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He's the most terrifying serial killer you've never heard of. Haddon Clark has confessed to several murders, but investigators say he could have over 100 victims. At the center of the mayhem, a cellmate of Haddon's that was able to get key evidence into Haddon's murder spree across America...
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Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's one of the oldest cities in the United States of America. It's a city known for its founding fathers, beer, and brotherly love. And if you don't know, Philadelphia is actually where the Declaration of Independence was signed, the document that began the formation of the United States. But after being such a notable historical city for so many years, Philadelphia seemingly descended into madness.
Nowadays, it's known as one of the deadliest cities in America, as it saw over 560 murders in the year 2021, a number of murders only topped by the city of Chicago, Illinois, which recorded nearly 800 murders in the same year. So today, let's take a look into some of the most infamous crimes that have rocked this city. Let's take a deep dive into the dark side of Philadelphia. I'm Colin Browen.
And you're listening to Murder in America. So, living in Philadelphia is awesome. I have to say, the city has character. Now, I don't know if you've heard of Philadelphia.
Courtney and I moved to Philadelphia just a couple of weeks ago. Actually, we're about to hit our two-week mark. It's been an amazing journey. We've had so many amazing experiences so far just within the first couple of weeks. We went to a Phillies game the other night. We had so much fun cheering for the Phillies. It was a great experience. We had hot dogs and drinks, and it was great. Courtney and I have tried so many great food places. We've
around the city with our bikes. We've had, honestly, an amazing time. And I got to tell you all online, Philadelphia is by far one of my favorite cities in America, and it's truly got its own energy. But that's what I love about it. Philadelphia is amazing.
a city in its own. You know, there's nothing like Philly. And that's why we wanted to move here because it's got its own character, it's got its own energy, and we love it. Courtney, what do you, I mean, after this week, have to say about living in Philly? - I have absolutely loved Philadelphia. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous at first coming here just because I've never lived anywhere other than Texas.
And I actually had never even been on the East Coast besides New York, so I didn't really know what to expect. But it definitely has exceeded all of my expectations. The area that we live in is so cute. There's a ton of things to do, great restaurants, and yeah, we've really, really enjoyed it. But even though Philadelphia is one hell of a city that so many people call home, it's extremely violent.
Last year, in 2021, Philadelphia saw over 500 murders, the highest amount of murders the city has seen since the year 1990. So, something is happening here, but what's shocking is that a substantial number of these murders go unsolved. There are no convictions, there's no justice. The killers are allowed to almost roam free.
Even living here for just a few weeks, we've seen how crippling the crime in the city can be. First, there was the mass shooting that occurred at a popular hangout spot, South Street, just a stone's throw away from where Courtney and I live now. South Street truly is your average all-American road.
It's a part of the city filled with bars, music venues, cheesesteak shops, and stores. One would never expect that it would be a venue for such shocking violence. But just a few weeks ago, on June 4th, 2022, it was. That night, hundreds of people filled the sidewalks and roads on South Street, drinking, celebrating, enjoying their weekend. It was a Saturday, a night of the week where people head out, dress up, and get down.
But that night would take a drastically dark turn when two friends named Rashawn Vereen and Gregory Jackson took a walk down South Street. At around 11.30 p.m. that evening, Rashawn and Gregory passed by somebody that they seemed to know, a man named Micah Towns.
As they passed Micah, Gregory and Rashawn began to engage him physically. And after a short period of fist fighting, Gregory Jackson pulled out a pistol and shot Micah Towns. Now, Gregory Jackson and Micah Towns both actually had permits to carry. So, after being shot, Micah pulled out his weapon and began returning fire. Here's some audio from the shooting. Warning, this is graphic.
Why does the boy do that?
In total, 17 shots were fired during this initial fight. When this occurred, three other men named Qadir Dukeshill, Najee Whittington, and Coran Garner, who knew the three that were fighting, pulled out their own weapons and began firing as well. Immediately, within moments, South Street was plunged into utter chaos. Eleven people were injured that night, victims who ranged from teenage girls to older men, and three people died.
Gregory Jackson, one of the men who seemingly initiated the argument, passed away from his injuries that night, along with two innocent bystanders who were out on South Street enjoying their weekend.
The other two victims of the shooting were a man named Chris Minners, a 22-year-old who worked as an advisor for second and sixth grade boys at one of Philly's oldest educational institutions, who was out that night celebrating his birthday, and 24-year-old Alexis Quinn, a health aide who loved to help others. It took a while for authorities to apprehend the suspects behind the shooting, but there are currently two people in custody and two men who have had charges filed against them.
It's also come out in the news that one of the guns used in the mass shooting was a ghost gun. A ghost gun is essentially a weapon that you can build at home. You don't need a background check to purchase the parts. A miner can purchase one. They're completely untraceable as they don't come with serial numbers. And if you have the proper parts, you can build a functional ghost gun in just under an hour. And a ghost gun works exactly like a real gun that you'd buy at a shop.
According to BradyUnited.org, a ghost gun is defined as a weapon that is constructed by individuals using unfinished frames or receivers, the piece of the firearm that contains the operating parts of the firing mechanism and which are the part of the gun regulated under federal law. However, when a frame or receiver is unfinished by a small fraction, it is unregulated.
Ghost gun kits include all of the necessary component parts to turn the unfinished frame or receiver into a fully functioning gun, which, once assembled, looks, feels, and functions like a traditional gun, whether a handgun or assault weapon, and is just as deadly and dangerous in the wrong hands.
If you don't think ghost guns are a problem, let's just take a look at the statistics. In 2017, three ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement in the District of Columbia. In 2018, 25 ghost guns were recovered in the same area. In 2019, 116 ghost guns were recovered. And at least three of these guns were eventually connected to homicides.
Just two months into 2020, 38 ghost guns had already been recovered, which suggests that over 220 ghost guns were recovered in total in 2020. This is a shocking and staggering statistic. And no matter your stance on gun control issues, I think we can all agree that having weapons out on the street that are completely untraceable and require no background check and have no age limit are
are dangerous. The study that I just read to you was from the year 2020. And if you think that this ghost gun problem is limited to just one part of the US, well, you're dead wrong. Let's take a look at Philadelphia, for example. In 2019, the Philly PD seized 95 ghost guns. In 2020, the same department seized over 250 guns, over double the amount from 2019.
And in 2021, there were 570 ghost guns taken off the streets. This means that every single year, the amount of these dangerous, unregulated, and untraceable murder weapons is doubling in major cities. And this is a big problem.
But the shooting on South Street just a few weeks ago was just the tip of the iceberg here in Philly. Just that weekend, from Friday, June 3rd, 2022 to Saturday, June 4th, 2022, there were 10 different shootings in the city. 10 shootings, almost overnight.
And as is the case with most shootings in big cities, most of the perpetrators of those crimes have yet to be brought to justice. It's absolutely insane. I mean, when you think about it, Philly saw over 560 murders in 2021. That's on some days, two or more murders a day. Of course, the police aren't going to be able to solve all these cases. How
How could they? There are just too many victims, too many crimes, too many injustices that happen daily for a large magnifying glass to be applied to all. And not all of these murders are strictly related to gun violence. Take, for example, the double homicide that occurred in Philly in May of this year. I'm going to read to you an article from news station NBC10 in Philadelphia, written by contributor David Chang, published on May 18th, 2022.
An investigation is underway after the decomposed bodies of a man and woman with their throats slashed were found inside an abandoned home in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood on Wednesday. Police and paramedics responded to a call reporting two bodies inside a property along the 3000 block of North Ruth Street shortly after 7 p.m.
Police and medics entered through the back of the home and found a man and woman lying next to each other inside a bedroom on the second floor. Police said both victims had large lacerations on their necks. They were both pronounced dead at the scene at 7:26 p.m. "It appears both of them had their throats slit," Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. The two victims have not yet been identified, but both appeared to be in their 30s or 40s, according to Small. Police also found a bag of clothing that may have belonged to the woman.
Investigators said both victims appear to have been dead for at least one day. "These bodies have been here longer than one day because they're already starting to decompose," Small said. Police also found surveillance cameras outside the 3000 block of Ruth Street. Although they won't capture the incident inside, it may have captured someone entering or exiting this property where we found both dead bodies, Small said.
Investigators also discovered drug paraphernalia throughout the property. "This location is used by squatters or individuals to use the drugs, do drugs, sell drugs," Small said. "Clearly a lot of drug paraphernalia inside of the property. No arrests have been made and police have not released any information on any suspects."
Almost a full month later, and there are no developments in that case. I couldn't even find an article that discussed who these two people were that were found murdered. It seems that the police have yet to even identify the victims. This means, eerily enough, that there are killers here in Philadelphia that still roam these streets nightly.
Whether they use guns, knives, or other weapons, these people are still killers. And the city is so overworked, so overcrowded, that it appears that even identifying victims in crimes can sometimes be a lengthy process.
But this violence is definitely not only related to the modern era. Let's go back in time for a second to Philadelphia in the 1980s when serial killers roamed these very streets. And we're going to tell you the story of one of the most depraved killers in Pennsylvania history who committed his string of crimes right here in Philly. But first, let's take a commercial break.
So Courtney and I love Audible with our schedule and how we're always on the go. Seriously, I'm leaving for New York City today. We've been in Philly two weeks. We don't have a lot of time to do the things that we want to do, like reading or listening to podcasts. And that's why we love Audible.
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a couple podcasts, an audio book, and when I'm on the plane, it's offline, and I can just sit back, relax, and listen. It's so easy. It's so easy to download the books, and they have so many amazing books. Audible is truly the way to go if you love audio entertainment. So let Audible help you discover new ways to laugh, be inspired, or entertained. New members can try it free for 30 days. Just visit audible.com slash state.
Or text STATE to 500-500. That's audible.com slash state. Or text STATE to 500-500 to try Audible free for 30 days. Audible.com slash state. It's a great service. You know, we love it. And yeah, go check out Audible. You're missing out. Let's get back to today's story.
If you're a true crime fan, then you probably already know that the 1980s was a very dark time here in the United States. There was a lot of murder and depravity, and that was definitely the case here in Philadelphia. Back then, this city was a lot different.
And after moving here, we wanted to take a look at Philadelphia's history and some of the infamous murders that took place along these streets. There are a number of stories we could tell you about, but we put together some murders that stood out to us. The first was a man named Gary Heidnik, who
who is easily one of the most infamous killers in the history of Philadelphia. Gary was born on November 22, 1943 in Eastlake, Ohio. And from the start, his life wasn't great. First of all, Gary suffered from a lifelong problem of bedwetting. According to Gary himself, when he was younger and he would accidentally wet the bed, his father would get really angry.
and instead of helping him, he would make Gary hang his wet bed sheets from his bedroom window. This was humiliating because the entire neighborhood was then able to see that he wet the bed. And this wouldn't just happen in his childhood. Gary would continue to wet the bed throughout his adult years. And as you probably know by now,
Bedwetting is usually an early indication of psychopathy. When Gary was younger, he was very standoffish with other kids in his grade and he may have come off as rude to a lot of people.
At one point, a girl in Gary's grade asked him if he had completed the homework that was assigned by their teacher the day before. But instead of answering her question calmly, Gary was insulted. He turned to the girl, yelled at her, and stated that she wasn't worthy enough to talk to him. And although most people that met Gary thought he was rude and unsociable, he was actually a very, very smart guy.
Some would even call him a genius. Gary had an IQ of 148, with the average IQ in the United States only being 98. And this IQ would help him while he committed his crimes later in life. At the age of 17, Gary decided to join the United States Army and he served there for 13 months.
However, although he was graded an excellent cadet by his drill sergeant, Gary was rejected from all of the positions within the army that he applied to and was eventually diagnosed with gastro-endinitis and mental illness.
After serving for a while, Gary was transferred to a military hospital here in Philadelphia. And it was at this hospital where he was diagnosed with Schizoid Personality Disorder. This diagnosis came with an honorable discharge from the military. After his time serving in the armed forces, Gary became a licensed nurse.
He also attended college and worked at a hospital, but his rude behavior and general apathy towards patients he was working with eventually got him fired from his position at the hospital.
In the year 1970, Gary's mother, after being diagnosed with bone cancer, committed suicide by drinking chloride with mercury. And just a year later, in 1971, Gary founded and incorporated his own church, which he called the United Church of Ministers of God.
a church which he ran out of his own house. Gary began this church with a deposit of $1500, but eventually, his church had earned over $5000, which would be worth over $1.3 million today. The church was doing really well. Gary had found a way to cope with the death of his mother and he seemed to be happier on the outside. But deep within, he was suffering.
During this time, Gary had a son with a woman named Gail Linkow. His son's name was Gary Jr. But he never really seemed to care about his son and he never visited him. He also had a daughter with a woman named Anjanette Davidson.
who was mentally disabled and severely illiterate. But just like with all of his other relationships in life, Gary's relationship with Ann Jeanette was far from perfect. In fact, this relationship specifically was atrocious. You see, shortly after the birth of their daughter, Gary was arrested on a very serious and very personal charge.
Apparently, Gary had kidnapped Anjanette's own sister, Alberta, from the mental asylum which she called home. And after the abduction, he had raped her.
Now, usually the news of a pastor abducting and raping a child is shocking for most people. But it wasn't very shocking for Gary's friends and family. For years, he had been living above the law. And this certainly wasn't his first encounter with the police. In 1976, Gary was slapped with his first legal charge after he apparently shot a tenant who was renting a house that he had put on the market.
The bullet had grazed the tenant's face and Gary was charged with carrying an unlicensed pistol and aggravated assault. Then, two years later in 1978, Gary was arrested for the abduction and rape of Alberta Davidson. When he committed the crime, Gary had visited Alberta in the Penn Township Mental Institution and he was able to sign her out because he was a trusted family member.
But after he took her from the institution, Gary brought Alberta into his home and he locked her into a storage room in his basement. During her captivity, Alberta was sodomized, raped, and she contracted gonorrhea from Gary.
Now, eventually, authorities found Alberta and Gary was arrested. After his sentencing, he spent three years in various mental hospitals. But before his eventual arrest in 1987, Gary attempted suicide at least 13 different times. Some of those suicide attempts took place in the mental hospitals.
where he was confined during his sentence for the horrific crimes against Alberta. It should be noted that Gary's brother Terry also spent some time in mental hospitals during his life. We're going to come back to this story right after this commercial break. Aren't you tired of going to the mall and trying on 50 different bras but none of them fit?
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Years after founding his church, Gary joined a matrimonial service which matched up willing brides with eager potential husbands. And to Gary's surprise, he met a woman named Betty Ditto from the Philippines. According to him, it was love at first sight and both Gary and Betty were smitten, eventually
Betty made the long voyage over from the Philippines to the United States, and she married Gary in Philadelphia, but it wouldn't take long for the marriage to deteriorate. The two had only been married for a few weeks before Betty caught on to Gary's deep deceptions and violent abusive behavior.
She would eventually file for divorce and afterwards she claimed that Gary physically assaulted and raped her throughout their entire relationship. She also stated that at one point she caught him in bed with three different women. Betty also said that Gary used to force her to watch while he had sex with other girls. And eventually with the support of the Filipino community,
Betty left Gary and headed back to the Philippines. Unbeknownst to Gary, however, he had impregnated Betty and she gave birth to a son. Gary was angry to say the least and it made him even more angry because the only reason he found out about the child was when he received a request for child support payments. And it was here, shortly after their marriage fell apart,
when Gary began his blood-soaked crime spree. In November of 1986, Gary kidnapped a woman named Josefina Rivera. After kidnapping Josefina, he brought her back to his house, which was the church headquarters, and it was there where he kept her chained up in a pitch black pit in his basement. But this one victim wasn't enough.
Just one month later, Gary kidnapped another four women from the North Philadelphia area and he locked them all up in his basement.
After they were all chained up and secured, Gary then proceeded to torture, rape, and beat the women mercilessly for months. One of the girls, named Sandra Lindsay, who had been captured by Gary, eventually died due to a combination of injuries related to her torture, starvation, and a high fever.
After Sandra died, Gary proceeded to dismember her corpse. And after encountering some problems with dismantling her arms and legs, he stored her extremities in his freezer and put a label on the body parts that read "dog food." According to Gary, after chopping up her body, he boiled Sandra's head in a pot on his stove.
and he roasted her ribs in his oven. While he was cooking Sandra's body parts, neighbors who lived nearby complained to the police about a rancid odor emanating from 3520 North Marshall Street, Gary's address. But the police would never go searching the home that day.
and they had no idea that four women were chained up and dying of torture and starvation. And that's because Gary had an excellent explanation for the police as to why his home smelled so rotten that afternoon. I'm cooking a roast, he stated. I fell asleep and it burnt.
Several victims of Gary's crimes later stated that he had ground up some of the unused parts of Sandra's body and he mixed the shredded human flesh with his dog food and served it to his other victims. So allegedly, he forced the women who were in prison to eat some of their fellow captives' corpse. In addition to the rape and physical beatings and starvation,
Gary also electroshocked his captives. In fact, electric shock was his preferred form of torture. On one particular day, Gary forced three of the women he was holding captive into a pit that he had dug in the basement. He then ordered the women to fill the hole with water. It was dark and musty down there.
and there was barely any light in the basement, so the women truly had no idea what was to come. Eventually, after the pit was filled with water, the three victims were soaking wet, and Gary pulled out an extension cord that he had stripped and exposed himself.
He then demanded one of the victims, Josefina, aid him in shocking the other girls. And having no other choice, Josefina held the wiring onto the chains wrapped around the naked women who were sitting in the water pit. She watched in horror as her fellow prisoners were shocked.
Screams filled the air, water splashed everywhere, and smoke filled the room from the victims' bodies. After all was said and done, one of the captives, a woman named Deborah Dudley, was dead, and soon after, Gary loaded her body into his vehicle and took a midnight drive to dispose of her corpse in the nearby Pine Barrens in New Jersey.
Shortly after the deaths of his two victims, on January 18, 1987, Gary abducted another woman named Jacqueline Askins. Jacqueline was the youngest of the captives at just 18 years old and years later when interviewed for a news report in Philadelphia, she stated that while she was held hostage,
Gary had violently wrapped duct tape around the mouths of all of his victims while in the basement, and he would frequently stab them at random in their ears with a sharp screwdriver. Gary liked the power. He enjoyed the control that he had over these women. And for a man who was a self-proclaimed minister and messenger of God, he wasn't exactly carrying out God's work while committing these crimes.
It was now March of 1987. Gary had successfully hidden from the police for months and he was hungry for another victim. And it wouldn't be long until he found her. Her name was Agnes Adams. But this time, Gary was sloppy. The day after abducting Agnes and forcing her into his basement of horrors with the other victims, Gary allowed her to leave to visit her family.
Interestingly enough, after Agnes told him that her family would be worried about her disappearance, Gary decided to drive her to a nearby gas station. He told her he would wait there while she went and talked to her family for a little bit, but she had to come right back.
Agnes obviously agrees to these conditions, but instead of going to her family's house, she immediately walks over to her boyfriend's and tells him about what she had gone through. Her boyfriend wanted to initially confront Gary for his actions, but he ultimately decided to call the police.
The officers quickly rushed over to Agnes' boyfriend's house and it was there when they saw the chains around her legs. Agnes quickly told the police that she was kidnapped and that her captor was waiting at the gas station for her. The police quickly made their way over and placed Gary Heidnik under arrest. During his trial, Gary attempted to plead insanity but it didn't work.
He was declared mentally competent and was subsequently sentenced to death. On July 6th, 1999, the night before his death, Gary enjoyed his last meal, which consisted of two cups of coffee and two slices of cheese pizza. The next morning, July 7th, he was put to death by lethal injection and his body was cremated.
Gary Heidnik was the last person executed by the state of Pennsylvania, and his dark legacy continues to haunt the city of Philadelphia to this day. But there's still one more killer we want to discuss. Someone who we believe has never been brought to justice. But first, we're going to take a quick commercial break. Now, I have a personal connection to this company because...
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So with my YouTube channel, The Paranormal Files, everyone online probably knows that, you know, I like to focus on stories that need justice. We've covered stories of lynchings that were never recorded. I've started petitions to try to get monuments erected for people who were victims of racial injustice.
And with the Texas killing fields, we tried to look deeper into the story to investigate out there at the killing fields to see if some of that energy is still there. And now I'm not claiming in any way here that every murder scene is haunted. It's not like that. I think that there's an energy that gets left behind from these horrible crimes. And that's, that's really what it is. But that brings me to a story that I am dying to cover here in Philadelphia.
A story that I think has left stains all across the city. The Frankfurt Slasher. Now, back in the early 2010s, there was a serial killer in Philadelphia named the Kensington Strangler. That's an interesting story, but that's not who we're talking about here. Back in the late 1980s, at the exact same time that Gary Heidnik was abducting and torturing women, another serial killer was haunting Philadelphia. This guy was much more proficient, much more prolific,
and was more highly skilled with what he was doing. And he most likely got away with all of his crimes.
It was 1985 in the neighborhood of Frankford, Philadelphia. At the time, Frankford was an area ridden with crime. Small businesses in this community were struggling to survive, bars were raking in dough, and prostitution and drug sales were spiking in the area. In fact, Sylvester Stallone reportedly chose Frankford as the setting for his film Rocky because it was at the time such a rough area that he could rise above. And things in Frankford weren't getting any better from here.
August 26th, 1985. The body of a 52-year-old woman named Helen Patton is discovered in an empty trail yard.
It had been a beautiful day that morning. Transit workers at a SEPTA train yard in the city of Philadelphia had been starting their day drinking their early morning coffee when they stumbled upon the corpse. Helen had been beaten, raped, and mutilated. And after being sexually assaulted and stabbed 47 times, the killer had pulled Helen's blouse up to expose her breasts, had spread her legs apart to expose her genitalia, and had practically cut her inner organs out from her body.
A massive slash on her abdomen had literally exposed her intestines and other organs to the elements. It was a grotesque scene.
And this was just the beginning of the Frankfurt Slashers' disturbed reign of terror on this part of the city. No arrests were made in connection to the murder of Helen Patton. And for months, people in Frankfurt were left to wonder, was this a one-off act of violence? Or was there a predator out there in the shadows, waiting for another victim to cross their unlucky path? Unfortunately, just a few short months later, the people of Frankfurt's questions would be answered.
January 3rd, 1986. Anna Carroll, a 68-year-old woman from South Philadelphia, is found murdered inside of her own home.
Although she had only been stabbed six times, as opposed to the 47 stab wounds that Helen suffered, Anna was also found nude below the waist with her blouse pulled up to expose her breasts. Her corpse was also posed in a lewd position and her abdomen had been stabbed and sliced from her breastbone to her pubis, exposing, once again, her organs. Like Helen, Anna was also a well-known patron of the bars and establishments on Frankfurt Avenue.
Two murders in just a few months with the same M.O. There has to be a killer on the loose, right? Well, the Philly police didn't treat it like that. In fact, they publicly stated at the time that they didn't think that the murders were connected.
Even after the third Frankfurt slasher murder, which took place on Christmas Eve when 74-year-old Susan Olsef was killed in her own apartment after being stabbed six times, no true connections were made. It was only after a fourth victim, Jean Durkin, was found murdered in the area when the police finally began to admit that there may be a serial killer operating in the Frankfurt area.
It was at around this time when the local newspapers began picking up on this story and started referring to the shadowy killer as the Frankfurt Slasher. This killer seemed to be targeting primarily Caucasian women who lived in a small area, who had a history of mental illness or drug dependency, and oftentimes worked as prostitutes. And although there was a sense of panic in the city, life still went on. But the bodies kept stacking up as well.
In the same month that 28-year-old Jean Durkin was murdered, 29-year-old Catherine Jones was also killed in a very similar fashion. Later that year, 66-year-old Margaret Vaughn was brutally slain. Then, a few months later, it was 30-year-old Teresa Scurtino
Well, all of these murders were occurring, the police had narrowed in on a few suspects and had released a suspect sketch. According to this drawing and from witness reports, the suspect in the slayings was a stocky, middle-aged white man who wore glasses with short hair and sometimes a hat.
The slasher, according to what authorities had learned and believed at the time, posed as a counselor to women and offered guidance for people who had strayed from the proper Christian path. One of the suspects was a man who at one point rented an office in a church nearby Frankfurt Avenue, who was known to frequent bars in the area and was often seen talking to down and out-of-luck women. But as the authorities were closing in on this suspect, he disappeared. I mean, he was gone.
It seemed as though he had skipped town, moved out of state, and had taken on a new identity. And seeing that the murders were getting so much attention in the press, at this point, the killer seemed to take a break. A break which lasted a little over a year. But he wasn't done yet. April 29th, 1990.
Carol Dowd is found brutally murdered behind a fish market in Frankfurt. And this time, the police had a solid suspect. On the night of the murder, some witnesses had placed a 39-year-old man named Leonard Christopher at the scene of the crime.
Leonard actually worked at the fish market behind which Carol's body was found at the time, and some witnesses had seen him walking with the victim on the night of the crime, and one person even claimed that they had seen Leonard walking out of the alleyway on which the victim's body was found the night of the murder at around 1 a.m., and told authorities that Leonard had been sweating profusely, had his shirt over his arm, and a Rambo knife was tucked into his belt.
And apparently, these eyewitness statements were enough for the Philadelphia police. They swooped in, arrested Leonard, and charged him with the murder of Carol Dowd. And to them, the Frankfurt Slasher case was then wrapped up with a nice little bow. But it wouldn't be so easy. You see, while Leonard was in jail, awaiting trial, the ninth victim of the Frankfurt Slasher was found, freshly killed. The victim was 30-year-old Michelle Martin.
Michelle was, once again, found nude from the waist down, had her blouse pushed up to show off her breasts, and she had been stabbed a total of 23 times. Now, Michelle had been dead for only two days, which meant that, unless there was a great copycat killer out there, the Frankfurt slasher had struck again recently, while the lead suspect in the case had been in jail.
But even though Leonard claimed that he had been with his girlfriend on the night of the murder and the murder case against him was entirely circumstantial, meaning there was zero physical evidence, Leonard was convicted for the murder of Carol Down and was sentenced to life in prison. And thus the Philadelphia PD solved the case.
I'm putting air quotes around solved here, in case you don't know. Now, obviously, there are so many things wrong with this conviction. Not only was Leonard convicted purely on circumstantial evidence, but the sketches of the Frankfurt slasher himself were all of a white middle-aged male, and Leonard was black.
Never mind the multiple suspects the police had identified earlier, and the man who rented the room from the church, who disappeared before he could be questioned. At the time, Leonard Christopher was their man, and in the eyes of authorities, Leonard Christopher was the Frankfurt Slasher. Sadly though, Leonard, from the time that he was arrested until the time that he was convicted, claimed that he was innocent. And a few short years later, after telling people from prison that he was innocent and didn't do anything,
He died in prison from cancer. Obviously, there have been so, so many wrongful convictions throughout American history. And here at Murder in America, we believe that Leonard Christopher was indeed most likely innocent and that the Frankfurt Slasher may still be out there. He'd most likely be around 65 to 70 years old right now. He might be your next door neighbor in Wyoming. He could be the friendly man down the street in your neighborhood in California.
or he could be a coworker in Texas. You never truly know. Hell, the Frankfurt Slasher might even still be in Philadelphia, enjoying the fact that he got away with one of the city's most notorious crime sprees. But until we get more evidence in this case, asking who was the Frankfurt Slasher is a question that will never truly have an answer. And that's why I want to film a documentary about the murders.
In the next month or two, Courtney and I are going to attempt to interview survivors of the slasher, relatives of family members, and ex-Philadelphia police officers while we produce our documentary about this string of crimes. Because trust me, there's a lot of this story that I had to leave out.
And soon enough, we're going to be posting that documentary on my YouTube channel, The Paranormal Files. Also, if you guys want to watch a great true crime documentary, our film about the Texas Killing Fields, which was episode number two of Murder in America, is available to watch on my YouTube channel, The Paranormal Files, now. The video actually just hit a million views last month, and we're so happy to have touched so many lives with that movie. In fact, we just filmed a part two to the Killing Fields episode.
Because just a few months ago, they found another body there. And that's going to be premiering on the channel at the end of this month, along with a mini-series about murder in Texas. So, if you're into the macabre and you love what we do here, go subscribe to The Paranormal Files on YouTube as well.
Philadelphia, one of America's oldest cities. Nowadays, one of America's most violent and most colorful. Courtney and I love Philadelphia. There are so many amazing people that live here, so many amazing places to visit, and so much amazing history to experience. But late at night, while walking these streets, you can't help but wonder, was somebody killed here?
Just the other night, Courtney and I actually found out that one of the Frankfurt Slasher's victims' bodies was discovered just a couple hundred feet from our apartment's front door. It's crazy. We're definitely going to be telling more Philadelphia stories in the future, but it makes me wonder, what's the history of your city? Was there an infamous murder that took place in your town?
Do you have a connection to true crime? Let us know on our Instagram at Murder in America. We're dying, no pun intended, to hear from you all online and learn about your history with murder.
Send us a message, comment on our post, let us know how crime has touched you. Because after all, murder is everywhere. You never know when, how, or if it's going to happen. And there's really nowhere in the world where you're truly safe. So always keep your eyes open, watch behind your back, lock your doors. Because in this world, especially in the United States, there are too many victims.
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Staying connected is important in today's world. Whether it's hearing the news of a new baby in the family or calling work to let your boss know you're running late, phone service keeps you connected with your world. At AT&T, we know that some Americans face life every day without the comfort and security of having phone service. In certain areas, you may be able to reduce your phone bill with a lifeline discount if you are in a qualifying low-income household.
Additional discounts of up to $25 may be available to those living on federally recognized tribal lands where AT&T offers Lifeline. To find out more about Lifeline and other AT&T products and services, call us at 800-288-2020 or go to att.com slash lifeline if you have access to the internet.
Hello, everyone. It is Courtney, and it's actually just going to be me today on the outro. Colin is out filming right now, but we just want to thank you guys for watching.
for all of the love and support. You guys have been incredible. We know the last few months have been kind of crazy with the scheduling and release dates, but y'all have been so understanding throughout our move and all of the craziness going on in our lives. So we love you. Thank you for understanding. And soon enough, we will be back and running as normal, but we love you guys. If you
Our Instagram is murderinamerica and you can also follow us on Facebook. Make sure to listen to next week's episode. I have been working so hard on an insane serial killer story and you guys are going to love it. So we love you guys and we will see you next week.
Staying connected is important in today's world. Whether it's hearing the news of a new baby in the family or calling work to let your boss know you're running late, phone service keeps you connected with your world. At AT&T, we know that some Americans face life every day without the comfort and security of having phone service. In certain areas, you may be able to reduce your phone bill with a lifeline discount if you are in a qualifying low-income household.
Additional discounts of up to $25 may be available to those living on federally recognized tribal lands where AT&T offers Lifeline. To find out more about Lifeline and other AT&T products and services, call us at 800-288-2020 or go to att.com slash lifeline if you have access to the internet.
Lifeline is a government benefit program and willfully making false statements to obtain this benefit is punishable by fine or imprisonment and could result in termination of Lifeline service. Lifeline enrollment requires certain eligibility documentation and is non-transferable. Limited to one discount per household. AT&T services including Lifeline are not available in all areas. Other restrictions apply.
