAITH: Chapter II.
He is a notorious serial killer believed to be responsible for the deaths of several people in Connecticut and Rhode Island. He has yet to be caught.
Biography[]
It is not made clear where the nickname "Candy Store Killer" originates from, outside of the Sterling locals' theories of his connection to the sewer tunnels nearby Snake Meadow Hill Road, named the Candy Tunnel.
Before August 1987[]
Joe Baumann is alleged to have murdered at least eight people over the past year up to this point, for unknown reasons.
Between May - August 1987[]
Unbeknownst to anyone, deep within the Candy Tunnel lies a base of operations for a cult named the Eternal Order of the Second Death. A cult elder, Miriam Bell, has a Second Death ritual performed on her here. The demon summoned by this ritual, dubbed the Peekaboo Demon, begins lurking through the sewers and sacrificially murdering its population of gang members, drug addicts, hookers, and the homeless. These sacrifices are believed to somehow aid in the summoning of the cult's main deity, the UNSPEAKABLE. The cult disposes of what remains of the victims in the drainage ditch outside.
Three of these victims' bodies are recovered from the ditch over the next three months. The Sterling Police Department does not initiate an investigation at this point, since they were all bums and nobody cared much for them.
Until one day, two ordinary people passing through town are found dead in the ditch. News of the incident gets out to the Sterling population, who believe the Candy Store Killer to be responsible, given his nickname. The locals begin pressuring the Sterling Police Department to search for him in the tunnels.
Between August - September 1987[]
Authorities finally organize a raid of the Candy Tunnel in an effort to locate and neutralize Joe Baumann. Ten minutes after the police force enters the tunnels, they locate their target and open fire. Several officers are wounded in the exchange, and one deputy is killed. Afterwards, officials would not comment on how many officers were wounded, or if they had located or neutralized Joe Baumann. Efforts are made to recover the casualties from the tunnels.
During the firefight, one unnamed officer had been separated from his squad. He would later catch a glimpse of the suspect dragging the deputy's body deeper into the tunnels. He knew that what he saw was not the Candy Store Killer. What he saw was not even human. He jots down on a note that he now understands the old stories his nana used to tell him; about the villagers periodically sacrificing one of their own to the monsters, so they wouldn't come down from the mountains and slaughter the entire village overnight. He writes that he now hopes this monster never gets tired of taking the lives of the bums and tweakers that keep returning to the tunnels.
September 28th, 1987[]
In John Ward's worst nightmare yet, he finds himself stuck in the drainage ditch with nowhere to go but into the Candy Tunnel. Inside, he finds multiple notes about the murders that had occurred within the area, and their possible connections to Joe Baumann.
Trivia[]
- Given that Joe Baumann is stated to have been active in Rhode Island, and the Eternal Order of the Second Death is only known to operate within Connecticut, it is likely that Joe Baumann is actually real, and possibly still active.