Updated at 1:07 p.m., on Sunday, December 19, 2010.
A black man has been strangling raceless women in Philadelphia.
…
The suspect is described as a black man in his early 20s standing about 5’7” to 5’10” tall and 170 pounds, who walks with a distinctive gait, favoring his left foot. He has also ben described as having long sideburns and listens to an iPod.
“This male is not a phantom, this male did not crawl into a hole. He’s out there, he is interacting with others,” said Capt. [John] Darby.
This comes a day after police said a third woman appears to have become a victim of the ‘Strangler.’
Police Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn announced the results of an autopsy on the 27-year-old woman at a news conference Thursday. It appears the killing may be connected to the person responsible for two earlier murders in the city’s Kensington section, Blackburn said.
The woman, Casey Mahoney of East Stoudsburg [sic], was found dead in a wooded area near a set of train tracks on the 100 block of East Tusculum on Wednesday night. The area, police say, is known to be used by drug users.
Mahoney is the mother of a young child. Police say she was a known drug user and believe she was in the Kensington area seeking a fix when she ended up in the hands of the Kensington strangler.
According to police, Mahoney was nude from the waist down, was strangled and appeared to have been sexually assaulted [raped], as were the other two victims.
Monroe County records show that Mahoney made a court appearance there back on Monday to answer pending DUI charges. By Wednesday, she was dead in Philadelphia.
Mahoney’s body was found blocks from where the two earlier victims, Elaine Goldberg, 21, and Nicole Piacentini, 35, were discovered last month. DNA evidence has determined that those two killings are linked.
At least three other women have reported being attacked by a man who choked, sexually assaulted [raped] or hit them, police said.
Meanwhile, the family of Elaine Goldberg announced Friday that they’ve increased a reward for information in this case to $4,000.
[“New video released in ‘Kensington Strangler’ case,” by Dann Cuellar and Vernon Odom, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, PA (6ABC.com), December 17, 2010.]
Casey Mahony was clearly white, and I don’t know of any black Elaine Goldbergs or Nicole Piacentinis. Thus, so far as we know, the killer is targeting white women. If he is attacking non-whites, he isn’t murdering them. But at least the Philly media have identified the suspect as black. Thank God for small blessings!
(My thanks go out to the anonymous reader who tipped me off to this story!)
Since the killer is leaving DNA evidence, there is a good chance of solving the case. From what I can tell from past cases, these DNA databases are not all that extensive. Many career criminals are not included.
ReplyDeleteFamilial DNA testing could help. This is how the Grim Sleeper was identified in Los Angeles this year. The Sleeper's son had been arrested and swiped for DNA in 2008.
Unfortunately, I believe only two states use this testing so far. I read recently that Virginia was considering it because of the Morgan Harrington murder.
David In TN
I hope they find this piece of garbage before he can kill again.
ReplyDeleteOn a related note, the object of my "affection" ,The Saint Paul Pioneer Press, employs a "columnist" - better description would be "Calumnist" by the name of Ruben Rosario as their "crime, justice and public safety" scribbler.
In one of his most egregious capers as of late, he gives his soap box to a gang member who was implicated in the arson murders of five children some years back.
Article:
http://www.twincities.com/rosario/ci_16869917
Fortunately most of the commenter s are calling him out on this one:
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/twincities-pioneer-press/TMCH2QM2RBCNNT5PE?p=2051&s=PB&co=1