Frankford Slasher

Infobox Serial Killer
name=Frankford Slasher


caption=Police sketch of the Frankford Slasher
birthname=
alias=Leonard Christopher (convicted of one of the murders)
birth=
location=
death=
cause=
victims=8-9
country=USA
states=Frankford, Pennsylvania
beginyear=1985
endyear=1990
apprehended=? - Leonard Christopher May 5, 1990
penalty=? - Leonard Christopher Life

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.

Possible Victims

*Helen Patent, 52, killed August 19, 1985
*Anna Carroll, 68, killed January 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

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's 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.

References

* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/unsolved/frankford_slasher/index.html Crime Library article]
* [http://citypaper.net/articles/2005-08-25/cover.shtml "Under the El,"] Duane Swierczynski, Philadelphia "City Paper"