Winston Moseley — the man who killed Kitty Genovese in 1964 while neighbors ignored her pleas for help — died last week in prison at the age of 81.
Moseley, a psychopathic serial killer and necrophiliac, was one of New York’s longest-serving inmates of more than 50 years.
His gruesome rape and murder of 28-year-old Genovese is one of America’s most famous crimes and was even featured on an episode of the HBO show “Girls” just this week.
The case also is also a classic text book psychology example of the “bystander effect,” in which the presence of other people discourages people from intervening in an emergency, most times life and death where the reporting of such could help save lives. The “bystander effect is indeed a real phenomenon. I am a strong advocate of such my entire professional life and we still have not learned anything a half a century later.
It was reported back then that 38 people watched a killer “stalk and stab” Genovese without simply calling the police. Those 38 neighbors in Kew Gardens, Queens reportedly experienced a “diffusion of responsibility.” In other words, they thought somebody else would help Genovese, who was barely more than 5 feet tall.
The details and facts were that Kitty known to friends and family, was walking home after a shift at the bar she worked at. Detectives and others tried to down play what actually happened but the facts remain the facts even 50 years today. But this wasn’t 38 people watching a woman be slaughtered for 35 minutes and saying, ‘Oh, I don’t want to be involved.'”
The first in-depth account of the Genovese murder came two weeks after the crime, in a front-page story in The New York Times that took a damning view of the neighbors who failed to call the police. From that story, which appears to be based on police sources:
For more than half an hour 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens. Not one person telephoned the police during the assault; one witness called after the woman was dead.
Later, the story says that one neighbor “sheepishly” told police, “I didn’t want to get involved.”
The thought of a tiny woman getting stabbed while her neighbors watched was indeed horrifying, and the Genovese story quickly gained traction. The number of people who supposedly didn’t help — 38 — was repeated again and again.
But over the years, people have revisited the case as they do with other notable crimes to find crucial errors in initial account, as Nicholas Lemann wrote in The New Yorkeraround the 50th anniversary of the murder.
Here are the crucial facts, according to Lemann. Genovese’s killer, Moseley, was driving around and looking for a victim when he spotted the young woman and followed her home. She parked across from her apartment, and he attacked her with a hunting knife. She screamed, and a neighbor named Walter Mozer opened his window and shouted, “Leave that girl alone.”
Moseley drove off. Genovese, who was wounded but alive, ran into a vestibule of her apartment building around the corner. Moseley came back to the vestibule and attacked her again. The second, more brutal attack, occurred indoors, out of the view of most of her neighbors.
People will argue that in the 60’s, the police could not be trusted and that indeed, one or two did in fact call the police about the attack. Well, we all know too well about after the fact and defensive posturing.
Of course, now people can just call 911 when somebody else is in distress but this author knows all too well this is a double edged sword when reporting false tips of crimes that waste authorities time, energies and taxpayer dollars and results in more crimes by repeat offenders.
Moseley was sentenced to death 50 years ago. He did not just slaughter and rape her when dead but was a serial killer with many unknown victims. Kitty did not have to die that night. 38 people allowed that to happen. A serial killer who got to live out his life in prison because no one took action even with an anonymous phone call. Sadly, how some things never change.
About the author: Scott Bernstein is the CEO of Global Security International LLC headquartered in NYC. He has extensive experience as an Counter terrorist Consultant, International Apprehension Operative, Human & Sex Trafficking Expert and a Military and Law Enforcement Trainer. He is available for speaking engagements globally. He has been recognized as a leading authority by the international media and by his peers and colleagues. In addition to his LinkedIn profile, you can also interact with Scott on his LinkedIn group http://bit.ly/1LMp2hj.