Frankford Slasher

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frankford Slasher
Police sketch of the Frankford Slasher
Background information
Alias(es):	Leonard Christopher (convicted of one of the murders)
Penalty:	? - Leonard Christopher Life
Killings
Number of victims:	8-9
Span of killings:	1985 through 1990
Country:	USA
State(s):	Frankford, Pennsylvania
Date apprehended:	? - Leonard Christopher May 5, 1990

The Frankford Slasher is the name given by the media to a possible serial killer who operated in and around the neighborhood of Frankford of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1985 to 1990. Leonard Christopher was convicted in the murder of one of the nine supposedly linked victims, but the others remain unsolved. All the victims were sexually assaulted and stabbed to death. Several of the victims were seen with a middle-aged white man shortly before their deaths.

[edit] Possible Victims

Helen Patent, 52, killed August 19, 1985
Anna Carroll, 68, killed September 3, 1986
Susan Olszef, 64, killed December 25, 1986
Jeanne Durkin, 28, killed January 8, 1987
Catherine M. Jones, 29, killed January 1987 (connection to other murders is disputed)
Margaret Vaughan, 66, killed November 11, 1988
Theresa Sciortino, 30, killed January 19, 1989
Carol Dowd, 46, killed April 29, 1990 (Leonard Christopher was convicted of her death)
Michelle Dehner (also Martin), 30, killed September 6, 1990

[edit] Leonard Christopher

During the investigation into the death of Carol Dowd, Leonard Christopher, an employee at a nearby fish market, became a suspect. Despite the fact that he did not match the witness' description, and that there was no evidence to link him to any of the other eight murders, and little evidence linking him to Dowd's murder, he was tried and convicted of first degree murder on December 12, 1990.