Anthony Spencer

Murderer

2known / alleged victims

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Case Facts

Gender: male
Country: USA
Location: Brooklyn/Bronx, New York, USA
Date of birth: 1947
Age at first offence: 17
Characteristics: serial rapist, rape, domestic violence
Victim profile: Charlotte Lipstick, 29 / Mary Payne, 83
Method of murder: St abbing with knife
Date(s) of murder: May/September 1964
Years active: 1964
Date of arrest: September 1964
Status: Life imprisonment
Sentenced to life in prison in 1965

Case Summary

Background

Anthony Spencer was an illiterate Brooklynite. He was born in 1947. He was arrested on an arson charge at age 13 and was committed to an institution for mental defectives after two months observation at Bellevue Hospital. Spencer was released in 1962. He continued therapy as an out-patient until April 1964.

The offence

On June 21, he was charged with raping a Bronx woman at knifepoint. After formal indictments were handed down, Spencer was released on $500 bond.

Two months later, on August 22, Spencer assaulted Constance Thompson in an elevator. He threatened to mutilate her infant son if she would not submit to rape. The building superintendent interrupted the assault, and Spencer fled on foot.

Spencer later assaulted and killed two women, which were among his confessed murders. One victim, 29-year-old Charlotte Lipstick, had been raped and killed in her Brooklyn home on May 29, 1964. The other victim, Mary Payne, age 83, was murdered in the Bronx on Labor Day.

Spencer’s surviving victims included a five-year-old girl. Spencer could offer no motive for the crimes. He explained:

"I don't know why I do it," he explained. "I get headaches, pass out, and I hear funny noises."

Michael Newton later described Spencer’s motive and method as: sex. He described Spencer’s method as serial rapist and stated he killed two of 14 known victims.

Investigation

In custody, the 17-year-old rapist confessed to two murders and ten sexual assaults.

Arrest

Spencer fled on foot after the superintendent interrupted the elevator assault of Constance Thompson. Thompson saw him on the street a month later, trailing him home and then calling police. Spencer was then in custody when he confessed to two murders and ten sexual assaults.

Trial

Spencer was indicted on two counts of murder, plus the rape of Constance Thompson. He was returned to Bellevue for psychiatric evaluation. Staff psychiatrists pronounced him sane. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to prison for life.

Sentencing

Spencer was sentenced to prison for life in 1965.

Outcome

Spencer was convicted and sentenced to prison for life in 1965.

Other details

Spencer’s earlier history included mental defectives and an out-patient therapy period after his release in 1962 until April 1964.

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