Cincinnati Strangler
The Cincinnati Strangler was the name given to a serial killer who raped, then strangled seven mostly elderly women in Cincinnati, Ohio between 1965 and 1966. The identity of the Cincinnati Strangler is commonly believed to be former cab driver Posteal Laskey Jr.[1]
Cincinnati Strangler | |
|---|---|
 Posteal Laskey Jr., the man believed to be the "Cincinnati Strangler" | |
| Born | Posteal Laskey Jr. 1938 |
| Died | June 29, 2007 (aged 68–69) |
| Occupation | former cab driver |
| Criminal penalty | Death, commuted to life imprisonment by Furman v. Georgia |
| Details | |
| Victims | 7 |
Span of crimes | 1965–1966 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Ohio |
Date apprehended | December 1966 |
During the killing spree there was considerable alarm on the part of many Cincinnatians, with locksmiths and hardware stores unable to keep up with the demand for locks.[2] Despite being charged with only one murder, the citywide panic only abated after Laskey's arrest and conviction, when the killings suddenly stopped, thus supporting investigators' claims that they successfully found and jailed the Cincinnati Strangler.
Originally sentenced to death, Laskey's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when the Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty in Furman v. Georgia. In February 2007, Laskey was denied parole. The grounds cited by the Ohio Parole Board included the heinous nature of the crime, Laskey's prior record, and the community disapproval of an early release.[3]
He would have been eligible for parole again in 2017 at the age of 79 years and was incarcerated in the Pickaway Correctional Institution. Laskey died on May 29, 2007 of natural causes, while still in prison. No one claimed his body and prison officials said he was buried in one of the State of Ohio's prison cemeteries.
References
- Wallace, Carvelle (June 11, 2017). "In 1967, the Hunt for a Black Serial Killer in Cincinnati Stoked Racial Unrest and Led to a Riot" – via timeline.com.
- Perry, Kimball (March 1, 2002). "Outrage Grows to release of Killer". The Cincinnati Post. Archived from the original on March 9, 2005. Retrieved April 3, 2007.
- Coolidge, Sharon (February 14, 2007). "No Parole For Strangler". The Cincinnati Post. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
Further reading
- Townsend, J. T. (August 1997). "The Legacy of the Cincinnati Strangler". Cincinnati. 30 (11): 30–36. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
- Townsend, J. T. (2012). "Terror in the Gaslight District: Alice Hochhausen Falls Victim to the Cincinnati Strangler: 1966". Queen City Gothic: Cincinnati's Most Infamous Murder Mysteries (revised ed.). Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse. pp. 327–362. ISBN 9781467057127. OCLC 891380967.