By Philip Newman
It was the 12th time Moseley, now 70, the killer of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, 29, was denied parole since 1984, the New York State Board of Parole reported. He could reapply for parole in 2008. Moseley was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die in the electric chair, but in 1987 the state Court of Appeals ruled that Judge J. Irwin Shapiro had erred in refusing to admit evidence on Mosley's mental condition. Moseley was resentenced to life imprisonment. The events leading up to the slaying that brought such wide publicity began in the chilly pre-dawn of March 13, 1963 when a white Chevrolet Corvair began following Genovese as she left her job as night manager of Ev's 11th Hour Club in Hollis and drove to her home in a faux Tudor apartment building at 82-62 Austin St. in Kew Gardens. It will never be known whether Genovese noticed she was being pursued, but she parked her car at 3:20 a.m. outside her building next to the Long Island Rail Road station. The Corvair also stopped, a man got out, chased her down and stabbed her repeatedly. A police investigation among residents of Genovese's building turned up the information that 38 people heard her screaming but none went to her aid. Police said one man told them he shouted “let that girl alone” while some others said they were reluctant to get involved. Still others said they thought it was no more than a dispute from late departing patrons of a bar across the street. Investigators said the man who shouted might have delayed her death, since Moseley fled at that point but returned to stab her anew. Finally, someone did telephone police. Genovese was dead on arrival at Queens General Hospital more than an hour later. Less than a week later, two young men in East Elmhurst noticed a man lugging a television out of a neighboring building. Asked what he was doing, the man said he was “helping them move” and returned inside the building. Suspicious, one of the young men telephoned police as the other removed the distributor cap from the man's white Chevrolet Corvair. The stranger returned to his car, found it would not start and fled down the street. Police quickly caught him. Police identified the man as Winston Moseley, 29, of Richmond Hill, a business machine operator with a wife and two children and with no criminal record. Under questioning, Moseley soon admitted committing several dozen burglaries and rapes throughout Queens. Police kept questioning Moseley, fascinated by his icy demeanor. He admitted he followed Genovese home and attacked her. Moseley escaped from Attica prison near Buffalo in 1968 and terrorized a rural area for three days, in the process committing a rape before he was recaptured in an armed standoff in Buffalo. He acquired a college degree from Niagara University while studying in prison. In 1995, Moseley filed a motion asking for a new trial on a technicality. It was denied. The discussion over the question of why 38 people failed to act to save another human being and whether this could accurately be characterized as an urban phenomenon went on for years.Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136.
