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NEW YORK -- A New York man confessed to stabbing and beating two women to death in the 1990s, a day after police found a third woman's body under the covers in his bed, a law enforcement official said.
Lucius Crawford, 60, was arrested late Tuesday after the body was found in his basement apartment in Mount Vernon.
The woman had been stabbed 19 times; her name has not been released.
A law enforcement official said Crawford had since confessed to stabbing and beating to death a Bronx woman in October 1993 and another woman that same year in Yonkers.
"To the best of our knowledge these weren't random attacks," said Mount Vernon Police Chief John Roland. "From his early assaults right up until the current homicide that we're talking about here, he knew his victims in one manner or another."
The body of the 37-year-old Bronx woman, Nella West, was found dumped along Liebig Avenue in 1993. Police have DNA evidence linking Crawford to that killing, the official said.
30 years in prison for stabbing 8 women
Investigators had gone to Crawford's house on Tuesday to question him in the Bronx 1993 case. He wasn't home but they found the woman's body in his bed under the covers, the official said.
Crawford previously served 13 years in prison for attempted murder after stabbing a 31-year-old co-worker who allegedly refused to date him.
He was paroled in February 2008 and had lived in the apartment for more than a year.
Crawford moved to Westchester in 1991 after his release from a South Carolina prison, where he'd served two separate terms totaling 17 years for stabbing at least seven women.
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Four were attacked in a five-day spree. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 28. None were fatal.
The NYPD alerted Suffolk County police to Crawford's arrest to investigate whether he may have any connection to several unsolved murders of women on Long Island dating back to 2007.
But a law enforcement source in Suffolk told NBCNewYork.com that Crawford "doesn't pan out" as a suspect in those killings, noting that he was in jail when one of those victims was killed.
Crawford didn't enter a plea during a court appearance Wednesday.
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So in this case the death penalty would have save a life? 30 years in prison did not change this man and he was paroled to murder again.
You can take 'em out of the prison...
But you can't take the prison out of 'em...
There should be a 3 strikes and you're done law nationally. How did this man keep getting paroled?
Chances are he repented, was a changed man and found god. That seems to be the popular way out.
I can't belive the system.
Any quotes from the Parole board that decided he was a good risk to let out?
Lucius should change his name to "Lucifer".
Seems sad but true.30 years didn't change the man.Now he gets to free load off the taxpayers again while another lies dead.
I believe in capital punishment for murderers... and no endless stays on Death Row. Just take 'em out and shoot them as if they were animals. In public would be even better.
These are the type of people that the death penalty should be utilized against. When you have physical evidence to PROVE that these people are guilty, with no doubt, they should be held accountable for their actions. This was a seriously mentally ill individual. Why should society have to live in fear of these kinds of people lurking free among us? When he showed signs of mental illness with the potential to harm others, he should never have been let out of prison to kill over and over again. This man has been free for a 1993 murder and was not caught until recently? Come on, get real! Women better do some checking BEFORE jumping into bed with sick people.
With his record and the obvious threat to society he presented why was this man paroled? Someone needs to be held accountable for dereliction of duty.
Creek Dog
Yep. This one should've never been allowed out of prison. He killed 8 women and they unleashed him back into the world to kill more and he was sleeping with a dead woman's body?! That's the only conclusion I can think of if her dead body was found in his bed under the sheets. How disgusting.
Mindie... he did not kill 8 women. He stabbed 8 women and all of them lived.
Over the past few days, his confession now indicates that he's killed 3 other women (different from the original 8 he stabbed but didn't kill). This wasn't known when he was in prison.
So in this case, the death penalty was never on the table and could not have saved 3 lives. However, at this point, it should be BUT.... it's New York so it's not on the table.
I don't think he was paroled on murder charges, attempted murder is bad enough, but thats what he initially served his time on. The murder charges from the 90s are the ones he just admitted to.
he can not survive outside of a prison system, many become institutionalized.
Ahh thanks for the clarification Harold. Still he should not have been released.
Someone shoot this piece of sh!t in the head already. He is of NO use to this world.
I can't even count all the women he has stabbed. Must be a real pussy, only picks on women.
Okay, how long did the police have to beat on him until he "confessed"? They were even looking to pin something on him that happened while he was still behind bars. Doesn't anybody wonder if something is suspicious here?
You sir are weird. It's people like you that lawyers make a living off of.
Publius,
Im only suspicious of you being one of his family members, or a woman killer yourself.
The man attempted to kill 8 women, and succeeded in killing one 15 years ago, and yet the liberals in New York felt it was a good idea to release him, yet they claim that it is the republicans that have a war on women. lol
Im sorry for the lady and her family. Hopefully New York will take its head out of its ass and start putting down these people, or at the very least, keeping murderers in prison for the rest of their lives.
Nope and nope.
I am, however, someone that is reasonably suspicious. And I do know that police have beaten confessions out of people. And the article states that one of the crimes they wanted to pin on him happened while he was behind bars.
Now, I realize that there are a lot of people who wouldn't mind seeing someone convicted of a crime that he couldn't possibly have committed. But it leaves a rotten smell that leads me to suspect the whole investigation.
Look, I realize it's easier to go after someone who is not likely to get any sympathy. But corruption in law-enforcement is a big deal to me. Too many people have been wrongly convicted and spent years in jail due to such corruption. I don't trust "confessions." If you've got real evidence, you don't need a confession. If you don't, it's just too tempting to force some patsy to "confess."
Lock him up...throw away the key forever. Forget he exhists and don't waste time on the death penalty. Just never let him see the light of day until he is dead. The death panalty is A MONEY PIT , SO SAVE THE MONEY. and don't waste it on trash.
If the death penalty is a money pit, it is so because of corruption. When there is no doubt of guilt why is there an appeal? This happens way to often and is not necessary. The cost is disproportionate to actual work. What are they lawyers with entitlements?
F*ck throw away the key, arrange a 'suicide' for this knob even if they have to hold him down while they tie a sheet around his neck and hoist him up while they tie it to the bars then drop his useless ash. After all he did commit 'suicide', that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Exactly Bob. While I don't want to see anyone executed who is truly innocent, with todays DNA and new technology in forensics if there is NO doubt at all they are guilty, I say give them 6mos to make their one and only appeal for mercy, then give them the needle.
While I don't believe that the death penalty is a deterrent, it would certainly stop THAT person from ever killing again. That's good enough for me.
Dude is a real lady killer.
Death penalty is not a deterrent. It is a punishment. I would be cool with him being stabbed multiple times until he died. Now he is just back with his friends and comfortable life in prison. It is his way of using his government entitlements to pay all his expenses.
Parole for a man who stabbed 7 women is OK, as long as the exit goes through a chipper-shredder.
Stabbing 7 women is 7 violent strikes - sentence should have been life with no possibility of release (even if terminally ill), with no option for judge, jury, parole board, Governor, or President. The only appeal would be if all 7 convictions for stabbing were overturned.
It may be a money pit but so are all the lifers that get cancer and other illness's just like anyone else does. They are treated for their problems just like we are. Ii's just an old folks home for prisoners. If they were convicted of it and proven through DNA or admitted to it then well do them in
Blood lust is so much fun to read. Between the blood lust and hyperbole, this forum satisfies my pulp fiction cravings on a daily basis.
Thank God our Founding Fathers and most of our legislators (including the Supreme Court) were/are smart enough to leave it out of the official business of lawmaking.
Harold: I'm glad you approved my message. Founding fathers had people drawn and quartered, sometimes worse things were possible. Ask them witches.
Harold is yet another libby taking the side of the criminal and saying F U to the victim. How many more women does he need to kill for you Harold? Im not fully for the death penalty, but to pretend that it serves no purpose is ignorant at best.
I say we go back to public hangings. Now that would be a deterrent. Wonder how many of the bad ass' would do the crimes if they knew their friends and family and everyone else would get to watch them swinging from a rope?
Hey Whitlock and Costas
News flash..The woman had been stabbed 19 times; Should we have knives Control?.Oh and its another brother.
In the USA 36 people are killed with guns every day. You need gun control.
Taken,
Ahhhhhhahahahahahahaha, That'll never happen.
If you want it so bad, then start a petition or something rather than continue spewing out the "We need gun control" baloney. Every single gun related story that MSNBC writes, you pop-up with the same old line.
You really need to get a grip with the reality of your statement and how more gun control will only give criminals the advantage over the innocent.
Have a nice day...
CD
takenaka,
As long as i'm the one who gets to control them i'm with ya.
gm Creek Dog
Takaneka, I'm all for gun control. That is, hitting what you aim at.
Statistically drunk driving homicides are double that of homicides by firearms. Death by firearm is ranked 15th as a leading cause of death. We should ban alcohol to save lives and improve intelligence. Look up the stats for all you fact checkers...........
Forget gun control, we need to control liberals who refuse to accept reality. This guy should never have been released from prision...! Common sense should prevail in our courts and liberals should be put on leashes!
good morning guys,
ah takenada ...different day, same drivel....dont worry taken, sooner or later they will find a cure for OCD ...you just have to believe in the advances of modern medicine. until then you hang in there sunshine.
Seven,
Yeah, I always wondered how it's so legal to drive to a saloon, get drunk, then legally cannot drive home.
I dunno. I smoke a joint (used to) and drive no problem but pot is illegal. I get drunk and have to admit, cannot drive correctly... but alcohol is legal. Hmmmmmmmm...
Seven, Creek Dog,
They tried to outlaw alcohol, brought about major mob violence and corruption. Probably safer and cheaper to have legal and deal with the consequences. Should be the same way with Pot. Would take a chunk out of the cartels profits as well as drug enforcement expense.
Gun control means USING BOTH HANDS, and when I am aiming at a 'brother' believe me, I AM using both hands.
Southerngent, Hopefully, you take the white bedsheet off of your head since the eye holes can slide in action. I don't miss living in the South after your ignorant comment.
@takenaka,
5,479 people use a firearm in self-defense every day. Kind of makes your 36 people being murdered insignificant. On average people use a firearm 2,000,000 times in self-defense per year.
Speaking of pot, we've legalized it here in Colorado and everyone seems pretty damn happy! However, the Twinkie shortage is making folks a little desperate! Kind of like... uhh, forgot what I was going to say...
SouthernGent
Just wondering what stance you take when you're about to shoot an Asian? Do you hold the firearm different for muslims over black people? What ethnic group do you just use 1 hand to hold your firearm?
How about hispanics? What's your fantasy on how you would shoot them?
Do you have different shooting fantasies for different types of Europeans? Is it different for Italians than say Germans or French? Or does that not come into play because Italians, Germans, and French are white enough for you.
Southern? For sure. Gent? Hardly.
creek dog, I wish they would hold the bar owners liable when people leave their premises drunk. Isn't there laws that say they aren't supposed to serve anyone who is obviously drunk? I know that sounds stupid, but I see people go in, stay for hours, wobble out and get behind the wheel. Thats with the police station right behind the bars:)
Sheila,
They do hold the bar owners responsible. I'm in the insurance industry, and we do pay large claims where they have over served. Bar employees should undergo TIPS training which recognizes when someone has had enough. Just about every large chain establishment requires their employees to undergo that training. I paid a claim of $25,000,000 because a restaurant served a group of underage kids that ended up killing two and injuring 4 others. We shouldn't have paid anything because all the kids were using fake ID's, but none the less we had the deep pockets.
Gun control? Chicago and DC have the most gun control in the country. See how well its working for them?
Interesting how sometimes all you have to do is just say "hi" to a demented criminal for them to feel like they own you and do with you as they wish.
Yep, this guy should have had the death penalty and then this woman would still be alive. Social liberals have another dead body on their hands. I wonder how many religious nuts prayed for this guys release. AND I bet he found God in prison.
Hi Steve.... social liberal here.
Name 1 instance in this country where someone got the death penalty for attempted murder. Remember, when he was sentenced to prison, it was not known that he killed anyone. That information only came out over the past few days after he was arrested again.
Please start your crusade to have the death penalty opened up to include attempted murder. Good luck with that.
Hey you conservative types, got news for you, not all of us Social LIBERALS think that we shouldn't have the death pentalty when it is needed.
To me gun control is hitting my target when I pull the trigger on my Taurus Judge 45cal.
So take your blanket statements about "all liberals" shove them up where the sun don't shine.
Had the death sentence been applied he would not have repeat offended, at least 3 more times. It's past time this type of scum be put to death. It is a shame we sacrifice innocent lives because our justice system is too cowardly to do what is right. Rather than being politically correct we should protect society from proven predators.
He spent 17 years in prison for stabbing 7 different women. Who would have guessed he might resume his activities when he got out?
I agree. He should never have been paroled.
BTW, would that be Lydig Avenue in the Bronx? Three writers, but no one checks spelling!
What we need is some intelligence in the application of our laws and especially death penalties - there is no reason why it should take twenty years to put someone out of our misery. Look at other countries - China, the source of all our money, they do it efficiently. And Africa (according to many, the source of all culture and wisdom) - they manage to kill with a machete or a single bullet to the head. How is it that we waste years on appeals and holds?
Take this animal out and either a rope over a convenient street light, or a bullet to the head - max cost, a few dollars for the rope.
George.
By all means, please move to China, Africa, North Korea, Iran, or any other country where the justice system is a total SHAM. You need to remember that when this guy was sentenced to prison, it was not known that he murdered anyone. That information only came out this week.
Why do people flock FROM China, and Africa and the Middle East to the USA? Because we have the fairest justice system in the world!
And you want us to act like an African country or China? On behalf of the Founding Fathers and every History teacher you ever had, I say, SHAME ON YOU!
How did he get paroled??
During his time in a men's-only prison, he didn't kill any woman, and therefore, the government parole board arrived at the conclusion that he is a really nice guy who deserves another chance at life.
It seems that every government around the world should change their names to doofuss clubs.
Yes, he was "a good boy." Probably preached a few sermons in jail, and that proved it.
My guess is that he was not a problem prisoner, he was pushing 60, and he was up for parole. States are broke and they have to parole older prisoners to make room for new prisoners.
It's easy to say in hindsight that he should never have been paroled. I fully agree, but I understand it's more complicated than just hindsight.
And the reason he keeps receiving parole is? Our justice system is amazing...for the criminals.
Such a horrible and inept judicial system N.Y. must have to repeatedly allow this more than excessively violent offender to return to the streets time after time to hurt, maim and murder children and women. At a minimum, he shoyuld be put away forever. However, I vote for quick execution. But I also feel that the authorities should also be severely punished who were in any way involved with allowing him to commit these crimes over years by not properly doing their duty.
"JeanValjean"
Obviously, reading comprehension is not one of your abilities. Please note the above, directly from the article, which notes the man was in a SOUTH CAROLINA prison.
Other than that, I'll agree with the death penalty. Accomplished within 30 days, if not 30 minutes of conviction. The death penalty might not deter criminals, but it ensures there is no recidivism with a 100% money back guarantee!!
you can serve more prison years for robbing a bank..how does he keep getting out so he can kill more women?? oh...he's black so it really wasn't his fault.....defend this relative jesse and al....
Just when I was going to be proud of the good people of newsvine for not unnessarily bringing up race, you go and mess it up. Being black has nothing to do with this loser's crimes or how long he served in jail. Being a sociopath in a broken system does.
He didn't kill any of the eight he was originally in jail for, they all survived. He just admitted to killing two when he got caught for this murder.
Way to be Cappy. Way to be. 100% agree.
Pop a cap in his sorry ass. Problem solved.
How many times does he have to get physically violent before he is gotten rid of?
I keep wondering how many others he may have maimed or killed. It's difficult to tell where all the bodies may be buried.
Our problems regarding our laws and punishments are that they are not consistent across the board. I realize that exceptions can occur on many levels (such as self defense, etc.), but this one appears to be pretty cut and dried. He's not going to change his ways. He needs permanent removal from society. Every state would profit if they all had the same sets of rules, especially regarding murder. It would take a long time to hammer out, but it would profit all in the long run, and we could get these offenders out of circulation.
So, this guy was freed after killing at least two women and stabbing several others! He didn't use a gun (hear that, Bob Costas?) and was walking around loose anyway. Prison does not rehabilitate people. It simply takes them off the streets a while. The problem is not guns, but people who are nuts enough to believe it's OK to go around killing people in the first place.
He was arrested and convicted on the stabbings only. The two earlier murders weren't discovered until he commited this new murder. But he never should have gotten out of jail to commit this new murder. You would think stabbing eight people would be bad enough to earn you life in prison but apparently not in NY.
He didn't get released in NY for stabbings in NY. He was released in SC for stabbings in SC. At least try to read the article and comprehend it before making bold statements about places you probably never have been.
I didn't say all eight stabbings were in NY. The last stabbing was in NY and it was an NY parole board that paroled him. Presumably they would have had information showing that he had served previous time in SC for seven stabbings. He shouldn't have gotten out of SC prison but he did. And commiting the same crime in NY should have been enough to keep him locked up for live in NY.
When you identify someone as an abreactive psychopath, do not keep putting him or her back on the streets.
There is not much point in arresting and convicting such people if you release them later.
Now there are three known victims of this monster. I have to wonder if there are more because of his violent nature. I'm sure his lawyer will hire some quack psychobabble doctor to say it's all his mother's fault. Just put him in a basement cell with one blanket for the rest of his sorry life.
It IS his mother's fault! She should of stabbed him!!
Please send each of the Parole board members a vial of the latest victims blood. Maybe this will help them in their next consideration for the release of somebody like this. A memento for a job well done...
Potable
I'll add to that. I think they should be required to place a 6ft x 6ft poster of the autopsy photo of the victim along with an official copy of their individual votes and statements (which freed this murderer to kill again) on the wall in the parole board hearing room so they can look at it while deciding the next case.
He stabbed seven women and served 17 years for that. When he was released he stabbed another woman but the parole board thought it was a good idea to release him again. Wow.
Everyone has commented on the actions of the guy, but nobody has mentioned the actions of the police.
The article stated the police went there to question him about something that happened in 1993. Article stated he wasn't home. Article stated they found a dead woman in his bed.
So, if they went there just to question him, they didn't need a warrant. But, he wasn't there. But, they obviously went inside. If they went inside without him present and without his permission, did they enter without a warrant? Did they have a warrant? If they went there with a warrant, they went there for more than just questioning him. So, just what was specified in the warrant?
So, what's up with all of that? (Just asking...)
If he's on parole, I believe the police do not need a warrant to enter his premises, per terms of the parole.
If your on Parole the police own your A&&!
It's time to start releasing the non-violent drug offenders so we can make more room for trash like this.
Amen
Best arguement for the death penalty yet
Parole Boards are a joke in this country. time for three strikes laws in all 50 states along with capital punishment and a limit on death sentence appeals. innocent tax paying citizens are the victims here....which the courts have forgotten.