I’m usually listening to something, even as I’m writing this post now, I have Ulthar’s Anthronomicon spinning lowly on the record player positioned on the left side of my desk. If I’m driving, reading, doing the dishes, helping the kids with their homework, anything, I’m listening to something. I mean, fuck, I listen to something when I’m going to sleep. It helps distract the brain from all of those negative thoughts. Lately, I enjoy old time mystery or horror radio shows from the ’40s and ’50s when I’m drifting off to dreamland. 

Music is important and I have my particular tastes. I’m a metalhead but there is a weird, eclectic mixed bag of genres in my rotation. There is also a mild obsession with podcasts delving into topics such as true crime, horror, paranormal and all things otherworldly. If I’m a snob with music, I’m a complete asshole when it comes to podcasts. Majority of the hosts I can’t stomach, for one reason or another, it could be a podcaster’s voice or unnecessary detours into self righteous political avenues, or if they seem like they are phoning it in. I don’t want to waste my time. I want to learn something. I prefer nerds nerding out on some nerd shit. 

I was listening to an episode of a podcast, (another obsessive trait is that once I start a new podcast, and If I enjoy it, I feel the urge to listen to every single show) and I was half paying attention to episode 23 of The Conspirators podcast, The Secret Agent, when my ears perked up upon hearing about a murder way back in the day in my hometown of Whitestone, Queens.

How have I never heard about this? None of my friends had ever heard of it either. Have you heard of it? Sure, one of the most infamous of New York City’s serial killers, David Berkowitz, The Son of Sam struck in Queens. The Son of Sam shot a man in the head while parked in a car with a woman by Bowne Park, a stone’s throw from where I grew up. The man survived and claimed that the shooter was not Berkowitz, but an accomplice of the cult. I dig the whole cult theory. One winter while playing in Bowne Park with Drew I attempted to snatch a jettisoned sled on the frozen ice, only to fall through into the man made lake. Let’s just say the walk home sucked. My pants froze. Albert Fish is purported to have committed crime in Queens as well. So who is this unknown killer that struck in our backyard all those years ago? 

A year into the Great Depression, on June 11th, 1930, Joseph Mozynski picked up Catherine May and proceeded to a lover’s lane in Whitestone. May, 19, was the mistress of the 39-year-old grocery store owner and father of two, with the affair carrying on for about two years. Whitestone in that time would be mostly farms and woodland. Cross Island, as stated in the newspaper clipping below, isn’t a reference to the parkway that cuts through the neighborhood, the parkway was only proposed in ’30 and completed ten years later, but rather it was the original name of what is now, Francis Lewis Boulevard. 

It is believed that the couple were in the car with the seats reclined back, when a man appeared in silence without provocation and shot Mozynski. May was told to get out of the car, one account said the man had a heavy German accent, there are also varying reports that May was raped by the gunman, who rifled through her purse and allegedly removed some letters and set them on fire. 

The killer then drove May to a nearby trolley, which I can’t picture there being trollies in Queens but they existed from 1911 until the last ride in 1957. The killer handed May a letter, written in crimson ink, and directed her to not open the letter until the next day. How would he know if she opened it later that night or immediately after he drove off? 

May went to the police and I wonder if it was the 109th or the 111th precinct, both of which I’ve seen the inside of, but they were not helpful to the young woman. They found the entire ordeal to be ludicrous and believed she played a role in the murder. She was under suspicion, but still handed over the letter which read: Joseph Mozynski 3X3-X-097.

48 hours after Mozynski’s murder a letter from 3X arrived at a local newspaper’s office. The letter read: Kindly print this letter in your newspaper for Mozynski’s friends: CC-NY ADCM-Y16a DQR-PA 241 PM6 Queens… By doing this you may save their lives. We do not want any more shooting unless we have to.

Who are we? Was the killer not working alone? At some point a composite sketch was made, presumably from May’s account and 3X is described as a shadowy figure in a black suit and fedora, casting film noir vibes. 

A third letter materialized where 3x calls Mozynski a “dirty rat” and admitted that the motive behind the killing was to obtain certain documents that unfortunately were not on Mozynski at the time of the murder. Curses! He goes on to say that “14 more of Mozynski’s friends will join him.” The letter was signed, 3X.

On June 16th, Noel Sowley and Elizabeth Ring were also parked at a lover’s lane near the Creedmore Psychiatric Center. The Institution opened in 1912 and named after the Creed family, whose farm the facility was built on, and derived from the phrase, “Creed’s moor.” A man approached the vehicle, and demanded Sowley’s driver’s license. Upon inspection, 3X might have shined a flashlight, signaling to someone else, before he said, “you’re the one I want, all right. You’re going to get what Joe got.”

3X shot Noel Sowley to death, and then searched for documents, but seemingly found nothing. Ring, who clutched a religious pendant, was left unharmed, and then dropped off at a bus stop with a note. For unknown reasons, Ring’s letter was never disclosed, but another letter surfaced oddly claiming that 14 more would die even after killing Sowley. 

The police ramped up the investigation and conducted more interviews with suspects. The search grew from New York City to Philadelphia as 3X gained some notoriety in the papers. Catherine May was cleared of any involvement, and nothing substantial surfaced in regards to the identity of the elusive 3X Killer. 

Then yet another letter was delivered to the NYPD. This baffling series of crimes took another turn when the letter revealed that he was an agent of an Anti-communist group known as The Red Diamond of Russia, whom Mozynski and Sowley were enemies or traitors, though no such group has ever been verified. The letter read: N.J. 4-3-44 returned to us the 19 at 9p.m. My mission is ended. There is no further cause for worry.

The killing stopped. There was one idiot who was arrested for making harassing phone calls and claimed to have knowledge on the 3X killer, but he seemed to be a liar who was only interested in the cash reward. Another man confessed to being the 3X killer but was mentally ill, and the confession was bogus. Various letters appeared over the years, allegedly signed by 3X, but nothing ever came of them. One theory was that 3X was an escaped mental patient from Creedmore. The 3X killer seemingly vanished. 

A serial killer is defined as having killed three or more people, during a string of separate events. To our knowledge he only murdered two, and falls one body short of being a bona fide serial killer but who knows what other dastardly deeds 3X may have committed. He took a cue from Jack the Ripper engaging in correspondence with newspapers and police, and was a precursor to the Son of Sam and Zodiac and other killers who preyed on lover’s lanes. 

What do you think happened here?

Elementary, my dear Whitestone. A good old fashioned mystery or a curious bit of lore is always fun, but even more so when it’s in your neck of the woods. Stay sleuthing, pals.