60’s Thursday – Gardens of Crime

Kew Gardens, a quiet community located in Queens, NY was the scene of two infamous crimes in the mid 1960’s. (I love reading about criminal history – is that sick?)

Kitty Genovese

On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was murdered in front of her Kew Gardens, Queens apartment at around 3am. As the attacker stabbed her in the back, she screamed “Oh my God, he stabbed me, help me!” Genovese staggered towards her building, where she was fell down – barely conscious. The perpetrator left and then returned a few minutes later, where he stabbed her several more times and then sexually attacked her. A witness called the police. Genovese died en route to the hospital.

What makes the Genovese case so notorious was an article published two weeks later in the New York Times titled – “Thirty Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call The Police” by Martin Gansberg. The author claimed that Ms. Genovese’s neighbors failed to react and were completely non-responsive murder they were fully aware was occurring. One quote said “I didn’t want to get involved.” The article starts:

“For more than half an hour thirty-eight respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.”

Almost immediately this tragedy became a textbook case in urban sociology. The plight and demise of Ms. Genovese has come to be known as the bystander effect and the diffusion of responsibility. It was portrayed as the ultimate example of the indifference of New Yorkers. The quiet 29-year old New Yorker has become a highlighted box in psychology textbooks

Turns out that while the phenomenon of bystander effect exists, the facts around the Genovese murder are very inaccurate. 38 people didn’t witness the crime, maybe a dozen or so has some limited knowledge. None saw the attacks directly, and most only heard small portions. Nevertheless the media had a field day. This case attracted worldwide attention, not for whom Genovese was, but for what New Yorkers were made out to be – as false as it could be. People did call the police and try to do something.

As for Genovese’s murderer – Winston Moseley was sentenced to life in 1967. As of 2008, he is still alive and remains in prison. Moseley also took part in the famous Attica Prison Riots in 1971.

Alice Crimmins

Before the Menendez Brothers and OJ, there was Alice Crimmins. As a 10 year old I can distinctly remember all the headlines in the Post and Daily News for Alice Crimmins.

On July 14, 1965 Alice Crimmins returned to her home in Kew Gardens, Queens and found her 2 children – Eddie and Missy were not in their room. She called her estranged husband, Edmund, and accused him of taking them. When he denied it – she called the police to report her children were missing.

The detectives arrived and found the window was wide open – they assumed the children either were lured out of their room or crawled out on their own. But what struck the detectives immediately was the demeanor and dress of Mrs. Crimmins. She was sharply dressed in high heels and teased hair – and she was neither sobbing nor hysterical. The detective said “she looked like a cold bitch.” The tone of the Crimmins case was immediately set.

A few hours later, 4-year old Missy was found strangled in a vacant lot. The detective took Crimmins to the lot without telling her what she was going to see. Upon seeing the body, she mumbled “its Missy.” Again what struck the detectives was that she shed no tears and sat in the police car with no expression nor one bit of emotion. When Alice Crimmins finally broke down – it wasn’t until the press showed up at her door hours later.

The next morning, when the police arrived to investigate further and search for her son, she kept them waiting while she put on her makeup. The decomposing body of 5-year old Eddie was found a few days later.

A week later Alice and her estranged husband had reconciled at the were seen at bars and nightclubs drinking and dancing the night away.

This callousness led many, including the NYPD, to believe Alice was guilty of murdering her children. Alice Crimmins became tabloid fodder. She was never far from the headlines, in fact she often was the only news of the day. Alice Crimmins defined tabloid crime. Convinced of her guilt, the cops followed Crimmins constantly over the next months waiting for her to crack. They also waged a campaign of harassment, hoping it would “break” her. She began to drink, she changed jobs, she learned her phone was tapped. The police wired her boyfriend – but she never said anything incriminating.

The cops finally received a break in November 1966 from a letter written to the district attorney by a witness. But it wasn’t enough. When an ex-boyfriend decided to talk after being given immunity, the police made their move.

Crimmins was arrested in September 1967 for the murder of her daughter. The press, which already made Crimmins their main headline, went into overdrive. Because of her job she became the “Ex-Cocktail Waitress” – as a derogatory slur against her. Since Crimmins lead a very public and promiscuous life – other headline reads – “Sexpot on Trial.” The life of Alice Crimmins was on trial, in addition to the crimes of which she was charged.

The trial was as dramatic as any episode of Law & Order –with Crimmins breaking down and screaming liar to witnesses in court. She fainted in court. Crimmins took the stand in her defense and her whole partying and sex life was put into the record. It was very damaging. The jury convicted Crimmins (with no direct evidence) and sent her to prison for up to 20 years.

After 24 days, with a new lawyer at her side, Crimmins was freed on the grounds that the verdict would not stand up to an appeal. It took 16 months for the appellate court to get around to tossing the verdict and a second trial was ordered. Crimmins continued her wild lifestyle and the press did not let up.

The second trial began in March 1971, where Crimmins was charged with the murder of Eddie and with manslaughter for her daughter (the tossing of the first verdict and double jeopardy precluded a murder charge for Missy). She lost control of herself even more often in this trial – with outburst after outburst. When there was a surprise witness for the prosecution called with damaging testimony – Crimmins decided to approach the press – something she was warned not to do. To the papers (which she knew so well after years of being their star headline), she made a plea for someone to come forward and help her prove she was innocent.

The next day there was another surprise witness – for Crimmins. It was a man who claimed to be the actual person all the prosecution witnesses saw carrying a girl wrapped in a blanket – and it was his daughter. Then another witness was called to disprove this. The Crimmins trial became quite a spectacle – and this was before there were cameras allowed in the courtroom. At her second trial, the lawyers did not let Alice Crimmins take the stand.

The verdict was guilty on both counts. Alice Crimmins went back to prison. After 2 years, in 1973, the Appellate Court reversed the conviction for the death of Eddie Crimmins – ruling there was no evidence. They also reversed the manslaughter charged against Missy. Crimmins was released. 2 years later, and now 10 years after the murder of her children, in 1975, the Court of Appeals upheld the reversal in the murder conviction, but reinstated the manslaughter verdict against Missy. Crimmins went back to jail.

In November 1977, Alice Crimmins was released for the last time – but this time as a felon. She appealed for a new trial but was turned down. This case remains one of the most mysterious and notorious in NYC history – for with so many loose ends and shifting memories, one could not absolutely say beyond a reasonable doubt that Alice Crimmins was guilty. But everyone was convinced of her guilt due to her demeanor, more than the evidence showed. In addition, the trial was a spectacle worthy of a soap opera – as sex, drinking, lifestyle and the media became more prominent than the actual tragedy of the death of Eddie and Missy Crimmins.

Alice Crimmins remarried shortly afterwards and disappeared from the headlines. She would be 70 years old today – her whereabouts are unknown.

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