Unsolved Murders

You’ve heard of Jack the Ripper, the Boston Strangler, and the Zodiac Killer, a person responsible for the death of at least seven people between 1968 and 1969. But did you know…?

Between 1864 and 1865, London, England…
‘Jack the Ripper’ had a copycat, a serial killer nicknamed ‘Jack the Stripper’. The murdered, nude bodies of eight prostitutes were found in the River Thames. Like his predecessor before him, he or she was never caught.

In 1918 New Orleans, Louisiana…
A grocer named Joseph Maggio and his wife were butchered in their sleep. The murder weapon—an axe—was found in the room covered in their blood. Nicknamed the Bogey Man, the killer, struck 8 more times but was never found.

In 1946, the twin cities of Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas…
Five people were killed and three more injured. The killer nearly always killed three weeks apart, and always killed in the dead of night. He was dubbed the Phantom Killer. There was speculation that the murders may have been the early work of the Zodiac Killer, but it was never proven.

1974-75 San Francisco…
The “Doodler” or “Black Doodler,” would gain entrance to his victims’ homes as a companion, then sketch them, before stabbing them to death. Fourteen young gay men were killed, three more attacked. The case remains unsolved, because the survivors refused to testify against the prime suspect. Two survivors were public figures—an entertainer and a US diplomat. None wanted to risk outing themselves.

Early 1970s, Rochester New York…
Three victims, all young girls, had something in common. Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz, and Michelle Maenza had alliterative initials. The press dubbed them the “Alphabet Murders.” Rochester native Kenneth Bianchi has long been under suspicion because, after moving to Los Angeles, he and his cousin committed the murders attributed to the “Hillside Strangler”. While Bianchi was never cleared of the Rochester killings, neither was he charged.

But, in 2011, New Yorker Joseph Naso was charged with murdering four women in California in the late 1970s. The names of his victims were Roxene Roggash, Pamela Parsons, Tracy Tofoya and, get this, another Carmen Colon. He wasn’t charged for the Rochester Murders.

 

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