Peter Braunstein

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Photograph of Peter Braunstein released by the police.

Peter Braunstein (born 1964) is a New York City-based journalist, writer and playwright who became infamous as the prime suspect in an October 31, 2005 rape, leading police on a multi-state manhunt until his capture and self-injury in Memphis, Tennessee on December 16, 2005.

Dubbed the "Halloween rapist", the "fake firefighter," "fire fiend" and other names by the media [1], Braunstein became an unlikely criminal mastermind and the most wanted man in New York City, a dubious honor often reserved for murderers, mobsters or terrorists. Braunstein formerly worked as a writer for Women’s Wear Daily and The Village Voice, and his former colleagues avidly followed the case on weblogs.

1 Biography
2 The Halloween rape
- 2.1 Media reaction
- 2.2 Manhunt and capture
3 External links

[edit] Biography

Peter Braunstein was born to Alberto and Angele Braunstein in Kew Gardens, Queens. His father was a Jewish Manhattan gallery owner. Braunstein studied abroad at Sorbonne in Paris and is fluent in French. He came back to New York to pursue a PhD degree in History from NYU.

In 2000, he got a job at W magazine, writing mostly about the history and culture of rock music. He also freelanced for the publications mentioned above.

He began dating his coworker, W beauty editor Jane Larkworthy. After breaking up with her, Braustein started using the play's website as a blog to harass his ex-girlfriend, whom he referred to as "BioHazard". He was charged with 37 counts of harassment, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to three years probation. According to the victim, Braunstein harassed her for 18 months, taped her hands to a chair, sent frightening emails and phone messages to her coworkers and family, and posted her naked photos and personal information on an adult web site. On November 22, 2004, Braunstein cut his own chest with a knife and then claimed his ex-girlfriend attacked him. He was taken by the police to Bellevue Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation and released after two hours.

Around this time, his coworkers reportedly noticed that he was suffering from what could be described as delusions of grandeur and paranoia. He went back to live with his mother in Queens, which earned him the nickname "George Costanza" among his associates. In 2004 he wrote and directed the off-off-broadway play Andy & Edie about the relationship between Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick. [2]. The play turned out to be a flop and played only for four days. He stopped talking to his father after he made a negative comment about the play. Braunstein also came up with a hit list of "fashionable gals-about-town" whom he wanted to "punish." According to police sources, his future victim was on the list.

[edit] The Halloween rape

On October 31, 2005, a man wearing a New York City Fire Department uniform set two small fires in the lobby of a Chelsea building where his victim lived. He then knocked on the door of the 34-year old woman's apartment and told her he was there to check for smoke damage. As soon as the victim let him in, the man shoved a chloroform-laced rag into her face. For the next 13 hours she went in and out of consciousness while the attacker raped her. The victim told the police that the attacker apparently knew her, although she was not able to identify him. According to her he videotaped the attack and left with a pair of her shoes.

The police released a sketch of the suspect made with the help of a witness which was identified as Braunstein by his father the next day. Several of his former coworkers also called the police after he allegedly made threatening phone calls to them following the attack. Several days later detectives uncovered more evidence on Braunstein's personal computer, including a detailed plan that described the attack that occurred [3].

Police have also discovered that Braunstein purchased a voice-altering device on Ebay five days before the attack, along with the season one DVD set of the FX Network television series Nip/Tuck, a show which features a masked serial killer known as The Carver, who also uses a voice altering device [4]. It should be noted, however, that the Carver did not appear on the show until its second season.

[edit] Media reaction

The crime received a great amount of media attention for a number of reasons. Peter Braunstein, a well-educated writer and journalist from an upper-middle class family, did not fit the typical profile of a rapist. In fact, at one point he belonged to the same clique of freelance writers who are now following his every step in their blogs. Braunstein also was able to avoid arrest for several weeks while apparently still residing in New York where his photo graced the front pages of most newspapers and footage of the suspect was played on the evening news almost daily. Finally, the timing also coincided with a historic low for NYC crime rates.

The crime quickly became a sensation in the New York area. New developments about the crime have been often featured on the front pages of tabloids like the New York Post and New York Daily News, as well as the TV show America's Most Wanted. It was revealed that the suspect had an interest in pornography and was "extremely intelligent and talented, with an IQ of 185" [5]. This "evil genius" aspect of the crime only fueled the public fascination with it.

Other details uncovered by the media included that fact that Braunstein was contemplating stalking supermodel Kate Moss.

He has also been followed in great detail by gossip blogs such as Gawker, with the editor Jessica Coen going as far as creating a special Peter Braunstein section to document her findings. Even Craigslist had a hand in the story, as lengthy, elaborate posts from an anonymous source speculated about his whereabouts.

[edit] Manhunt and capture

On November 17, 2005, Braunstein was spotted at a local Cobble Hill coffee shop in Brooklyn. The shop's owner recognized the suspect and alerted two policemen nearby. The blocks surrounding the area were quickly filled with dozens of police officers, some wearing riot gear, as well as the news media. Around 1:30 p.m., a police bloodhound who had been given a pillow recovered at the scene of the rape picked up a scent and tracked it two blocks to an abandoned building. Police forces stormed the building but found no evidence of the suspect. Throughout the day, posters were hung up in the area offering a reward of $12,000 for information leading to the capture of Braunstein.

He was reported captured on December 16, 2005 in Memphis, Tennessee around 3:30 p.m. [6]. He was spotted by a University of Memphis student who notified the police. As the police moved in, he reportedly shouted, "I am the man the world is looking for" (although other sources have reported slightly different accounts of his words [7]). Braunstein then stabbed himself three times in the neck. After recovery from surgery, he was transferred to New York custody and on December 23, 2005, a grand jury indicted him for the Halloween attack; he was arraigned on January 5, 2006 and pleaded "Not Guilty" to charges of sexual abuse, arson, kidnapping, burglary and robbery. [8]