Sixty years ago, the Cincinnati Strangler terrorized the conservative Midwestern city of Cincinnati, Ohio. From December 1965 to December 1966, Cincinnati lived under a cloud of fear and suspicion as six older women were strangled and sexually abused across the city. The killer left no clues, leaving police with no clear suspects. The only hint they had was that it was a Black man who committed the crimes setting off a police roundup of Black men across the city, spurring the suspicions of White Cincinnati's about every man of color. In turn, those actions gave rise to deep resentment in the city's Black population.
An attempted assault drew police to arrest twenty-nine-year-old Posteal Laskey, Jr. While hinting they had the Strangler, police could not tie Laskey to any of the six strangulation murders but he was brought to trial for the stabbing death of Barbara Bowman. Laskey was found guilty and sentenced to die in the electric chair. His conviction raised cries of injustice in the Black community and the arrest of his cousin protesting the conviction was a spark to set off rioting during the long, hot summer of 1967.
Despite his advancing age, infirmities, accomplishments during huis imprisonment, Posteal Laskey remained behind bars for the rest of his life, dying in prison after forty years behind bars.
Today, Posteal Lakey, Jr. remains synonymous with the Cincinnati Strangler while the six strangulation murders remain cold cases.
This nonfiction book comes from thousands of pages of police investigations, court transcripts, prison records, contemporary accounts, and interviews. Armed with a wealth of information, the author leaves it to the reader to draw their own conclusions about the Strangler.
