Posteal Laskey

Case overview

Posteal Laskey was believed to be the person dubbed the “Cincinnati Strangler,” a serial killer who raped and strangled seven mostly elderly women in Cincinnati, Ohio between 1965 and 1966. Laskey was convicted and sentenced to death in 1967 for one murder, and his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment in 1972. He died in prison on May 29, 2007 of natural causes.

Timeline

• October 12, 1965 — An attempt to strangle and rape a 65-year-old woman failed when the assailant used a length of plastic clothesline.
• December 2, 1965 — The assailant strangled Emogene Harrington in the basement of her own apartment building.
• April 4, 1966 — Lois Dant was raped and strangled in her first-floor Cincinnati apartment.
• June 10, 1966 — Jeannette Messer was found in a city park, raped and strangled with a necktie.
• October 12, 1966 — Mrs. Carl Hochhausler, 51, was found by her daughter in the family garage and was beaten, raped, and strangled to death by an unknown assailant.
• December 8, 1966 — Someone forced his way into a West Court Street apartment and tried to assault the woman who lived there; the incident involved a man whose license number was later used.
• December 9, 1966 — Lula Kerrick, found in the elevator of her apartment building, had strangulation that looked familiar, but she had not suffered sexual assault.
• December 10, 1966 — Using the license plate number, officers arrested Posteal Laskey.
• 1967 — Laskey was convicted and sent to prison; he was sentenced to death.
• 1972 — Laskey’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional.
• February 2007 — Laskey was denied parole by the Ohio Parole Board.
• May 29, 2007 — Laskey died in prison of natural causes.

Background

Between October 1965 and December 1966, female Cincinnati residents were terrorized by a series of stranglings and sexual assaults. Seven women died and one was injured in the space of fourteen months. The murders ceased after Laskey’s arrest, which was used to support homicide detectives’ claim that a single man committed the eight crimes.

The case is associated with the killings recalling the earlier “Boston Strangler.” During the killing spree, there was considerable alarm in Cincinnati; locksmiths and hardware stores could not keep locks in stock, and there was a “huge demand.”

The offence

Victims and incidents

• A 65-year-old woman was assaulted on October 12, 1965. The assailant beat and raped her, failing to strangle her with a length of plastic clothesline.
• Emogene Harrington was strangled on December 2, 1965 in the basement of her own apartment building; the weapon described was the same as in the earlier case, employed to strangle her.
• April 4, 1966 — Lois Dant, 58, was raped and strangled in her first-floor Cincinnati apartment.
• June 10, 1966 — Jeannette Messer, 56, was found in a city park and was raped and strangled with a necktie.
• October 12, 1966 — Mrs. Carl Hochhausler, 51, was found by her daughter in the family garage. She was beaten, raped, and strangled to death by an unknown assailant. Police later described a later killing as an “exact copy” of the previous murders.
• Eight days later (after Mrs. Carl Hochhausler’s killing) — Rose Winstsel, 81, was savagely beaten in her home and strangled with the electric cord of a heating pad.
• December 9, 1966 — Lula Kerrick was found in the elevator of her apartment building. The strangulation looked familiar, but she had not suffered sexual assault.
• Police arrested and charged Laskey with the “similar” slaying of a seventh victim, Barbara Bowman.

Barbara Bowman (charged murder)

Barbara Bowman was a 31-year-old single secretary. She left the Lark Cafe, 3001 Vine St., at 2:15 a.m. on Aug. 14, 1966, in a cab driven by a short, thin black man. Laskey had previously worked for Yellow Cab and used a master key he had had made to steal cab No. 870.

Two people told police they had stopped and asked a man and woman in that cab for directions after the killing was reported. Police suspected the interaction scared Laskey. They suspected he stabbed and choked Barbara Bowman and, when she tried to flee, ran over her with the cab. Her clothes were askew, her right foot was almost severed, her throat was cut, and she was bleeding profusely.

Barbara Bowman had been stabbed seven times in the neck. She was raped and strangled, perhaps with the pearl necklace she wore.

As Laskey tried to drive the cab away, it hit a street sign, breaking a tie-rod and affecting the ability to steer. He hailed another cab and got away.

Investigation

Police faced citywide bafflement as to who was killing, beating, and raping women, mostly elderly women. Cincinnati had 16 homicide detectives at the time, and Sefton said so many others were called in from other areas that 54 detectives were on the case when Laskey was caught.

Laskey had been interviewed by police during the crime spree, but they had no proof of his guilt at that time. He was a suspect because of his conviction—he had served four years in prison—for an earlier assault that bore a resemblance to the string of 1966 attacks.

Police finally got a break after someone saw the license number of a man who forced his way into a West Court Street apartment on Dec. 8 and tried to assault the woman who lived there. The next day, officers used the license plate number to arrest Laskey.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen wanted the Parole Board to know there was strong opposition to Laskey’s release. Sefton described the public alarm after Bowman’s killing and said that “the locksmiths and the hardware stores couldn’t keep locks in stock,” adding that because of the hysteria, “everybody was absolutely petrified.”

Arrest

On Dec. 8, someone saw the license number of a man who forced his way into a West Court Street apartment and tried to assault the woman who lived there. On the next day, using that license plate number, officers arrested Posteal Laskey.

Trial

Laskey was convicted and sentenced to death for one murder in 1967. After his arrest and conviction, the killings stopped.

Sentencing

Laskey was sentenced to death in 1967. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1972 when the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional.

Appeals

The death penalty was ruled unconstitutional, and Laskey’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1972.

Outcome

Laskey remained incarcerated after his sentence commutation. In February 2007, he was denied parole by the Ohio Parole Board. The grounds cited by the Ohio Parole Board included the heinous nature of the crime, Laskey’s prior record, and community disapproval of an early release. The entry stated that he would be eligible for parole again in 2017 at age 79.

Laskey was incarcerated in the Pickaway Correctional Institution. He 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.

Other details

People mentioned

• Posteal Laskey — suspected “Cincinnati Strangler” and defendant; convicted on one count and sentenced to death (1967); sentence commuted to life imprisonment (1972); denied parole (February 2007); died in prison on May 29, 2007.
• Frank Sefton — Cincinnati Patrolman at the time; later retired from the police department in 1987 and worked for the city Office of Municipal Investigation.
• Mike Allen — Hamilton County Prosecutor.
• Barbara Bowman — 31-year-old single secretary; killed on Aug. 14, 1966.
• Emogene Harrington — killed on Dec. 2, 1965; strangled in the basement of her own apartment building.
• Lois Dant — 58-year-old victim; raped and strangled on April 4, 1966.
• Jeannette Messer — 56-year-old victim; found in a city park on June 10, 1966; raped and strangled with a necktie.
• Mrs. Carl Hochhausler — 51-year-old victim; found in the family garage; beaten, raped, and strangled to death.
• Rose Winstsel — 81-year-old victim; savagely beaten and strangled with the electric cord of a heating pad.
• Lula Kerrick — victim found in the elevator of her apartment building on Dec. 9; strangulation looked familiar but she had not suffered sexual assault.
• “a short, thin black man” — the cab driver described in connection with Barbara Bowman’s travel.
• The woman in the West Court Street apartment — assaulted in an incident on Dec. 8 that led to the license number being used to arrest Laskey.

Verbatim quotations

Frank Sefton said:

"That was a really gruesome scene up there,"

Frank Sefton said:

"They were terrified,"

Frank Sefton said:

"The locksmiths and the hardware stores couldn't keep locks in stock. There was a huge demand for them. ... Because of the hysteria, everybody was absolutely petrified."

Mike Allen said:

"Purely and simply, he's a serial killer, and unless the Parole Board knows something we don't, serial killers shouldn't be let out,"

Mike Allen said:

"He got a break once when it was commuted in 1972."

Frank Sefton said:

"The viciousness of what he did to her that night was unbelievable,"

Frank Sefton said:

"I asked a man standing there to help me and he threw up it was so bad."

Frank Sefton said:

"You want to take a risk of letting him out? With these sexual serial killers, you just can't predict what they will do,"

Frank Sefton said:

"If it was just Bowman, her case alone would be enough to keep him in for life. There's no question people like that shouldn't be let out."

Additional incident descriptions

Laskey had “stole cab No. 870” using a master key he had had made. Police called the killing of Rose Winstsel “an exact copy” of the previous murders.

Laskey was described as convicted and sent to prison in 1967; next week, the entry indicated, the now-64-year-old inmate would make another bid to the Ohio Parole Board for freedom.