William David Montgomery

Case record: William David Montgomery

Background

William David Montgomery was a manual laborer who lived with his parents. Investigators found out that he was obsessed with strip clubs and visited so many of them so regularly that he got to know many of the women by their first names and was widely recognized as a “regular”. He was also a crack addict, and his life was described as being “driven by the twin engines of crack and topless dancers”. He seemed quite obsessed with the dancers and sympathized with them as the victims of negative stereotyping, declaring that they were “not like people project them to be”.

Investigators discovered that a stripper who had gone missing in 1992 had been a neighbor of Montgomery’s.

The offence

Toshiko Ciaccio was murdered on September 30, 1992, still stripping at the age of 42. She received 14 blows to the head with a blunt object and had also been choked. Her body was found nude, wrapped in a tarpaulin, the following morning by two women out walking their dogs. Her body had apparently been murdered elsewhere and dumped.

In the first week of investigation, police interviewed nearly 100 people in the large numbers of bars in which she danced. She apparently worked something of a circuit, which included southern New Jersey. She was described as an efficient earner and well remembered for her hips, and one customer recalled: “She could them pop out”, and added, “I don't know how she did that”.

In August 1993, a 25-year-old “hairdresser turned streetwalker” named Amy Moore was found dead. She had been beaten to death with a blunt object. Her nude body was wrapped in a camper awning and dumped about four miles from where Ciaccio’s body had been found.

A local television station ran a story on the case. A viewer recognized the awning and contacted police.

Investigators compiled a list of 5 unsolved Philadelphia area homicides of strippers and prostitutes that bore similarities to the Ciaccio and Moore murders. These occurred in the three years before Montgomery’s arrest.

No other homicides were ever successfully attributed to him; therefore, with only two victims, Montgomery did not meet the official minimum requirement to be considered a serial murderer.

A club in which Ciaccio had danced held a “wet T-shirt night” in her memory, donating the proceeds to charity.

Investigation

Police interviewed nearly 100 people in the large numbers of bars where Ciaccio had danced during the first week of investigation. The investigation continued into the following year without much result.

Investigators later compiled the set of similar unsolved Philadelphia area homicide cases of strippers and prostitutes and compared them to the Ciaccio and Moore murders.

Police soon descended on the camper associated with Montgomery after a viewer recognized the awning. Police described it as “blood-stained, foul-smelling” and noted that it was “(and awningless)”.

Arrest and charges

William David Montgomery was identified as the owner of the camper and was arrested. He was charged with both murders.

He was arrested and charged with both murders after police connected him to the camper where evidence was found.

Trial

Montgomery did not go to trial on the described charges. He decided to plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.

Sentencing

Montgomery received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1994.

The sentencing arrangement was described as: he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder “in retorn for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.”

Outcome

Montgomery pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and received a life term in 1994.

A description attributed to Michael Newton, an encyclopedia entry titled “An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans,” included the following details:

• “Headless man in topless bar”
• “SEX: M”
• “RACE: W”
• “TYPE: T”
• “MOTIVE: Sex.”
• “VENUE: Bensalem Township, Pa.”
• “MO: Bludgeoned a stripper and a prostitute with claw hammer DISPOSITION: Pled guilty and received life term, 1994.”

No other homicides were ever successfully attributed to Montgomery.