By Sean O. Dubhghaill, Special to The Blotter

Before David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz’s "44-caliber" killing spree paralyzed Gotham, a spate of savagery that incited serial killer hysteria oozing everywhere on the mean streets of all five boroughs — there was a spate of elderly women getting hunted by a predator and his pal. 

The slayings shook the Bronx to its marrow. 

A pair of killers with crossing guard badges stalked their geriatric prey and executed them one by one.

The year was 1975. 

The NYPD reported a whopping 1,645 murders citywide, a 5.9% uptick increase over the previous year (which saw a total of 1,554 murders).

Among the slayings, 316 were essentially chalked up as random — formally classified as "no known relationship" to the victim or 33% were classified as "stranger murders" based on researched analysis conducted by the NYPD.

Comparing the bad old days’ death toll to today’s numbers can only leave one likening the city at that time to an utter warzone. 

To give context, as of Oct. 5 of last year the city logged 247 murders; a decline of 17.4% over the same period in 2024; with just 82 or about 33% of the homicides committed in the five boroughs.

In 1975, there were untimely deaths that became known as the "Stanger Murders."

On Sept. 3, 1975, Margaret Doyle was found strangled inside her ransacked apartment at 2476 Webb Avenue. 

The 75-year-old had called the six-story apartment home for 40 years, according to The New York Times. 

The fourth-floor, six-room home stands opposite the James J. Peters Veterans Hospital in University Heights, a stone’s throw from the Harlem River. 

On this day, she was found violated and dead in a hallway. 

Beyond the grim discovery of the woman’s bound and choked corpse — detectives found the place was ransacked. 

The hunch amongst the gumshoes at the time was that the woman was a victim of a robbery. 

However, they remained "baffled by the lack of clues" left behind at the scene.

Doyle's mystery murder was one of a handful involving specifically elder women that year. 

Her untimely demise followed Stella Bloswick’s. 

Bloswick, a 64-year-old widow, was found lifeless inside her home located at 2475 DeVoe Terrace back on March 15, 1975. 

Police confirmed that the craven culprit was especially vicious in dishing out her demise — having raped and strangled her until her last breath. 

There were a total of four crime scenes bearing similar makeups and dotted less than a mile apart.

There was also 89-year-old Elsie Simon — found strangled to death inside her ground-floor apartment at 2364 Tiebout Avenue on July 29, 1975.

On Sept. 5 — two days after Doyle’s death, detectives returned to her home after fielding a call of a robbery near the hospital across the street. 

Instantly, they spotted a clumsy bandit climbing a fence and nabbed him for the robbery.

The collaring of Willie Lee Kirksey, 20, for the small fry crime would prove to be the break detectives needed to crack the homicide case and mete out some justice to the ladies’ grieving kin.

Back at the 52nd Pct, facing a robbery charge, detectives grilled Kirksey about the Doyle murder. 

In time, one leveled with the suspect, telling him, “You were there.”

Then, he cracked. 

He claimed to be harboring too much and that his "conscience was bothering him." 

And so Kirksey went on to explain how his three pals "Tommy, Robby, and Bobby" had "ripped off” an old lady.

To hear him tell it, they knocked on Doyle’s door. When it opened they pushed their way into her home causing her to scream. 

Not only had he placed himself at the scene of Doyle’s Webb Avenue home, but he physically tagged along with investigators to the building and recounted the play-by-play of the dastardly crime. 

After Tommy pushed his way into Doyle’s home causing her to shriek, he grabbed a pillow and repeatedly punched the terrified woman. 

He also tipped cops off to a key detail that only a perpetrator would know: he’d used his shirt to unscrew a lightbulb in the hallway, causing the hallway to become dark and difficult for someone inside her apartment to make anything out from the peephole.

The building superintendent later told police that when he attempted to replace the bulb — he was forced to be the one to find Doyle's corpse.

Kirksey implicated himself the three pals (and a fourth named Skip) in a murder weeks prior. He took investigators on another field trip. 

This time is was to 2364 Tiebout Avenue. 

On July 29, 1975, Elsie Simon was found slain in her ground floor apartment. 

But Kirksie claims he served as the getaway driver and that the accomplices were in the building for 20 minutes before they ran back to the car that had been strategically parked nearby.

While splitting the cash and jewels, they informed him that they tied and gagged the elderly woman. 

Skeptical of the pushing the blame on Kirksey’s cronies — cops pressed him about the actual existence of Tommy, Robby, Bobby, and Skip. 

They checked out the haunts that Kirksey claimed they hung out at and found no sign of them. 

That had the suspect becoming more upset and giving up another murder. 

Cops pinned him to the slaying of Stella Bloswick. 

Like Doyle and Simon — Bloswick was pushed into her apartment and brutalized. He claimed they flashed a silver school crossing guard shield to compel their prey to open her door, only bumrush inside and have their way with her and plunder her valuables.  

Kirksey later backed off the claims of him tagging along with a killer crew. 

His come-to-Jesus had him admitting there was no “Robby and Bobby” accomplices.

That he in fact had killed Doyle and Bloswick on his own. 

As for Simon’s murder, it was a piece of work he and Tommy [Felton] did together. 

He wasn’t sitting in the car. Rather, he admitted he and Tommy pushed Simon into her home as she was attempting to empty garbage. 

Tommy restrained and gagged the helpless woman as she was on the floor and they grabbed cash and jewelry from her rear bedroom. 

Kirksey was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court on Sept. 6, 1975, for the three murders.

And while he was doing the legal process dance, the hunt was on for his killer sidekick "Tommy".

They tracked down the 33-year-old Thomas Felton. 

He voluntarily agreed sit with detectives on September 17 of that year; and once he started talking, like Kirksey, he couldn't stop.

Initially, he denied knowing Kirksey. And like Kirksey he tried to stick to a yarn that implicated two other accomplices and tried to win over the cops to say he was not on scene for any of the crimes.

But his adamant posture cracked when they presented him a mugshot. 

Sure, he knew Kirksey from the neighborhood. But as for partnering him with a murder — he said no chance. 

With nothing but Kirksey’s buckling confession to give up his pal — Felton was set free. 

Then, on October 3, 1975, Felton unsolicited reached out to the investigators claiming he had more to talk about. 

They sat and Felton noted he had been employed by a company that installed security gates at the buildings and his central duties involved having to "case" the apartments of his customers for valuables. 

But he said that he squirreled away the intel and parceled out the potential prime targets back to Kirksey.

He took cops on field trips to the crime scene homes of Simon, Doyle, and Bloswick murders. 

And he also admitted to a robbery and burglary at the home of Rose Jocelyn.

At each eerie stop, Felton informed them he had installed security gates or measured the windows for them.

Kirksey, he said, paid him $50, $60 or $70 for each location lead. 

He explained how he knew the homes were occupied by elder women who would be targeted for robbery, but was clueless they would be accosted. 

On October 4, he gave the DA a written confession and he is arraigned on an unrelated robbery charge to which he confessed. 

But none of the raps involve murders due to lack of evidence.  

On Oct. 6, Felton rang detectives and finally admitted he was at the scene of the three murders. Only he didn’t do any of the murdering. 

They make a plan to meet the next day. 

He’s a no-show. 

On Oct. 9, cops go to his home, find him hiding in a closet and bring him back to the precinct for questioning.

In the clutches of the law now, he requests to talk to his father in private. His pops shows and they converse for a half hour. 

In the presence of his father, Felton gives up the ghosts. 

He admits to knowing Kirksey for three years. That he lied about installing the gates, and was unemployed during the time of the murders. 

What’s more, he confessed to the murders of Doyle, Simon, and Bloswick — as well as the murder of Rose Jocelyn, which he committed single-handedly. 

At midnight on Oct. 10, Felton retold the tale of craven deeds (again in the presence of his father) and signed his John Hancock to an 86-page document that had been prepared by a stenographer. 

During his confession, Felton swiped a ring from Bloswick home and had gifted it to Kirksey. 

On the day cops collared Kirksey, he was wearing the late Bloswick’s ring. 

When the gavel slammed at trial, Kirksey refused to testify on his own behalf. 

And Felton retreated fro his ream-thick confession, claiming he the cops coerced him.  

It didn’t matter. 

Both men were convicted of the three murders, as well as related robbery and burglary charges.

Days after he was convicted of these three murders, Felton pleaded guilty to manslaughter first degree in the murder of Rose Joselyn and he was sentenced to 8-1/3 to 25 years.

He also pleaded guilty to the attempted robbery of Ethel Dyer and was sentenced to 2-1/3 to seven years, to run concurrently with his 25 to life sentence for the three murders.

Felton later appealed his conviction. 

In a decision denying his appeal on Halloween of 1979, the judge ruled, "It is sufficient if the two confessions are substantially the same and consistent on the major elements of the crime, particularly the slayings. Here, the statements of Felton and Kirksey are in harmony as to the basic material events they clearly interlock as to motive, plotting and execution of the crimes."

Kirksey, being 21 after getting sentenced to 25 years to life in 1977 — appealed the guilty verdict. 

Remarkably, it was thrown out in March of 1982, and he was ordered to serve out the remainder of his sentence. 

On Aug. 24, 2016, Kirksey was paroled from Elmira Prison. 

Felton, who was 34-years-old when he was sent away to serve hard time in 1977 — never made it out. 

He died in 2008, while serving out his sentence at Sing-Sing. He was 82. His passing came six months before he was expected to appear before the state parole board. 

A FIRESTARTER WAS busted lighting up refuse underground at a Chinatown subway station. 

The 49-year-old flaming suspect was allegedly incinerating two trash bins inside the East Broadway station on the F train line back on the late evening of Jan. 28. 

Firefighters rushed to the station to put out the blazes — which caused widespread smoke conditions. 

The cops pursued the hotstepper just five minutes later outside on Rutgers Street and East Broadway. 

Prosecutors nailed him with criminal mischief (damage property) and arson.

SHE DETONATED SALIVA daggers. 

A 64-year–old woman was warring with a man inside a posh flat when she allegedly spit at his face and inflamed his eye. 

Their sizzling beef took place at around 9 p.m. on Dec. 2 inside a home at a newly constructed on Bergen Avenue off Third Avenue.

Authorities say the woman lost her cool to the point that she lost her self-control and spat at the adversary and struck his right eye. 

The law was called and once arrived took the phlegm flinger into custody.

She was brought up on assault and harassment.

HE HAD A penchant for hoity-toity autos and loaded guns. 

But when he lost his freedom, he somehow was able to beat the odds and hold onto his impounded wheels. 

The 41-year-old suspect who hails from Crown Heights, was taken into custody on Sept. 8, 2023, while behind the wheel of his 2021 Mercedes-Benz AMG. 

Cops plucked two loaded pistols — a loaded 9-mm Taurus with 12 live rounds in the magazine and a black Springfield Armory with eight live rounds in the magazine. 

The accused was brought up on multiple felonies. But on July 3, of last year the suspect took a plea deal to a reduced charge of attempted criminal possession of a loaded firearm in the second degree in exchange for a two-year prison stint.

The SUV was impounded as an instrument of a crime for transporting the loaded weapons.

But while he’s riding out the hard time, the NYPD's Property Clerk's Office filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn Supreme Civil Court on Oct. 17, to permanently seize his ride.  

As the suspect’s case was winding down with the guilty plea, the city sought to seek a legal hurdle to ultimately put the car up for sale at a public auction. 

On Dec, 8, 2025, the suspect’s fiancee swooped in to protect the Mercedes from being seized for good. 

The woman repped herself at the NYC Office of Trials and Administrative Hearings. 

The cops suggested in their arguments that due to the nature of the crime, returning the vehicle to the owner posed "a heightened risk to public safety". 

The judge was open to allowing the felon’s fiancee make her case.

The woman made a strong case claiming her hardship of needing to take her 6-year-old daughter around and her elderly mother to doctors appointments given her medical conditions.

She made the case (along with a notarized letter) that she works in Pennsylvania and over the past two years given the SUV has been held by the cops — she’s been forced to rent cars and Uber around and it was taking a toll on her finances.

The judge sided with her, writing: 

"Here, however, [fiancee] credible testimony that she needs the vehicle to travel a significant distance for work and to care for her daughter and respondent’s mother relates directly to whether returning the car to her poses a heightened risk to the public  

It is unlikely that [fiancee] would risk her employment or daughter’s health by failing to be prudent and responsible in her use of the car. In sum, petitioner failed to establish that returning the respondent's vehicle poses a heightened risk to public safety."

The judge ordered the NYPD to release the vehicle to St. Victor immediately.

AI isn't just changing business—it's creating entirely new income opportunities. The Hustle's guide features 200+ ways to make money with AI, from beginner-friendly gigs to advanced ventures. Each comes with realistic income projections and resource requirements. Join 1.5M professionals getting daily insights on emerging tech and business opportunities.

Get the guide

A LONELY SOUL was probably wishes he could have tried the apps instead of venturing out for some extra friendly company. 

The 35-year-old lothario was scoping for some loving on the night of Jan. 15. 

He allegedly kicked it to a woman he had his eye on. She was hanging at the corner of 80th Street and Roosevelt Avenue. 

The conversation quickly went from ‘Hello!’ to ‘How much?’

Authorities say the suspect offered the undercover portraying a prostitute $50 for a really good time. 

The offer went down like the backwash of warm beer with a cigarette floating in it. 

He was met with cuffs and must defend against the charge of patronizing a prostitute.

THE CAR WAS supposed to be off-limits for one particular man. 

But the numskull decided to break the law and tear around town anyway. 

The 28-year-old wasn’t very smooth, either. He was spotted rolling around in a 2023 Volkswagen back on the afternoon of Jan. 7. 

A unit traffic stopped the suspect on the corner of Main Street and Arthur Kill Road. 

Officers ran the man’s name through the system and discovered he had been banned from driving twice. 

So with enough suspicion going on with the driver — the man was searched and he was found to have 63 (count’em!) baggies of blow. 

What could have been a lame couple hours in court for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle was overshadowed by the more upgraded dope possession with intent to sell charges.

«SOURCE»

«SOURCE»

THE REPORT FIRST had a homeless man committing an act of self-immolation.

But once cops arrived inside the Amtrak rotunda at Penn Station back at around 9 a.m. on Monday — they found the homeless man was ganged up on by a trio of toughs.

The suspects were captured on video setting fire to the man’s clothing and then took off on foot to get away.

The victim was rushed to Cornell Hospital where he was treated for several second-degree burns to his arms and back.

Cops remain on the prowl for the three thugs.
One of the men was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans. 
The second had on a brown jacket, grey pants, and a grey hat. 
The third perp with with shoulder-length black hair was wearing all black and lugging a black backpack.

-30-

*When perusing The Blotter, know that arrests do not constitute guilt, and all suspects are innocent until proven guilty. Moreover, the reported items are merely a snapshot of a criminal matter – what is known at the time of publishing. In most cases, the persons arrested for breaking the law haven’t been convicted (yet). It’s also possible that the charges brought against them may be reduced or even withdrawn.

-----------------------------------------------------------------X

Say hey…

[email protected]

«facebook»

«instagram»

@theblotter_xyz