Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer

At night, the brightest reflection in the skies

over New York comes from the area around Times Square and Broadway.

Thousands of pleasure-seekers, like moths,

are lured to its light.

These sights and sounds are only a part

of one of the most astonishing and complicated areas in the world.

The whole world is attracted to Times Square.

They're entranced and a little bit drunk off all the lights

and all of the show business.

But tourists don't know what was there 45 years ago.

In the late '70s,

Times Square was considered an atrocity.

Times Square was a very sexually-charged atmosphere.

The whole scene was something to see

because it was, like, out of Dante's Inferno.

There were guys walking around out there that were pure predators.

The fear behind that was palpable.

You could feel it.

It's not easy to find a newscast

with no reference to violence and murder these days,

but this week got off to an unusually violent start

right here in Midtown Manhattan.

I was in the 10th Precinct in Manhattan covering Times Square,

just, uh, a uniform cop on patrol.

This was December of '79,

and we're stopped at a light at 42nd Street

when we saw fire trucks parked in front of the Travel Inn hotel.

When we pulled up,

they excitedly said,

"You better go up to the fourth floor."

There was a fire in room 417.

Rescue Company 1 was told that there were likely guests inside the room.

So you had the smell from burning flesh,

and the smoke was thick.

They crawled into the room, not being able to see.

They made out the shape of bodies on the twin beds.

One of the firemen went to give CPR...

but she had no head or hands.

Knocked him back against the wall, naturally.

The sergeant turned to me, and he said,

"A real sick bastard did this."

Firemen were first to arrive at the scene at about 9:30 this morning.

They were responding to a report of a fire in a West Side hotel room.

They found much more than they had anticipated.

Two women were found decapitated, their hands cut off as well.

Did it seem that the women had been killed recently

when you arrived?

I would say so, yeah, within a couple hours.

It seems the suspect tried to cover his tracks

by setting the two beds on fire.

Two separate fires, two separate mattresses,

two separate beds.

For how long?

Five minutes, tops.

I spent 31 and a half years with the New York City Police Department.

You wouldn't believe the things I've seen.

And for something to stand out,

it's gotta be really bad. It has to be absolutely horrifying to stand out.

And this case did stand out.

It was pretty much the hotel room from hell.

I saw the headlines before I got the information from the NYPD,

and the case immediately intrigued me.

I'm a homicide and forensic expert and consultant.

I'm the former commander of Bronx Homicide.

At the time, I called up Jerry McQueen,

who was the detective sergeant who was in charge of the investigation,

and he basically filled me in what they had.

The immediate problem for the investigators was...

"Who are these victims?"

The first thing you look for is fingerprints,

but in this case, you were deprived of fingerprints 'cause there's no hands.

Our first inclination is that he wants to prevent identification.

That's why the heads and hands are gone.

We had nothing else.

No wallet, no ID, no identification cards.

And don't forget, it's... it's 1979.

We don't have all this video surveillance that we have today, okay?

We don't have DNA technology.

It won't... DNA technology won't come up for another seven years.

Very frustrating.

The firemen said that they felt it was a poorly conceived fire,

more likely to draw attention to the room

than it was to do any damage.

In fact, one detective said to me

it was the cleanest crime scene he's ever seen.

It was totally devoid of evidence.

Spatter, gore, puddles, fingerprints, there was nothing.

How... how can you behead two women,

chop off the... the hands of two women,

and not have gore from one end to the other?

I did see the clothing from the victims

was piled neatly in the bathtub.

You know, it seemed strange to me at the time.

This killer went to great lengths to destroy

the women's identities.

So why would he leave behind the women's clothing?

Possibly they were his gimmicks, planted there,

like the little fire he started Sunday.

One of the maids from the fourth floor,

uh, discovered smoke coming from under the door

and, uh, trying to open the door to, uh, get in there.

Had anybody heard any kind of a struggle?

Any noise in that room?

It was don't disturb. Don't disturb. That's all.

The don't disturb sign, was that up all along?

Yes.

The offender came in on November 29th into that hotel,

and he did not leave till December 2nd.

A period of three days.

He very cleverly signed in as a Carl Wilson

from Maryland, New Jersey,

which was a fake name.

The only time he was seen was at registration.

A woman stood behind him as the subject was registering.

He was alone. She was alone.

But for whatever reason, she paid attention...

and they drew a composite from her description.

This is the sketch of the man wanted for questioning.

He's white, 35 years old, about 5'10" tall,

and weighing 175 pounds.

They say he has brown hair, which is blow-dried.

By that, they told me they mean this man is very meticulous about his appearance.

In a case like this, the police have an uphill battle

because of the location down in Times Square.

Back then, it was rampant crime of every description going on

on every block, on every corner, in every alleyway.

This was a place where someone could go unnoticed.

When you're looking for a killer in 1970s Times Square,

you're looking for a needle in a haystack.

There was more of a crowd in Times Square than anywhere else in the city.

There were tourists,

countless businessmen...

Yes, sir, what can I do for you, buddy? What do you need today?

...hustlers and three-card monte guys.

Guys right out of Rikers Island.

When you have the entire world passing through,

anybody could be in there.

It's a hustle and bustle

that's unparalleled anywhere else in this country.

I spent my entire twenties

in the 1970s and '80s in Times Square.

I was a writer covering the neighborhood for men's magazines.

There's probably no "official" official designation

of exactly to the foot which makes up Times Square...

...but because it's in my blood, and I've spent so many years there

between 42nd Street and 50th Street,

between 8th Avenue and 6th Avenue.

Those 13 blocks,

that's my definition of Times Square.

"The Deuce" was a nickname at the time.

It really referred to 42nd Street itself,

particularly between 7th and 8th Avenue, which is really the heart of Times Square.

At its peak, it was a meeting place. It was a place of entertainment.

It was part of the central business district.

Almost all subway lines come to Times Square.

The Port Authority Bus Terminal brings people from New Jersey

but also people from around the country.

For me, it's always been a destination.

I remember coming here and seeing

the Camel ad where the guy blows smoke rings.

That was so cool.

I mean, anything else paled in comparison to that.

There were Broadway shows, and theaters were bustling,

and it was like an element of being in the Wild West.

You know, where you didn't know what was gonna happen,

and you were going there because you wanted to have an adventure.

Times Square 42nd Street was a collecting point...

for all sorts of people. It was like a... like a drain, you know?

Everything came there.

You have those who are the denizens of the Deuce,

who have lived there, they worked there,

they partied there.

But you have all these newcomers who did not learn to be street-smart.

And if you are not used to being in a place

where there are so many people bumping up against you,

so many lights, loud music,

everything else,

it's easy to become a victim

because there were bad people out there.

For the past two weeks, we've told you about the hunt

for whoever murdered and decapitated two women in the Times Square hotel.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about this man

to call a special number.

The media put out a composite sketch of a potential suspect,

but at the time, that sketch didn't help the investigation.

Because nobody came forward.

Very frustrating.

Police have had to resort to the barest of evidence

as a means of tracking down the victims' identities.

Over at the 20th Precinct,

we saw the sorry remains of the two young women.

A pair of Bonjour jeans size 7/8,

a pair of patent leather boots, a red sweater,

a black fur jacket waist-length,

a pair of white leotards,

and a pair of black high-heeled shoes.

Now, in order to try to identify the victims,

the investigators came up with the idea of why don't we take these clothes

that had been left behind in the hotel room

and see if we get some feedback from the general public?