In 1965-1966, my main interests were boys, learning how to drive so I could get my driver’s license and school, pretty much in that order. So I paid little attention to the news, never realizing how what was going on then (in my city) would mirror the novel I would write many years later.
You see, I learned something this past week that actually gave me chills. From October 1965 to December 1966, a man attacked, raped and murdered seven Cincinnati women. He strangled them, using either an article of their own clothing or something that was readily available to him. With one exception, the women were attacked in their homes. The media dubbed him “The Cincinnati Strangler.”
In the aftermath of the thirteen female victims attributed to the Boston Strangler from 1962-1964, fear gripped Cincinnati women when the headlines reported the grisly attacks taking place in their city. “It changed Cincinnati,” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said years later. “I know it’s a cliché, but it was a loss of innocence for the community.”
The Cincinnati Police apprehended Posteal Laskey, a cab driver, after the last attack. He was arrested and convicted of the seventh murder. He never confessed to having committed any of the crimes but the attacks stopped when he was taken into custody. He died in prison in 2007.
If you’ve read Mixed Messages, much of this will sound familiar to you. Although I didn’t know about the Cincinnati Strangler when I wrote my novel, there are so many similarities between what I wrote and what actually happened. Hence, the chills!
In the book, the Westwood Strangler attacks women in their homes and he uses whatever is at hand to strangle them – just like The Cincinnati Strangler.
The Westwood Strangler is on the loose in Westwood, on the west side of Cincinnati. One of the victims of the Cincinnati Strangler lived in Price Hill, which borders Westwood, and all of his attacks occurred within a few miles of Westwood.
Without giving away my plot for Unfinished Business, the second book in my Malone mystery series, I’ll let you in on a secret: the total number of victims for the Cincinnati Strangler and the Westwood Strangler is exactly the same!
Was it merely a coincidence that what I wrote all those years later so strongly paralleled what really happened? Or, even though I don’t consciously remember the news stories, did my subconscious retain bits and pieces for all those years? I guess we’ll never know.
Creepy! Have you ever heard of the Torso killer from Cleveland. You're probably not a comic fan, but Brian Michael Bendis wrote a true crime graphic novel based on the case of a killer terrorizing the poor in Cleveland. Body parts were being found in the river. Elliot Ness had just come to town fresh off his Chicago exploits and his reputation got ruined by the case, because he burned down a shantytown where many of the victims were coming from in order to stop the killer. Great read, but a terrible (true) story.
ReplyDeleteBill,
DeleteNo, I've never heard of the Torso killer - at least not that I remember. :) I never heard of the Cincinnati Strangler either but look what happened!
Interesting parallel to your story. Maybe the elements did stick in your subconscious. Looking forward to reading your book.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John! I appreciate all your help with marketing and I hope you enjoy reading "Mixed Messages."
DeleteI'm reading Mixed Messages right now, and this blog is going to make it even more interesting. You just never know what to expect.
ReplyDeleteMarja,
DeleteYou're absolutely right! You just never know.
I sure hope you enjoy reading "Mixed Messages" as much as I enjoyed reading "Old Murders Never Die."
A girl can always hope. :)
Patricia, this seems to present a good marketing ploy: Write a piece for local publication, insisting that in spite of the coincidental similarities, "Mixed Messages" is NOT based on the "Cincinnati Strangler." People will remember that frightening episode and some of them will be lured to reading your book. It's another way to make the home-town readership aware of your new book. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteJohn,
DeleteI agree! I stumbled upon this information, wrote this post and immediately sent it to the Community Press, a local paper which includes The Western Hills Press, mentioned in "Mixed Messages." The editor plans to do a piece on me soon, hopefully incorporating this piece. Thanks!
Scary stuff, Patricia! And I LOVE John Daniel's marketing idea. Glad you're going forward with the p.r. idea.
ReplyDeleteEileen,
DeleteI agree; it is scary stuff!
John and I were thinking along the exact same lines. I'm going to contact the editor tomorrow to see if we can speed up the article to generate local interest in "Mixed Messages."
Patricia, thank you for that connection, either way subconscious or not it takes a writer to put together such details. Good luck on the 2nd in the series. Augie
ReplyDeleteThanks, Augie. I guess that's true. It doesn't really matter where an idea comes from; it's what you do with it.
DeleteArt imitating life, or life imitating art, either way, sounds like a very exciting read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cora. Glad you stopped by.
DeleteFascinating, Patricia. I'm always astonished when life and fiction collide.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn,
DeleteSo am I! Learning about the Cincinnati Strangler was quite an experience for me. I had no idea when I wrote about the Westwood Strangler how closely my fiction would parallel real life.
Fascinating post, Patricia. In fact, downright eerie.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn
Thanks, Marilyn!
DeleteI was six years old when the strangler murdered one of my mom's friends. Young as I was, it was a terrifying time for me, and my mom took to carrying a pistol in her purse until Posteal Laskey was arrested. She commented that she might go to jail for carrying a concealed weapon, but it was better than dying. If you had lived in Walnut Hills, Clifton, or Price Hill, where the murders took place, you would remember them because those neighborhoods were literally brought to their knees by these hideous crimes. It is fascinating that you unknowingly wrote a novel that so closely parallels these very real events. Perhaps you did hear snippets from the news that you don't remember, but that were embedded in your subconscious.
ReplyDeleteBob,
DeleteThanks so much for commenting! No, I didn't live in any of those neighborhoods at the time. My family had moved from what was then Central Fairmount to Monfort Heights a few years before it all happened. I certainly understand though why your mother carried a gun!
The way I heard about this was from a friend who heard about it from a friend. That woman's mother remembers it all too well. She believes that Posteal Laskey was following her and, by the grace of God, she didn't become one of his victims.