Eddie Leonski

The sixth child of Russian-born parents John Leonski, labourer, and his wife Amelia, née Harkavitz, in Kenvil, New Jersey,[7] Leonski grew up in an abusive, alcoholic family. One of his brothers was committed to a mental institution. According to a psychologist who interviewed Leonski during his trial, his mother had been overprotective and controlling. Leonski had been bullied by other neighborhood kids and called a mama's boy. Accordingly, the psychologist ruled that Leonski's crimes were born of his resentment and hatred of his mother and thus constituted "symbolic matricide."[8][9]

Leonski worked for a time as a delivery boy.[10]

He was called up for the U.S. Army in February 1941 and arrived in Melbourne, Australia, on February 2, 1942, after the United States had entered World War II.

The Army had set up a temporary base (Camp Pell) in Royal Park just north of the city and the university.

On May 3, 1942, Ivy Violet McLeod, 40, was found dead in Albert Park, Melbourne. She had been beaten and strangled, and because she was found to be in possession of her purse it was evident that robbery was not the motive.[11] Six days later 31-year-old Pauline Thompson was strangled after a night out. She was last seen in the company of a young man who was described as having an American accent.[11]

Gladys Hosking, 40, was the next victim, murdered on May 18 while walking home from work at the Chemistry Library at Melbourne University. That same night, another woman said that a disheveled American man had approached her asking for directions, seemingly out of breath and covered with mud. This description matched the individual Thompson was seen with on the night of her murder, as well as the descriptions given by several women who had survived recent attacks.[11] These survivors and other witnesses were able to pick 24-year-old Leonski out of a line-up of American servicemen who were stationed in Melbourne. Leonski, a private in the 52nd Signal Battalion, was arrested and charged with three murders.[11]

Although Leonski's crimes were committed on Australian soil, the trial was conducted under American military law. Leonski confessed to the crimes and was convicted and sentenced to death at a general court-martial on July 17, 1942. American General Douglas MacArthur confirmed the sentence on October 14, and a Board of Review upheld the findings and sentence on October 28. General Court-Martial Order 1 promulgated Leonski's death sentence on November 1. In a departure from normal procedure, on November 4, MacArthur personally signed the order of execution (in subsequent executions this administrative task was entrusted to MacArthur's Chief of Staff, Richard Sutherland). Leonski was hanged at Pentridge Prison on November 9.[1][12]

Leonski's defense attorney, former Colorado lawyer Lieutenant Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr. (1913–1992),[13][14] attempted to win an external review, even from the U.S. Supreme Court, but was unable to do so. He kept the issue alive after the war, and Leonski's case contributed to the development of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

Leonski was temporarily interred at several cemeteries in Australia.[15] His remains were eventually permanently interred in Section 9, Row B, Site 8 at Schofield Barracks Post Cemetery on the island of O'ahu, Hawaii.[16][17] His grave is located in a section of the facility reserved for prisoners who died in military custody.[18]

The case was adapted as the two part episode "A Strong Man" by the Crawford Productions Radio Series D24 in the fifties. In common with practice on this series, names and details were changed but otherwise it follows events faithfully. The 1986 film Death of a Soldier is based on Leonski, who was played by American actor Reb Brown.

It is believed that the Australian painter Albert Tucker's Images of Modern Evil series was somewhat influenced by Leonski's murders.[19]

The 2015 television program Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer (series one, episode one) focused on Leonski.[20]

• Death of a Soldier
• List of serial killers by country

• Chapman, Ivan D., Private Eddie Leonski, the Brownout Strangler, Hale & Iremonger, (Sydney), 1982.
• Dower, Alan, "Women sang for this strangler", The (Melbourne) Herald, (Saturday, 11 April 1953), p.14.
• Killed to show his Strength, The (Perth) Mirror, (Saturday, 19 April 1952), p.8.
• Leonski, Enigma In Life And In Death, Carries His Secret To Grave: Singlet Vital Clue, The (Sydney) Truth, (Sunday, 15 November 1942), p.14.
• Mallon, Andrew, Leonski: The Brown-Out Murders, Outback Press, (Collingwood), 1979.
• Mathews, Jack, "When the Whole Truth is Not Enough", The Age, (Tuesday, 15 October 1985), p.14.
• Mann, Harry, "'So Long Pal, They're Gonna Give Me A Face Lift!': Brutal Slayer Of 3 Women Joked On His Execution Day", The (Perth) Mirror, (Saturday, 19 April 1952), p.8.
• Shaw, Ian W., Murder at Dusk: How US Soldier and Psychopath Eddie Leonski Terrorised Wartime Melbourne, Hachette Australia, (Sydney), 2018. ISBN 978-0-7336-4045-2

• Australian Dictionary of Biography Online