Was America's First Serial Killer a Black Man?

By Jerry PDX
Friday, April 28, 2017 at 1:54:00 A.M. EDT

This article was actually quite fascinating. While they never caught the “servant girl annihilator,” there were a number of suspects, the strongest candidates of which were black men. The early victims were black women.

I did a bit of research on this case and discovered that eyewitnesses also identified a black suspect. The first victim’s boyfriend was a black man who was arrested but acquitted. Another black man was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to seven years (only seven for murder?) but his conviction was overturned in six months. A third black suspect was released after a hung jury. A Malaysian man was also suspected but was never actually proved to be the killer. A few white men appeared to be suspects also, but again no convictions.

This article is interesting not just for the serial killer angle, but in that it seems to upend some cherished notions about what kind of justice black men received in the courts in the late 19th century. The modern belief is that any black man accused of heinous crimes of this nature is instantly strung up by KKK members, and summarily executed. Yet nothing of the sort happened, in spite of a large number of both black and white women being butchered by somebody, a somebody who was most likely a black man. Seems as though black men were getting more than a fair shake by the justice system, even back in those “good old days.”

The only picture in this article shows a white man as suspect, though. The author probably couldn't help but push the notions of the “great white defendant,” even though most evidence pointed to a black perp. Typical media evil.