1960s Timeline

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Aug 30, 2022

Queens Teen Rapes and Kills 14-Year-Old, “Wanted to See What It Felt Like to Kill Somebody”

Aug. 30, 1962 - A 17-year-old Queens boy was accused today of slaying a 14-year-old girl because he “wanted to see what it felt like to kill somebody.” The boy, Walter Tjunin, was charged with homicide in the killing of Susan Grskovic. The girl was found dead early this morning in a vacant lot, naked and strangled with a strip of her green, checkered dress. The killer had added a grisly touch by carving an “S” and an “X” on her stomach with a beer can opener. The police said

Aug 29, 2022

NYPD’s “Operation Decoy” Smashing Success

Aug. 29, 1962 - During the first week of being disguised in women’s clothing, “Operation Decoy” policemen in New York City made 80 arrests, including 38 for felonies, Commissioner Michael J. Murphy announced today. Commissioner Murphy said 36 of those arrested had a total of 181 previous arrests. The project, begun the night of Aug. 22, is aimed at combating street crime by using policemen dressed as women to lure potential rapists and muggers. Commissioner Murphy said the ar

Aug 24, 2022

NYPD Launches “Operation Decoy”

Aug. 24, 1962 - Eight of New York’s finest became eight of New York’s fairest today as the Police Department’s “Operation Decoy” moved into the glamorous world of high fashion. The shift took place within the walls of the Beach Street Station House, where the department’s Tactical Patrol Force showed off eight of its burly patrolmen masquerading as women. To give the disguise a woman’s touch, headquarters sent up two policewomen to show the men how to apply make-up and to mak

Jun 25, 2022

Murdering Ex-Marine Undergoing Brain Tests in Jersey

June 25, 1962 - James H. Vance Jr., the 18-year-old former Marine who confessed to the killing of two teenage girls, began a series of psychiatric and brain tests today. Vance is accused of killing Noreen Buckley, 17, and Margaret Ann Kennedy, 16, with a tire wrench. Vance confessed early yesterday after calling a detective to his cell. He was said to have told the following story: On Wednesday night, he met the girls, former schoolmates of his, at a Morristown luncheonette,

Jun 24, 2022

Killer of Two Girls in Jersey Signs Confession

June 24, 1962 - Police said today that 18-year-old James H. Vance Jr. had signed a three-paragraph statement admitting he killed two Morris Plains, N.J., teenage girls last week. The youth was charged yesterday with the slaying of Noreen Buckley, 17, and Margaret Ann Kennedy, 16. The bodies were found badly beaten last Thursday in a densely wooded area. Yesterday, Vance had maintained his innocence, but the police said he volunteered a confession early today. Frank C. Scerbo,

Jun 23, 2022

Former Marine Charged with Murder of Two Girls in New Jersey

June 23, 1962 - An 18-year-old former member of the Marine Corps was charged today with the murder of two teenage girls whose bodies were found Thursday in a wooded area in Morris Township, N.J. The prisoner, James H. Vance Jr., was a schoolmate of the victims, Margaret Ann Kennedy, 16, and Noreen Buckley, 17. The girls were bludgeoned to death last Wednesday night. Mr. Vance, who had enlisted in the Marine Corps for a four-year hitch, was given an honorable medical discharge

Jun 22, 2022

Ex-Nazi Gets Life Imprisonment for Mass Murder

June 22, 1962 - A West Berlin court has sentenced Dr. Albert Filbert, 56 years old, a former colonel in the Nazi S.S., to life imprisonment for the mass murder of Jews and Russians during World War II. The court found him guilty of the death of more than 10,000 persons shot in the area of Vilna and Grodno in the Western Soviet Union in 1941. Men, women, and children were herded together by Nazi guards under Filbert’s command and put to death in mass shootings, the verdict sai

Jun 21, 2022

Two Girls Murdered in New Jersey

June 21, 1962 - The dead bodies of two teenaged girls who had been badly beaten were discovered this afternoon in a densely wooded area about a mile from Morristown, N.J. The victims were identified as Noreen Buckley, 17, and Margaret Ann Kennedy, 16, both of Morris Plains. The girls’ parents had reported them missing at 1 a.m. today. The police said the two were last seen while shopping in Morristown about 8 p.m. Wednesday night. According to the police, the Kennedy girl tel

May 27, 2022

Manhunt Underway for Iowa Man Who Killed Five

May 27, 1962 - A young man ambushed and killed his aunt and uncle in their Iowa farm-house last night, then drove four cousins home from a dance and killed three of them, Sheriff John Wallerich of Martinsburg said today. A Midwest alert was sent out for Gayno Gilbert Smith, 24, wanted on a murder warrant. Those killed in the shootings were Andy McBeth, 50; his wife, Dora, 40; their twin son and daughter, Amos and Anna, 20, and a divorced daughter, Donna Kellogg, 17. The searc

May 23, 2022

Two Members of NYPD Charged with Excessive Use of Force

May 23, 1962 - The New York Civil Liberties Union today asked New York Police Commissioner Michael J. Murphy to institute disciplinary proceedings against Captain Albert Seedman (pictured left) and Assistant Chief Inspector Raymond V. Martin for “excessive and improper use of force” against Anthony Portelli and Anthony Dellernia (pictured right). Portelli and Dellernia have been charged with the slaying last Friday of Detectives Luke Fallon, 56, and John P. Finnegan, 28, both

May 22, 2022

Gov. Rockefeller Backs Police

May 22, 1962 - New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller pledged last night his continuing support of measures needed by the police to combat crime. Addressing 600 delegates at the annual dinner of the Police Conference of New York in Monticello, the Governor declared, “The battle against crime requires constant vigilance and fresh effort.” “So long as the hoodlum makes the streets of our cities unsafe,” he said, “so long as the narcotics pusher conducts his evil business, so long

May 16, 2022

NYPD Commissioner Murphy Assigns Extra Police to Parks and Recreation Facilities

May 16, 1962 - New York Police Commissioner Michael J. Murphy (pictured left with Mayor Wagner) today called on the extra policemen who have been assigned to parks and recreation facilities to keep those areas free of muggers, molesters, and degenerates. The Commissioner addressed 600 policemen, part of the 1,087 reinforcements assigned to city recreation areas for the summer. Mr. Murphy said: “Certainly, if there is any group that has a prior moral claim to the services of t

Mar 28, 2022

NYPD Confiscates Toy Guns That Look Too Real

Mar. 28, 1962 - New York police detectives will mosey up to toy gun counters during the next few weeks and figuratively give the order to “Draw!” If the gun that comes out looks too much like the real thing, the detective is authorized to confiscate it. Police Commissioner Michael J. Murphy today ordered the crackdown on the sale of toy pistols that look like real weapons because a number of recent robberies have been committed with toys. Notices went out to all precincts and

Mar 27, 2022

NYPD: Most Murders in 1961 Committed in Family Disputes

Mar. 27, 1962 - Most of the murders committed in New York City last year were not planned, nor were they associated with underworld activity. The majority were committed at home in family disputes. There were 483 homicides in 1961, an increase of 93 over 1960. Eighty-seven percent resulted in arrests. These were the highlights of a study of last year’s homicides released today by Police Commissioner Michael J. Murphy. A spokesman for Mr. Murphy said one reason for the rise in

Mar 6, 2022

NYPD Says Attacks on Policemen Increasing

Mar. 6, 1962 - New York Deputy Police Commissioner Walter Arm told an institute on police and community relations today that there had been 2,525 attacks on policemen in 1961, most of them of “the common garden variety of the individual being arrested and resisting arrest.” He said such attacks were “something which police everywhere contend with and which they generally regard as ‘part of the job.’” “However,” he continued, “there were 223 cases of attacks on police by group

Aug 29, 2021

NYC Grand Jury Finds No Police Brutality in Suspected Rapist's Prison Cell Death

Aug. 29, 1961 - A New York County Grand jury reported today that it had found "no evidence of criminality" in the death of a suspected rapist in a police cell last month. The panel had investigated charges that police brutality had caused the prisoner's death. The prisoner, Anthony Colon, a 32-year-old merchant seaman, was found dead at the West 20th Street station two hours after he had been charged with the rape of an 8-year-old girl. An autopsy showed that Colon had died o

Aug 21, 2021

Attacks on NYPD Officers Increasing in Incidence and Viciousness

Aug. 21, 1961 - In the first 6 months of this year, 1,171 New York City policemen were attacked while trying to make arrests. From July 1 through August 14, these assaults increased in incidence and viciousness. In that 45-day period, 133 policemen were injured - almost double the 69 hurt during the corresponding period in 1960. What the police cannot understand is why, when they corner three teenaged boys carrying loaded shotguns - as two patrolmen did on Aug. 14 in the Bron

Aug 8, 2021

Brooklyn Judge Gets Tough With "Wild Animal" Who Attacked Cop

Aug. 8, 1961 - In Brooklyn today, Kings County Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz (pictured) made good his threat to deal harshly with attackers of policemen. He sentenced Rafael Appelaniz, 21, to seven and a half to fifteen years in Sing Sing Prison, terming him "a thug and a wild animal." Appelaniz had pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree assault and carrying a dangerous weapon. Patrolman Daniel Scavone charged that on May 28, Appelaniz slashed him with a 15-inch bayonet while

Jul 31, 2021

NYPD Commissioner Murphy Denounces Attacks on Police

July 31, 1961 - New York City Police Commissioner Michael J. Murphy today denounced recent attacks upon policemen. Mr. Murphy said 1,780 policemen, nearly five a day, had been assaulted while carrying out their duties in the last 12 months. The latest near-riot occurred Friday night in Harlem. Stones, garbage and bottles were hurled at policemen from the street and roofs as they sought to break up a disturbance on West 125th St. "All too often, what begins as an arrest for a

Jul 28, 2021

Violence in Harlem, Debris Thrown at Police

July 28, 1961 - Scattered violence and milling crowds disrupted Harlem last night. A police riot call brought reinforcements to the troubled area. Eighty members of the Tactical Patrol Force were called to duty. In all, more than 200 policemen were patrolling the area. Garbage and pop bottles were hurled off tenement roofs onto policemen. Nine shop windows on 125th Street were broken. There was looting at several shops and several warning shots were fired during countless mel