Calvin Jackson

Case record: Calvin Jackson

STATUS

Sentenced to 18 consecutiv e life terms, 1975.

Background

Calvin Jackson was described as a small-time criminal turned slayer who operated out of the Park Plaza Hotel in New York in 1973 and 1974. The Park Plaza Hotel was located in a crime-ridden section of New York and catered to older, poor people. Calvin Jackson was also described as working at the Park Plaza Hotel as a janitor and as living in an occupied room of the building temporarily. Police knew him as a junkie-mugger and said he had a record of arrests for robbery and assault. His latest bust had occurred in November 1973; he had been charged with burglary and felonious robbery, bargained down to a misdemeanor, and served only thirty days.

The offence

Calvin Jackson killed nine victims connected to the Park Plaza Hotel. The killings included rape and suffocation or strangling, with multiple victims found bound. The murders involved stealing radios, televisions, and similar items worth a few hundred dollars. During the crimes, Jackson reportedly lingered with his victims for an hour or more, eating food from their refrigerators and watching carefully to make sure they were dead. He also reportedly raped victims after death. The offences occurred during 1973 and 1974 and included one killing in a nearby building one block away from the Park Plaza.

Victims

• Theresa Jordan, 39, was found suffocated in her room in April 1973.
• Kate Lewisohn, 65, was found bound on her bed and strangled with head injuries.
• Mable Hartmeyer, 60, was raped and strangled.
• Yeria Vishnefsky, 79, was found bound with her own stocking and had a butcher knife lodged in her back.
• Winifred Miller, 47, was killed on June 8.
• Blanche Vincent, 71, was suffocated to death eleven days after Winifred Miller’s killing.
• Martha Carpenter, 69, was killed in July.
• Eleanor Platt, 64, was suffocated to death on August 30.
• Pauline Spanierman, 59, was killed in a nearby building; she was strangled and raped, and her television was found in another room of the building occupied by Calvin Jackson.

Timeline

• April 10, 1973 — Theresa Jordan, 39, was discovered, raped and suffocated, in her tiny room.
• July 19 — Kate Lewisohn, 65, was murdered; a caller found her trussed up on the bed, her apartment looted; she was raped and strangled with her skull bashed in.
• April 24, 1974 — Mable Hartmeyer, 60, was found dead; authorities first ascribed her death to arteriosclerosis before discovering she had been raped and strangled.
• April 28, 1974 — Yetta Vishnefsky, 79, was found dead in her room at the Park Plaza; she was raped, bound with her own nylon stockings, and had a butcher knife plunged into her back.
• June 8, 1974 — Winifred Miller, 47, was strangled, raped, and robbed.
• June 19, 1974 — Blanche Vincent, 71, was suffocated and raped in her room.
• July 1 — Martha Carpenter, 69, was suffocated and raped.
• August 30, 1974 — Eleanor Platt, 64, was suffocated to death; autopsy results confirmed she had been suffocated and raped after death.
• September 12, 1974 — Pauline Spanierman, 59, was found dead in her apartment one block away from the Park Plaza; she was raped and strangled with her television missing.

Investigation

Complacent homicide investigators failed to recognize a pattern in Calvin Jackson’s crimes for better than a year. Police initially lost interest in the pattern when the killer took a nine-month leave of absence. Police initially blamed some deaths on causes other than homicide: Mable Hartmeyer’s death was initially ascribed to arteriosclerosis; Blanche Vincent’s death was initially blamed on “alcoholism”; and Eleanor Platt’s death was initially dubbed “suspicious,” without known cause. Detectives searched door-to-door after Pauline Spanierman’s killing; a neighbor recalled seeing a man on the fire escape carrying a TV set around three o’clock in the morning. Detectives soon turned up the missing television in a nearby flat and were informed it belonged to Calvin Jackson, who was staying with the tenants temporarily. Officers later discovered that their suspect, 26 years old, was employed as a janitor at the Park Plaza Hotel.

Arrest and confession

Calvin Jackson was taken into custody. He readily confessed to all nine murders. In custody, Jackson stated that he often lingered with his victims for an hour or more, eating food from their refrigerators and watching carefully to make sure they were dead. Jackson stated that when victims were molested, he always raped them after death. Police knew Jackson as a junkie-mugger with arrests for robbery and assault.

Trial

Calvin Jackson was tried for a string of homocides and faced an epic list of charges. His trial lasted six weeks, and prosecutors questioned why it was necessary for his victims to be killed and their corpses violated. During his testimony, Calvin Jackson said:

“Well, ” he told the court, “I guess I kind of broke wild there, you know?”

Sentencing

Calvin Jackson was convicted and sentenced to eighteen consecutive terms of life imprisonment. The record stated that with time for good behavior, he would theoretically be eligible for parole in the year 2030 A.D.

Outcome

Calvin Jackson received eighteen consecutive life terms in 1975.

Other details

Jackson was described as living temporarily in a room of the Park Plaza Hotel. His television was found in another room of the building occupied by Calvin Jackson. The record also described that Jackson enjoyed raping his victims’ corpses and sitting down to a meal before taking advantage of the situation and stealing some valuables. The record also described his motive as support for his habit and identified him as an “Addict rape-slayer of women age 39-79,” with “all but one killed at hotel where he worked as a janitor.”