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Joseph Christopher

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Joseph Christopher
Christopher in 1981
Born
Joseph Gerard Christopher

(1955-07-26)July 26, 1955
DiedMarch 1, 1993(1993-03-01) (aged 37)
Other namesThe .22-Caliber Killer
The Midtown Slasher
MotiveRacism[1]
Conviction(s)Murder (3 counts)
Criminal penalty60 years (overturned)
Life imprisonment
Details
Victims19 (12 killed, 7 survived)
Span of crimes
September – December 1980
CountryUnited States
State(s)New York, Georgia
Date apprehended
January 1981

Joseph Gerard Christopher (July 26, 1955 – March 1, 1993) was an American serial killer who gained infamy for a series of murders in the early 1980s. He is believed to have killed at least twelve African American men and boys and wounded numerous others.

Early life

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Joseph Gerard Christopher was born in Buffalo, New York on July 26, 1955, as the only son born to Therese (née Hurley) and Nicholas Christopher. His mother was a registered nurse, and his father was a maintenance worker with the city's Sanitation Department. Joseph had two older sisters and one younger sister.[1] Nicholas was an outdoorsman and hunter who taught Joseph how to shoot and handle weapons at a young age; according to friends, Joseph had a passion for the outdoors which exceeded all of his other interests.[1]

He enrolled in the automotive mechanics program at Burgard Vocational High School in 1971. He was remembered as a quiet student who did well in his shop courses before dropping out in early 1974, and was said to be "very intelligent, though he wasn't book-smart." He then worked a series of odd jobs before securing employment as a maintenance man at Canisius College, where he shared a midnight shift with a co-worker. He was fired in March 1979 for sleeping on the job and returned to live with his parents.[1]

Christopher, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, reached out for assistance after noticing his mental health slipping in 1978. He tried to admit himself to the Buffalo Psychiatric Center in September 1980.[2] The Psychiatric Center staff told him he was not a danger to himself or others and so could not be admitted. This was a common practice at a time when such centers were being downsized. Instead, the center officials recommended counseling therapy. Fourteen days after he left the center, the killings began.[2]

Murders

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Christopher's murder spree began on September 22, 1980, when he killed three black men and one boy in the space of 36 hours with a .22 caliber sawed-off Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle concealed in a brown paper bag. These murders led to the media epithet of the .22-Caliber Killer.[3] A 14-year-old boy, Glenn Dunn, was the first victim, shot outside a supermarket in Buffalo on September 22. Harold Green, 32, was shot the next day while dining at a fast food restaurant in Cheektowaga. That same evening in Buffalo, 30 year old Emmanuel Thomas was shot while crossing the street to his home, only 7 blocks away from Glenn Dunn's murder. On September 24, Joseph McCoy was shot to death in Niagara Falls.

He committed two more murders on October 8 and October 9, both times bludgeoning his victims to death and then cutting their hearts out.[4][5] The bloodied, beaten, and mutilated body of 71 year old Parler Edwards was found in the trunk of his taxi cab parked in Amherst on October 8. Forty-year-old Ernest Jones was found in similar condition beside the Niagara River in Tonawanda on October 9. Jones' blood-spattered taxi was found 3 miles away in Buffalo.

Collin Cole, 37, was attacked in a Buffalo hospital on October 10. A white man matching the description of the .22 Caliber Killer tried to strangle him to death. Cole said the man snarled, "I hate niggers" at him before trying to kill him. He was saved by the arrival of a nurse, and though severe damage had been done to his throat, he survived the attack.

These initial murders went unsolved at first, and Christopher enlisted in the United States Army in November, and was stationed at Fort Benning. He soon received Christmas furlough and arrived in Manhattan on December 20, where, on December 22, he committed four more murders and two more attacks; this time stabbing his victims to death, thus earning the moniker of the Midtown Slasher. Twenty-five year old John Adams was stabbed at around 11:30 a.m., but survived. About two hours later, 32 year old Ivan Frazier was attacked. He managed to deflect the blade with his hand, suffering only minor injuries. Luis Rodriguez, 19, was the first murder of the day; at around 3:30 p.m., he was stabbed to death. At 6:50 p.m., 30 year old Antone Davis was stabbed to death. Around 4 hours later, 20 year old Richard Renner was stabbed and killed. Finally, Carl Ramsey was stabbed with a knife while on the subway at around 11 p.m., and died from his injuries before midnight.[6]

Christopher then returned to Buffalo and fatally stabbed another black man, 31-year-old Roger Adams, on December 29 and 26-year-old Wendell Barnes in Rochester on December 30. He committed three additional attacks in Buffalo on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (Albert Menefee, Larry Little, and Calvin Crippen), but all three victims survived. Christopher then returned to Fort Benning in January 1981.

When back at Fort Benning, Christopher attacked a fellow black soldier with a paring knife in what was described as an unprovoked attack on January 18. The soldier survived the attack and Christopher was placed in the fort's stockade, where he attempted suicide by cutting himself with a razor. In a subsequent psychiatric session, he told a psychiatrist that he "had to" kill blacks.[1] This admission caused Christopher's home to be searched by the police. There the police found evidence linking Christopher to three murders, which led to his indictment in April 1981 and his transfer back to Buffalo for his trial on May 8.

Victims

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# Name Age Date Location Method Result
1 Glenn Dunn 14 September 22, 1980 Buffalo, NY Shot Killed
2 Harold Green 32 September 23, 1980 Cheektowaga, NY
3 Emmanuel Thomas 30 September 23, 1980 Buffalo, NY
4 Joseph McCoy 43 September 24, 1980 Niagara Falls, NY
5 Parler Edwards 71 October 8, 1980 Amherst, NY Bludgeoned
6 Ernest Jones 40 October 9, 1980 Tonawanda/Buffalo, NY
7 Collin Cole 37 October 10, 1980 Buffalo, NY Strangled Survived
8 John Adams 25 December 22, 1980 @ 11:30am Manhattan, NY Stabbed
9 Ivan Frazier 32 December 22, 1980 @ ~1:30pm
10 Luis Rodriguez 19 December 22, 1980 @ 3:30pm Killed
11 Antone Davis 30 December 22, 1980 @ 6:50pm
12 Richard Renner 20 December 22, 1980 @ ~10:50pm
13 Carl Ramsey ? December 22, 1980 @ ~11pm–12am
14 Roger Adams 31 December 29, 1980 Buffalo, NY
15 Wendell Barnes 26 December 30, 1980 Rochester, NY
16 Albert Menefee 32 December 31, 1980 Buffalo, NY Survived
17 Larry Little January 1, 1981
18 Calvin Crippen 23 January 1, 1981
19 Leonard Coles[7] ? January 18, 1981 Fort Benning, GA Slashed/stabbed

Trial, imprisonment and death

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He pleaded not guilty to the three murders and refused counsel by lawyers hired by his mother, opting instead to represent himself. He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in prison, but this ruling was overturned as the trial judge had barred the defense from presenting expert psychiatric testimony about Christopher's ability to stand trial.[8] He was later found competent to stand trial, and appeared in court again in 1985 under various charges which led to him being sentenced to life imprisonment. While imprisoned at the Attica Correctional Facility, Christopher claimed that he committed 13 killings.[9] Christopher would ultimately be convicted of three .22 caliber killings, those being Glenn Dunn, Harold Green and Emanuel Thomas.[10] He died in prison due to a rare form of male breast cancer on March 1, 1993, at the age of 37.[11]

Media coverage

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The Discovery Channel cable network television show The FBI Files first aired its Joseph Christopher investigation, on May 9, 2000, titled the ".22 Caliber Killer".[12]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Farber, M. A. (16 May 1981). "BUFFALO SUSPECT'S FRIENDS ARE MYSTIFIED". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b Warner, Gene (2 July 2016). "A new look at the .22-Caliber Killer". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  3. ^ "So-called Midtown Stabber kills his first victim". History.com. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
  4. ^ Profile of Joseph Christopher Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, frankedobson.com. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  5. ^ Profile of Joseph Christopher, brucecorris.blogspot.com, September 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  6. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: .22 Caliber Killer | FULL EPISODE | The FBI Files – via YouTube.
  7. ^ "Soldier may be suspect", Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, April 24, 1981, p1
  8. ^ "BUFFALO MAN GUILTY IN '80 KILLING". The New York Times. 24 October 1985.
  9. ^ Profile of Joseph Christopher, Radford/FGCU Serial Killer Database. Retrieved December 9, 2014
  10. ^ "People v. Christopher". casetext.
  11. ^ Profile of Joseph Christopher Archived 2014-12-20 at the Wayback Machine, artvoice.com. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  12. ^ "The FBI Files". TV Guide. 30 May 2000. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
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