A Crime to Remember

I REMEMBER THAT NIGHT LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY.

THOSE SCREAMS STILL ECHO THROUGH MY NIGHTMARES.

AND I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

A LOT OF US HEARD THOSE SCREAMS THAT NIGHT,

AND A FEW SAW THE HORROR, TOO.

THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF MURDERS THAT YEAR IN THE CITY,

BUT ONLY THIS ONE BECAME FAMOUS ALL THE WORLD OVER.

NOT BECAUSE OF THE VICTIM.

NOT BECAUSE OF THE KILLER.

BUT BECAUSE OF THE WITNESSES.

BECAUSE OF PEOPLE LIKE ME.

YOU KNOW THE KITTY GENOVESE CASE, RIGHT?

OF COURSE YOU DO.

38 OF HER NEIGHBORS WATCHED A WOMAN DIE.

SHE RECOGNIZED ONE OF THEM AND CALLED TO HIM FOR HELP

WHILE SHE WAS BEING STABBED TO DEATH.

BUT HE NEVER ANSWERED HER.

40 PERSONS HEARD HER SCREAM, BUT NO ONE ACTED.

PEOPLE UP THERE WERE SITTING RIGHT ON TOP OF THE CRIME.

WHEN IT WAS OVER, THEY ALL WENT BACK TO BED.

KITTY WAS THE GIRL IN NEW YORK CITY

WHO WAS STABBED TO DEATH BY A MANIAC IN FRONT OF HER HOUSE

WHILE ALL OF HER NEIGHBORS STOOD AROUND AND DID NOTHING.

KITTY GENOVESE REVEALED TO THE WORLD

HOW APATHETIC SOCIETY HAD BECOME.

KITTY GENOVESE SHOWED US

HOW LIVING IN CITIES TURNED US INTO ANIMALS.

KITTY GENOVESE WAS A MODERN MARTYR.

THAT'S THE KITTY GENOVESE CASE, RIGHT?

WRONG.

50 A.M. ON MARCH 13th,

THE 102nd PRECINCT RECEIVED A CALL

FROM A MAN WHO SAYS

THAT A WOMAN HAS BEEN ATTACKED IN HIS HALLWAY.

TWO MINUTES LATER,

PATROLMAN ARRIVES ON SCENE AT A TUDOR-STYLE BUILDING.

IS AN AMBULANCE COMING?

HELP IS ON THE WAY.

SHOULD BE HERE IN JUST A FEW MINUTES.

DO YOU KNOW THIS WOMAN? CATHERINE GENOVESE.

BUT SHE GOES BY "KITTY." STAY WITH US, KITTY.

KITTY'S CLOTHES ARE CUT AND TORN.

SHE HAS MULTIPLE STAB WOUNDS IN HER CHEST AND STOMACH,

AND HER THROAT IS SLASHED.

HOW DO YOU KNOW HER? SHE LIVES ACROSS FROM ME.

THE HALLWAY WAS ABSOLUTELY DRENCHED IN BLOOD.

HANG IN THERE, KITTY.

IT'S A VERY SMALL, CONFINED HALLWAY,

AND A STAIRCASE THAT GOES UP TO TWO MORE APARTMENTS.

THIS WOMAN WAS TRAPPED.

BREATHE, KITTY.

IN 1964, YOU DIDN'T CALL 911. IT DID NOT EXIST.

WHAT YOU DID WAS DIAL THE POLICE PRECINCT DIRECTLY.

SO IT WAS QUITE SOME TIME BEFORE THE AMBULANCE ARRIVES.

THEY TOLD US SHE DIED ON THE WAY TO THE HOSPITAL.

SHE NEVER WOKE UP.

AND NOW OUR LITTLE BLOCK IN QUEENS

WAS THE SCENE OF A MURDER.

THERE WAS A TRAIL OF BLOOD ON AUSTIN STREET.

SO, THEY FIGURED OUT THAT KITTY GENOVESE WAS ATTACKED

FIRST IN FRONT OF HER OWN APARTMENT BUILDING.

SO, THERE ARE TWO ATTACKS.

THE POLICE TRIED TO KEEP US AWAY,

BUT IT WAS ALL RIGHT THERE FOR US TO SEE.

AND AS IT GOT LATER AND THE SUN CAME UP,

IT WAS ALL THE MORE VIVID AND HORRIBLE.

THIS WAS DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM A 10-STORY BUILDING,

THE MOWBRAY APARTMENT HOUSE.

AND SO THERE POSSIBLY COULD HAVE BEEN A WHOLE AUDIENCE

LOOKING DOWN AT WHERE SHE WAS ATTACKED.

ALL RIGHT. YOU TAKE THE RIGHT. TAKE THE LEFT.

CAN I HELP YOU? EXCUSE ME, MA'AM...

3:20. THAT'S WHEN I HEARD THE FIRST SCREAM.

THE POLICE WERE ABLE TO FIND PEOPLE

WHO TOLD THEM THAT THEY HEARD THESE SCREAMS.

AT FIRST WE COULDN'T SEE HER.

WE JUST HEARD HER YELLING.

SAMUEL KOSHKIN AND HIS WIFE

LIVE IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING CALLED THE WEST VIRGINIA

ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE STREET AS THE TUDOR BUILDING

IN A CORNER APARTMENT.

SAMUEL KOSHKIN HEARD THE SCREAMS,

AND HE HEARD THE WOMAN SAY THAT SHE HAD BEEN STABBED.

YOU HEAR SCREAMS?

UM... I GET UP, PEEK,

AND LOOK THROUGH MY WINDOW AND SAW A MAN BEATING A GIRL.

ANDRE PICQ, A WOMAN WHO LIVED IN THE MOWBRAY,

SAW A MAN STANDING OVER A WOMAN -- STANDING OVER KITTY --

AND CLEARLY SOMETHING BAD WAS OCCURRING.

SHE DID REACH FOR THE TELEPHONE.

ROBERT MOZER AND HIS WIFE

LIVED ON THE SEVENTH FLOOR OF THE MOWBRAY APARTMENT HOUSE,

DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM WHERE KITTY WAS ATTACKED.

STOP IT! STOP IT!

I THOUGHT MAYBE IT WAS A DOMESTIC SPAT.

HEY! YOU LEAVE THAT GIRL ALONE!

NOW, YOU YELLED FROM WHERE?

FROM OUR APARTMENT, UP THERE.

OKAY. NOW, YOU DIDN'T HEAR HER SCREAMING

THAT SHE'D BEEN STABBED AT ALL? NO. NO.

WHAT DID SHE DO AFTER THAT?

THE MOZERS REMAIN AT THE WINDOW,

AND THEY WATCHED HER WALK BACK DOWN THE STREET.

SHE'S SLOWLY ZIG-ZAGGING AND WALKING --

THEY THINK SHE MIGHT BE DRUNK --

AND SHE DISAPPEARS BEHIND THE TUDOR BUILDING.

YOU KNOW THIS WOMAN'S BEING HURT.

WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL THE POLICE?

WELL, I DID.

ANDRE CALLS THE POLICE.

102nd.

Hello? 102nd.

AS THE PHONE IS BEING PICKED UP, SHE PANICS.

I don't have time for this.

AND, TO HER GREAT SADNESS AFTERWARD,

PUT THE PHONE BACK DOWN.

SO, WHAT DO YOU DO AFTER THAT?

I SAW A MAN RUNNING TO HIS CAR.

SAMUEL KOSHKIN SEES A MAN RUN BACK TO A CAR,

WHICH HE DESCRIBED AS A WHITE COMPACT CAR...

...AND HE BACKS OUT OF VIEW.

AND THEN THE MAN CAME BACK...

...BUT THIS TIME WEARING A FEDORA.

I'M CALLING THE POLICE.

YOU CALLED THE POLICE?

I TOLD HIM NOT TO.

I THOUGHT FOR SURE AT LEAST 30 PEOPLE HAD CALLED BEFORE THEN.

I'M GONNA GO OUT.

I PUT MY COAT ON,

AND I'M GONNA LOOK FOR THE CAR TO GET THE LICENSE.

BUT SHE WOULDN'T ALLOW IT.

I WAS SCARED FOR HIS LIFE.

I TOLD HIM TO -- TO STAY OUT OF IT

AND JUST WAIT FOR THE POLICE.

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE MAN?

SOME OF THE DESCRIPTIONS, IT'S A BLACK MAN.

SOME OF THE DESCRIPTIONS, IT'S A WHITE MAN.

SOME OF THE DESCRIPTIONS, IT'S TALLER OR SHORTER.

THERE WERE A COUPLE PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THAT IT MIGHT BE A WOMAN,

BUT EVERYONE HAD SAID THAT THE ASSAILANT SEEMED TO BE

A SLENDER PERSON WEARING DARK PANTS.

THERE WERE A LOT OF US,

BUT WHEN YOU GOT RIGHT DOWN TO IT, WE HADN'T SEEN THAT MUCH --

AT LEAST NOT ENOUGH TO GET THE GUY.

BUT EVERYBODY ON THE BLOCK KNEW THAT THERE WERE TWO PEOPLE

WHO PROBABLY WERE IN A POSITION TO KNOW MORE.

SIR, HOW YOU DOING TODAY?

JOSEPH FINK, WHO'S THE DOORMAN AT THE MOWBRAY APARTMENT HOUSE.

AT ANY POINT, DID YOU SEE OR HEAR A WOMAN SCREAMING?

MR. FINK WAS ON DUTY THAT NIGHT.

HE'S STABBING ME!

I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING.

HE REFUSED TO GIVE THEM ANY INFORMATION.

ALL RIGHT, BUDDY. LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE COMING WITH US.

WELL, THE POLICE WEREN'T GONNA PUT UP WITH THAT.

SO THEY TOOK MR. FINK DOWN TO THE STATION HOUSE.

AND THE OTHER PERSON WE ALL THOUGHT

MIGHT HAVE SEEN SOMETHING MORE WAS KARL ROSS.

IT WAS HIS STAIRWELL THAT KITTY WOUND UP IN.

IT WAS KARL ROSS WHO CALLED THE POLICE.

THE DETECTIVE HAD VERY STRONG SUSPICIONS

THAT KARL ROSS HAD SEEN AND HEARD MORE OF THE ATTACK

THAN HE WAS LETTING ON.

IT HAD BEEN JUST HOURS AGO THAT THOSE SCREAMS HAD WOKEN ME UP,

BUT IT SEEMED LIKE YEARS.

WE ALL WENT OVER IT AGAIN AND AGAIN,

WHAT WE'D HEARD, WHAT WE'D SEEN.

IT WAS A NIGHTMARE.

HOW WERE ANY OF US TO KNOW

THAT THE NIGHTMARE WAS ONLY BEGINNING?

KITTY GENOVESE, OUR NEIGHBOR, OUR KITTY, WAS DEAD.

MURDERED RIGHT OUTSIDE OF OUR BUILDING.

LOTS OF US HEARD A SHOUT, ME INCLUDED,

AND SOME SAW A SCUFFLE,

BUT NONE OF US EVER IMAGINED WE WERE HEARING A MURDER.

AND, ALSO, WHO WOULD WANT TO KILL KITTY?

EVERYONE LOVED KITTY. SHE WAS A DOLL.

* WA-OOH *

MY DREAM JOB IN LIKE FIVE YEARS

IS TO MAYBE OPEN UP A LITTLE RESTAURANT, LA GATTINA,

WITH MY DAD. THAT WOULD BE LOVELY.

YEAH. I DON'T KNOW.

IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A DREAM.

I LOVE THIS SONG. COME ON, MIKEY. I NEED A DANCE PARTNER.

SHE WAS A VERY, VERY UPBEAT AND VIVACIOUS PERSON.

YEAH.

SHE WAS EXTREMELY WELL-READ.

KNEW A LOT ABOUT HISTORY, KEPT UP WITH THE NEWS AND POLITICS.

SHE COMES FROM A FAMILY IN BROOKLYN.

KITTY TRIED CONNECTICUT FOR A WHILE,

BUT SHE REALLY PREFERRED LIVING IN THE CITY.

WELL, WHEN I WAS 12 YEARS OLD, IT WAS A TWO-FAMILY WALKUP,

AND ONE DOOR WAS OUR FAMILY, AND NEXT DOOR WAS KITTY'S APARTMENT.

THANK YOU, SOPHIE.

HOW'S MIKEY?

GETTING DRESSED, I HOPE.

SHE WAS A VERY GENEROUS AND NICE PERSON.

I REMEMBER, I WOULD SHOVEL THE SNOW DURING THE WINTER,

AND SHE WOULD GIVE ME LIKE FIVE BUCKS.

BACK THEN, THAT WAS A LOT OF MONEY.