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Murder of Kitty Genovese

Also known as: Kew Gardens murder

Active

1964–1964

Region

Kew Gardens, Queens, New York, USA

State

NY

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

1

Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, a 28-year-old bar manager, was stabbed by Winston Moseley near her home in Kew Gardens, Queens, in the early hours of March 13, 1964, and died on the way to the hospital. A New York Times story claiming that 38 neighbors watched and did nothing made the case a famous example of bystander apathy, but later reporting, and the Times itself in 2016, found that account seriously flawed: few people saw the attack, one shouted at Moseley and scared him off, police were called, and a friend held her until help came. Moseley was arrested six days later, confessed, and was convicted and sentenced to death; the sentence was reduced to life in 1967, and he died in prison in 2016.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Catherine "Kitty" Genovese, 28 · March 13, 1964

  Born in Brooklyn, she managed Ev's Eleventh Hour bar in Hollis, Queens.

Timeline of locations

1. March 13, 1964
   Ev's Eleventh Hour bar, Hollis (Workplace, approximate area)

   Genovese managed the bar on Jamaica Avenue and left work around 2:30 a.m. to drive home.

2. March 13, 1964
   Kew Gardens LIRR station parking lot (Other)

   Genovese parked at the station lot near her apartment around 3:15 a.m. Moseley, who had followed her, attacked her as she walked toward her building.

3. March 13, 1964
   Austin Street, Kew Gardens (Crime scene, approximate area)

   She was first stabbed on Austin Street; a neighbor shouted and Moseley ran off. He returned and attacked her again in a rear foyer of her building, out of view of most neighbors. Her friend Sophia Farrar held her until an ambulance came; she died on the way to the hospital.

4. March 19, 1964
   Arrest in Ozone Park (Arrest, approximate area)

   Moseley, who lived in Ozone Park, was picked up six days later on a suspected robbery after a television was found in his car. Detectives linked him to the murder and he confessed.

5. June 8, 1964
   Queens County Supreme Court (Court / trial, approximate area)

   Moseley was tried before Judge J. Irwin Shapiro, convicted of first-degree murder on June 11, and sentenced to death on June 15, 1964. The sentence was reduced to life in 1967.

6. March 28, 2016
   Clinton Correctional Facility, Dannemora (Prison)

   Moseley died here at 81 after being denied parole 18 times.

Watch, listen, read

Sources

• Murder of Kitty Genovese (Wikipedia)
• Kitty Genovese (HISTORY.com)
• The Myths Surrounding Kitty Genovese's Murder, by Jim Rasenberger (American Heritage, 2006)
• Killer of New York's Kitty Genovese dies in prison at 81 (CBS News / AP)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.