#Eddie Leonski

[pilgrim1975]

Jean Lee, Australia’s last woman to hang.

The name of Jean Lee or (to use her real name) Marjorie Jean Maude Wright, is largely forgotten today, as are hey numerous aliases. Depending on who Wright talked to she was Marjorie Jean Brees, Mrs H. Pearce, Jean Deacon, Jean White, Marie Williams, Marjorie Lee, Jean Duncan, Jean Brown, Jean Smith, Mesha Vetos or ‘Skinny Jean,’ but ‘Jean Lee’ was the alias she was most known for. Outside of…

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#Australia #badger game #Brownout Strangler #Charles Leonard Gavan Duffy #death penalty #Eddie Leonski #History #Jean Lee #Judge Duffy #Melbourne #Morris Dias #murder #New South Wales #Norman Andrews #Pop Kent #Raymond Brees #Robert Clayton #true crime #Victoria #William Kent

[kreepykittysmurdermysteryblog]

The Smiling Strangler: Eddie Leonski.

Stepping off the tram at the Beaconsfield Parade stop in Melbourne’s Albert Park, the fresh salty smell of the nearby ocean hit me. It was easy to locate the supermarket which now sits in place of the old shops and alcove were Ivy McLeod, aged 38, had sheltered from the cold whilst waiting for her tram on the fateful night she was killed.

Ivy McLeod.

In the middle of World War Two the Australian government had imposed a brownout on Melbourne and other main Australian cities to reduce risk of attack from Japanese forces. American soldiers had arrived by the tens of thousands to help Australians fight in the south pacific. One of the soldiers, a young man named Eddie Leonski, sent to help protect, instead became a predator of Melbourne women, using the dimly lit streets of Melbourne’s brownout to help carry out his evil and twisted murders.

Eddie Leonski.

After living in this city for over a year the earlier excitement I had when I first arrived in Melbourne had begun to dull, but on the tram ride to Beaconsfield Parade I felt a renewed appreciation. If it’s one thing I love about Melbourne, it is the many well preserved historical buildings. Few things endear me more to a place than visiting historical sites and exploring the areas history. It was sad fate that Ivy made an impromptu visit to her boyfriend on the night of her murder, declined his offer to walk her to the normally safe tram stop, and then appeared to have missed her tram by only minutes due to it leaving early. Ivy had already been through hard times in her life before her murder, she had not heard from her estranged husband in 5 years and had also undergone a premature hysterectomy.

Tram stop, Albert Park, Melbourne. 2018.

The Hotel Victoria, Beaconsfield Parade, Albert Park, Melbourne. 2018.

Having drank first at the Victoria Hotel Victoria  then the Bleak House hotel, (now in it’s place contemporary bar The Beach) American soldier Eddie Leonski was sitting on a low wall bordering the South Melbourne Beach and Beaconsfield Parade when he heard footsteps across the street and saw a woman, Ivy McLeod. Eddie went over to join Ivy in the alcove in the pretence he was also seeking shelter, once inside the alcove he almost immediately placed an arm across her shoulder, quickly bringing up the other arm to choke her. Ivy collapsed almost instantly, hitting her head which killed her. Eddie began to rearrange her body into lewd positions before being interrupted by a man coming out to inspect from a nearby block of flats.

Beaconsfield Parade, South Melbourne Beach, Melbourne. 2018. (Across the road diagonally is the tram stop and alcove were Ivy sheltered from the cold.)

Walking onto Beaconsfield Parade, I was able to find the Hotel Victoria quite quickly, a beautiful and well maintained historical building across from the beach. Returning to Victoria Avenue, after standing outside the supermarket entrance (as if it were the alcove) which attracted a rather bemused look from the store owner, I caught the tram back to the city and from Elizabeth Street made my way down Collins Street towards Collins Place, the former site of the Astoria Hotel, now an international shopping complex.

Pauline Thompson.

Eddie’s next victim, the attractive 31 year old Pauline Thompson, who also went by the name Coral, had moved to Melbourne to pursue her career as an entertainer, while her husband stayed behind in Bendigo to wait for a work transfer. Believing herself to have been stood up by a young male friend (who was running late) Pauline decided to join the friendly, young and handsome Eddie for drinks after he approached her at the Hospitality Club on Elizabeth Street.

It was at the Astoria Hotel in Collins Place, they downed gin and squashes before Eddie walked with Pauline back to her boarding house on Spring Street, attacking her just outside her front door. Pauline, according to Eddie had put up quite a struggle. After killing and raping her, he arranged her body into a lewd, half naked position as he had with Ivy. 

Spring Street, Melbourne. 2018.

Late one May evening in 1942, University lecturer Gladys Hosking, aged 41, was walking home from work, when she ran into Eddie outside a milk bar on the corner of Royal Parade and Gatehouse Street. It was raining and Eddie offered to help the petit woman carry her things while she held her umbrella.

Gladys Hosking.

Arriving outside Gladys boarding house on Park Street, Eddie asked for directions to Camp Pell (the temporary American military base set up in Melbourne’s Royal Park during world war two). According to Eddie, Gladys offered to take him there, so they walked back up to Gatehouse Street and it was on the grass verge just outside Royal Park that Eddie struck, killing the tiny woman quickly, before half undressing and dumping her body down a bank in the park.

Gatehouse Street, Parkville. 2018.

A witness had seen an American soldier walking with Gladys shortly before her death and already on the lookout for the killer of Ivy and the similar murder of Pauline, aswell as a number of attacks on young woman by a young American soldier who fitted the same description, police officers were sent to the American Base to investigate alongside the American military. With the evening growing late, I hurried along Flinders Lane to catch the tram up to Melbourne University, the workplace of Eddie’s final victim. The walk from Melbourne University and down Royal Parade would be beautiful anytime, but in the late evening with the smell of early spring in the air is especially charming.Old Victorian Mansions stand in rows along the broad tree lined street with beautifully maintained gingerbread trimmings and roof turrets. It’s the type of area that makes you almost consider if spending most of your pay check on rent would be worthwhile. Arriving at Royal Park, I didn’t stay long as it was getting dark.

Royal Park, Parkville. 2018.

It was by chance the Uncle of one of the young ladies who survived such an attack, walked past Eddie, during a visit to Camp Pell to help police try identify the attacker. Upon recognising Eddie he cried out and Eddie was taken in for questioning. Eddie, confronted with much evidence, including witnesses and forensic evidence that matched mud and dirt on his pants to the site Gladys body was dumped, didn’t take long to confess. The case was given to the American military to try and Eddie was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, carried out in the Old Melbourne Goal later that year.

I finished my trip with a quick visit to the Melbourne Goal. It was after hours so I was unable to do the tour, but I had a quick look around the open courtyard inside the old Goal’s walls. It seems interesting that less than a hundred years ago prisoners still languished behind the stone walls and were hung in the courtyard. Another era, yet when you put it into perspective, it almost doesn’t seem that long ago.

Sources of information.

Shaw, Ian W. Murder at Dusk: How US soldier and smiling psychopath Eddie Leonski terrorised wartime Melbourne. Australia. Hachette, 2018. Hore,

Monique. Herald Sun, 2018. Edward Leonski hanged by US military on Australian soil in The Hangman's Journal, part IV

#murders; true crime; eddie leonski; melbourne; australia; pauline thompson; gladys hosling; ivy mcleod

[animatedpixie]

An actress who played the "mother" to Judith's "daughter" in an advert has expressed the view that her father/murderer was mentally ill and that that mental illness was aggravated by alcohol. It reminds me of Eddie Leonski (the "Brownout Murderer" of the Second World War) who was hung for murdering several women. He too was found in the autopsy to have a brain defect/damage that was worsened by booze. That should have sent him to an asylum not the gallows,

Yeah I heard about that

That “father” should have been throw in the asylum and locked up. alcohol is not a joke which is why I refuse to have any

Alcoholism is a dangerness thing and a bad habit people get into. That man already had problems and the booze made it 100% worse

Be careful on what you drink and how much!

[jdsjcnnskfjskfnsbd]

Eddie Leonski strangled 3 women to death while stationed in Melbourne, Australia during WWII.

#true crime #morbid

[canaldelmisterio]

El asesino de la oscuridad: Eddie Leonski

El asesino de la oscuridad: Eddie Leonski

El asesino de la oscuridad: Eddie Leonski

Edward Joseph Leonski fue un soldado estadounidense y el autor de los asesinatos de tres mujeres en Melbourne donde pasó a ser conocido como el asesino de la oscuridad ya que aprovechaba la baja iluminación de las calles de Melbourne para cometer sus crímenes.

Era el sexto hijo de padres de origen ruso creciendo en un hogar donde los abusos y el…

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#ASESINO #AUSTRALIA #CONDENA #CULPABLE #EDDIE LEONSKI #GLADYS HOSKING #INSÓLITO #JUICIO #MELBOURNE #PAULINE THOMPSON #PENA DE MUERTE #SOLDADO #VOLETA McLEOD

[worcesterfinalperformancepr-blog]

Eddie Leonski - “The Brownout Strangler”

Eddie Leonski was an American soldier, based in Australia during World War 2. Leonski has never been a stranger to drinking - every night, he would attend multiple bars with other soldiers, drinking away his sense, and some nights, would always be witnessed walking home with a young women.

Leonski had always had a troubled childhood - his father was abhsice to himself and his mother. To soothe and ease his mind, Leonski’s mother would sing him to sleep in her naturally high pitched voice. This has made an imprint on Leonaki’s drunken self-conscious, as he would always talk and sing in a high pitches voice while drunk.

May 3rd, 1942 - Ivy McLeod was to be Leonski’s first victim. She was found laying naked on the street, with no sign of robbery, only the marks on her neck from where she was strangled and murdered. The same fate became of Pauline Thompson and Gladys Hosking just days later.

Leonski always came back to his base drunk, and admitted to his roommate that he had killed on every occasion, yet he was refused to be believed.

Suspicions aroused about Leonski after the murder of Gladys - and soon enough, he was tried for murder. A psychiatric report didn’t deem him dangerous, just troubled - relating it back to his past. It was believed that Leonski killed while drunk, because of the soothing and high pitched voices of each of his victims - he wanted to steal their voices.

Researching this, I thought about a small performance that could be taken from his actions. Myself and Amber began ‘moulding’ each other into shapes to start the process of ideas.

Bradley Godfrey

(21/2/18)

[nemesisbinxartifactseries]

Artifact Series E

E. J. Pennington's Motorcycle Motor

E. T. A. Hoffman's Nutcracker

Eadweard Muybridge's Zoopraxiscope

Ear of Dionysius

Ear-Worm Record Player *

Earl J. Hickey's List

Earl W. Bascom's Horseshoe

Earle Nelson's Worn Bible

Easter Island Conch Shell *

Easton-Bell Aluminum Baseball Bat

Eau De Via Faucet *

Ebenezer Thorndike's Lobster Trap *

Eccentric Tree Seeds

Echo's Belt

Ed Bishop's Cave Lantern

Ed Gein's Shovel

Ed Hardy's Shoelaces

Ed Walsh's Spitball

Ed Wood's Director Chair

Ed Wood's "Glenda" Dress

Eddie Arcaro's Jockey Goggles

Eddie Brown's Tap Shoes

Eddie Hasha’s Wood Planks

Eddie Leonski's Hobby Hat

Eddie Murphy's Microphone

Edgar Allan Poe's Bust of Athena

Edgar Allan Poe's Quill Pen and Notebook *

Edgar Allan Poe's Walking Cane

Edgar Bergen's Stool

Edgar Hollis' Cricket Ball

Edmond Halley's Telescope

Edmond Locard's Microscope Lens

Edmund Evans’ Printing Press

Edmund Musgrave Barttelot's Cane

Edmund Hillary's Climbing Gloves

Edmund Mcllhenny's Hot Sauce

Edna St. Vincent Millay's Candle *

Edouard Beaupre's Display Case

Edsel Ford Fong's Apron

Eduard Khil's Suit

Edvard Grieg's Metronome

Edvard Munch's Original Painting of "The Scream"

Edward I of England's Coal

Edward Murphy's Insignia

Edward Abbey’s Monkey Wrench

Edward Adamson's Colored Pencils

Edward Bellamy's Cornerstone

Edward Bernay's Cigar

Edward Bowes’ Gong

Edward Covey's Flogging Whip

Edward Henry Potthast's painting "Coney Island"

Edward Hughes Ball Hughes' Cravat

Edward Jenner's Syringe

Edward John Dent's Chronometer

Edward Leedskalnin’s Ball Bearings

Edward Lowe's Prayer Censer *

Edward Makuka Nkoloso’s Oil Drum

Edward Mordake's Second Face

Edward Mueller's Counterfeit Dollar Bill

Edward O. Thorp's Casino Chip

Edward O. Thorp & Claude Shannon's Pocket Computer

Edward Oxford's Percussion Caps

Edward Teach's Shackles

Edward Teach's Sword

Edward Teller's Micro-Fission Reactor *

Edward Weston's Lightbulb

Edwin Abbott Abbott’s Ruler

Edwin Albert Link's Flight Simulator

Edwin Armstrong's Radio Parts

Edwin Binney's Candles

Edwin F. Glenn's Water Funnel

Edwin H. Land's First Polarized Sunglasses

Eepybird's Sticky Notes

Eero Saarinen's Model of the Gateway Arch

Egg of Columbus *

Eggnog from the Eggnog Riots

Egon Ronay's Crab Cracker

Egyptian Sex Manuals

Egyptian Sphinx Slab *

Eiffel Tower Parrot Cage

Eilmer of Malmesbury's Wings

El Cerrito Ouija Board

Elaine Esposito's Pillow

Elder Zhang Guo’s Fish Drum

Elderly-Killing Thermostat

Eldritch 1953 Buick Roadmaster

Electrified Birch

Elements of Harmony

The Elephant of the Bastille

Elephant Candle Holders

Eli's Bible

Eli Lilly’s Pills

Eli Whitney's Vest

Elian Gonzalez' Worker's Gloves

Elias Carter's Church Spire

Elias Garcia Martinez's Paint Brush Set

Elijah's Cup

Elijah Parish Lovejoy’s Printing Press

Eliphas Levi's Pentagram

Eli Robins' Scalpel

Elisabet Ney's Black Artist Frock Coat

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' Talisman

Elisha Otis’ Elevator

Elisha's Mantle

Elizabeth I's Toilet

Elizabeth Barton's Leather Belt

Elizabeth Bathory's Bathtub *

Elizabeth Bathory's Crown

Elizabeth Bathory's Bucket Handle

Elizabeth Bathory's Handheld Mirror

Elizabeth Bathory's Necklace

Elizabeth Godfrey’s Trade Card

Elizabeth Montgomery's Hair Curlers

Elizabeth Short's Dahlia

Elizabeth Threatt's Turquoise Earrings

Elizabeth Wirt's Floral Bookmark

Eliza Lucas' Indigofera Seeds

Ella Harper's Shoes

Ella's Pink Lady

Elliot Hanfler's Toy Car

Eliot Ness' Handcuffs

Eliot Ness' Tie Clip and Cufflinks

Ellis S. Chesbrough’s Hydraulic Jacks

Elmer Ellsworth’s Kepi

Elsa's Gloves

Elsa Gidlow's Locket

Elsie Mitchell's Picnic Basket

Elsie Paroubek’s Wooden Blocks

Elsie Wright’s Camera

Elton John's Candle

Elvis Presley's Hip-Bone *

Elvis Presley's Lost Guitar

Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" Record

Emanuel Leutze's Palette

Emanuel Snowman's Fabergé Egg

Emanuel Swedenborg's Scissor-Glasses

Ember McClain's Guitar

Emerald Bow and Arrows *

Emerald City Glasses

Emerald Necklace

Emeril Lagasse's Frying Pan *

Emergency Broadcast System False Alarm of 1971

Emil and Lilana Schmid's Toyota Land Cruiser

Emil Krebs’ Pince-Nez

Emiliano Zapata's Ascot

Emilio Carranza's Telegram

Emily Dickinson's Basket

Emma Smith's Gown

Emmet Brown's Stopwatch

Emotion-Driven Roller Skates *

Emotional Avalanche Skis *

Emotional Highlighter

Empedocles' Scales

Emperor Gaozong’s Ox Bone Figures

Emperor Sutoku's Sutras

Emperor Taizu of Song’s Cuju Goals

Empire State Building Masonry

Emu War Wind Chime

Endel Tulving's Flash Cards

Endless Bag of Catnip *

Endless Paint Can

Endless Wite-Out Bottle

Engelbert Kaempfer’s Fugu Poison Vial

Enrico Dandolo’s Bezoar

Enrico Dandolo's Doge Sceptre

Enrico Fermi's Leather Shoes

Enrique Gaspar y Rimbau’s Cast Iron Box

Epang Palace Masonry

Ephialtes’ Worry Stone

Epicurus' Letters

Epicurus' Molecular Models

Eric Bittle's Helmet

Eric Clark’s Eye Dropper

Eric Mardsen's Record *

Eric McMillan's Original Ball Pit

Erichthonius of Athens' Scrap of Wool

Ergot Bread from Salem

Ernest Duchesne's Tassel

Ernest Emerson’s Bailsong Knife

Ernest Hemingway's Stuffed Marlin

Ernest Hemingway's Sweater

Ernest Hemingway's Typewriter

Ernst Lehmann's Captain Hat

Ernest Shackleton's Can of Sardines *

Ernest Smith’s Tommy Gun

Ernest Vincent Wright's Dictionary

Erno Rubik's Box

Erwin Rommel's Trenchcoat

Erwin Schrödinger’s Cat Collar

Erysichthon of Thessaly’s Axe

Eskimo Spears

Essex Fishing Trawler

Esther Williams' Hair Gel

Ethan Zuckerman's Computer Mouse

Ethel Granger's Corset

Étienne-Louis Boullée’s Cupboard

Etta James' Microphone

Ettore Fieramosca's Battle Axe

Eudoxus of Cyzicus’ Sails

Eufemio Zapata's Cup

Eugen Fischer's Skull

Euripides’ Mechane

Eurystheus' Wine Pithoi

Eustache Dauger's Iron Mask

Eva Ekeblad's Potato Seeds

Evangelista Torricelli's Barometer

Evan O'Neill Kane's Surgical Mask

Evel Knievel's Bike Helmet

Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Handbrake

Evelyn Nesbitt's Rings

Evliya Çelebi's Travel Journal

Evry Schatzman's Telescope *

Ewuare’s Talisman

Excalibur *

Explosive Meteor Fragment

Extract of Male Angler Fish

Extremely Effective Mousetrap

Eye of the Graeae

Ezio Auditore's Hidden Blade/Gun

Ezra Meeker's Oregon Trail Beer

[dirjoh-blog]

Eddie Leonski- US Soldier and Serial Killer

Eddie Leonski- US Soldier and Serial Killer

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[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Eddie Leonski

In Melbourne, Victoria during the Second World War, electric lights were turned off or lowered at night to prevent aerial attacks from the Japanese. The war, which had confined itself to the Northern Hemisphere for the most part, was slowly creeping down the Pacific, and Melbourne was enjoying the subsequent influx of thousands of American soldiers stationed nearby. Many a young Aussie lady was swept off her feet by the charming, cashed-up Yankees.

But the fascination turned to fear when the lights went out and the bodies of three women were found strangled and discarded on the streets of Melbourne. Now the people of Melbourne had more than just air raids to fear – and all the evidence was pointing towards a GI being responsible for the crimes. The unknown subject was bequeathed a catchy nickname – the Brownout Strangler – to remind young women in Melbourne to stay inside when the lights turned down.

Eddie Leonski was a troubled youth who was conscripted into the military at a young age. The crimes he committed against young women in Melbourne were horrific, and at a time when Australians feared more for the safety of their country than ever before, the Brownout Strangler was reminding them that danger could come from within, as well. A thorough investigation weeded out Leonski from hundreds of American soldiers that could have been the culprit.

But it was the legal issues that really cemented Leonski as part of Australian criminal history. He was tried under American military law on Australian soil, and was executed at Pentridge Prison in Victoria with very little input from the state or Federal governments.

Ivy McLeod, Pauline Thompson and Gladys Hosking were undeserving victims of a cruel and twisted mind. Eddie Leonski is remembered now, not for being a war hero or a dedicated soldier, but for his sick and despicable acts. His body has been dug up and re-interred a number of times, undeserving of a final resting place.

Our main source this week was the cracking Murder at Dusk by Ian W. Shaw. Get it herehttps://www.booktopia.com.au/murder-at-dusk-ian-w-shaw/prod9780733640452.html?source=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-JXiBRCpARIsAGqF8wUfn4ZefQfqnmx1U0HKpGXwgJjagMslepG6aixsVM7cRLCOMo4sZ9MaAkVZEALw_wcB to be seduced by his poetic descriptions of violent hangings.

To find out more about the legal complications of the case, read here https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/edward-leonski-hanged-by-us-military-on-australian-soil-in-the-hangmans-journal-part-iv/news-story/4c2807f932b105085414d0cd5dafcc62?sv=73c4900155d09b4afaa1bc84132de7f7&fbclid=IwAR12jeVJJs499-I6aDAc17VMhH8VIF0TTP6uTqoEBVghMjV3xPsFs2Ozw6Y

You can find out some general info at the light and breezy Daily Mail here https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5994231/How-soldier-Eddie-Leonski-hanged-murdering-Melbourne-women-World-War-II.html?fbclid=IwAR0sei0A9qs8laLlYgAuCp_qwpeIJoK8fbtX4nmXVfUJkj_bI06dvm2AvEw

For what your English teacher would call “historical context”, head here https://www.ozatwar.com/ozatwar/eddieleonski.htm?fbclid=IwAR2YMtz4sSQKDSfx2Vr9JCxIKNyIZtFO83ZONN4DQAPxY92KdTSVzjC_8cA

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#true crime #crime #investigation #police #australia #justice #podcast #brisbane #forensic #evidence #murder #criminal

[salomedesade]

I just watched the first episode of a show I found on Netflix, Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer.  It profiles Eddie Leonski, a killer I’d only heard about before in passing.  He was an American soldier stationed in Australia during World War II, and strangled three women in 1942.  He had also reportedly attacked a woman in America.  Though his first victim was found naked, none of the women showed signs of sexual assault.  The quick succession of Leonski’s murders (all victims were killed within a span of three weeks) makes him a spree killer, rather than a serial killer.

Eddie Leonski described himself as a “Jekyll and Hyde,” and people who knew him said he was a good man and a good soldier, except when he drank.  The son of an abusive alcoholic father, Leonski himself became belligerent and violent when he drank, and he always drank to excess.  Before each murder, he had been drinking.  Like many male serial killers who target women, he was raised by a domineering mother, to the point where he was bullied as a child for being a “mama’s boy.”  Reminiscent of Ed Gein (and Gein’s fictional counterpart Norman Bates), Leonski had a bizarre obsession with women’s voices, saying he killed women to “take” their voices, something a psychologist linked to an obsession with his mother.  When Leonski drank, he talked in a high-pitched, feminine voice, like Ed Gein murdering women who resembled his mother, or Norman Bates dressing up as his mother before he killed.  Leonski reportedly only showed agitation during questioning and his trial when his mother was mentioned, not wanting his mother to find out what he’d done.

Like Gein, Leonski attempted to plead insanity.  Unlike Gein, his plea was not successful.  He was ultimately ruled sane (”bad, not mad”) in an American military trial, and sentenced to death.

Contributing to Leonski’s ability to kill three women without getting caught were war-induced “brown-outs,” where streetlights in Australia were turned off or covered to hide from Japanese war planes.  This decreased visibility made victims less aware of their surroundings, and stunted witness certainty.  Eddie Leonski was known as the “Brownout Strangler.”  A serial killer in Nazi Berlin, Paul Ogorzow, similarly used Germany’s wartime blackouts as a cover for his crimes.  He murdered eight women on trains, earning him the nickname “The S-Bahn Murderer.”

[fascinatingkillers-blog]

Edward Joseph Leonski (December 12, 1917 – November 9, 1942) was a United States Army soldier during World War II. He was also a serial killer responsible for the strangling murders of three women in Melbourne, Australia. Leonski was known as both the "Brownout Strangler", given Melbourne's wartime status of keeping low lighting (not as stringent as a wartime blackout) and also as the "Singing Strangler" due to his self-confessed motive for the killings being a twisted fascination with female voices, especially when they were singing, and his claim that he killed the women to "get at their voices."

On May 3, 1942, Ivy Violet McLeod, 40, was found dead in Albert Park, Melbourne. She had been beaten and strangled, and because she was found to be in possession of her purse it was evident that robbery was not the motive.

Just six days later, 31-year-old Pauline Thompson was strangled after a night out. She was last seen in the company of a young man who was described as having an American accent.

Gladys Hosking, 40, was the next victim, murdered on May 18 while walking home from work at the Chemistry Library at Melbourne University. A witness said that, on the night of the killing, a disheveled American man had approached her asking for directions, seemingly out of breath and covered with mud. This description matched the individual Pauline Thompson was seen with on the night of her murder, as well as the descriptions given by several women who had survived recent attacks.

These survivors and other witnesses were able to pick 24-year-old Edward Leonski out of a line-up of American servicemen who were stationed in the city during World War II. A Private in the 52nd Signal Battalion, Leonski was arrested and charged with three murders.

#edward joseph leonski #eddie leonski #serial killer #murder #murderer #20th century #australia

[bilewitch-blog]

#ed gein #edmund kemper #eddie leonski #ed edd n eddy #killers #criminals

[alludingmisnomer-blog]

Eddie Leonski, "The Brownout Strangler"

As an American G.I. stationed in Australia at the outbreak of World War II, Eddie Leonski prowled the streets of Melbourne during the nightly "brownouts," when street lights were dimmed and window shades drawn to protect against possible Japanese aerial bombardment. Between May 2 and May 19, 1942, Leonski raped and murdered three women and attacked several others, setting off a citywide panic. Drunkenly confessing to a friend, he was hanged on November 9, earning a special distinction in the annals of infamy as the second American soldier to be executed during the war. (via)

#serial killer #Eddie Leonski #murder #thursday #monday #United States #army #Australia