Two women were killed on New York subway trains. Tanya Middleton in 1982 and Lorraine O'Garro in March 2015. Here are some facts about these deaths.
Tanya Middleton
Date: June 12, 1982
Time of Day: 10:15 AM
Train: Northbound IRT Pelham Bay
Traveling in The Bronx
Nearest Station: Hunts Point
Initial Classification by Police: Accident, "Walking Between Cars" (See Below)
Lorraine O'Garro
Date: March 23, 2015
Time of Day: 10:30 AM
Train: Southbound #1
Traveling from The Bronx
Nearest Station: 207th Street
Classification by Police: Accident, "Walking Between Cars"
As noted by a commenter at DNAinfo "The news this morning said she was walking between the cars and fell. I thought the doors between cars were now locked. Even so, I don't know how you can fall between the cars. I've walked through cars many times and a good thing for the world, I'm still around ... "
Having done it dozens of times myself , I agree. There are safety chains that prevent accidental deaths.
The reclassification of Tanya Middleton's Death as Homicide
As explained here, in 1982 the New York Transit Police (NYTP) were not part of NYPD; they were an independent force which was absorbed into NYPD in 1995.
The NYTP immediately and officially classified Mrs Middleton's death as "accident." However, detectives from the nearest NYPD precinct investigated and found witnesses who had seen her thrown off the train. The NYTP reclassified--in August 1982--her death as "homicide."
The New York Times on the murderer of Tanya Middleton (Scroll down at link)
Tanya Middleton's murderer would be fifty-one or fifty-two years old in 2015.
I read no mention of "safety gates" or "safety chains" in the report on Lorraine O'Garro.
Serial killers kill strangers. They do not kill acquaintances.
According to the Wall Street Journal the number of fatalities caused when passengers "Fell from between cars" in the years 2009-2012 is 12 or an average of 3 per year. If that average held in the 33 years since Tanya Middleton's murder the total would be 99.
Everyone of those horrific deaths was classified as an "accident" by police in charge of law enforcement in New York's transit system.
© 2015 by James Graham
Tanya Middleton
Date: June 12, 1982
Time of Day: 10:15 AM
Train: Northbound IRT Pelham Bay
Traveling in The Bronx
Nearest Station: Hunts Point
Initial Classification by Police: Accident, "Walking Between Cars" (See Below)
Lorraine O'Garro
Date: March 23, 2015
Time of Day: 10:30 AM
Train: Southbound #1
Traveling from The Bronx
Nearest Station: 207th Street
Classification by Police: Accident, "Walking Between Cars"
As noted by a commenter at DNAinfo "The news this morning said she was walking between the cars and fell. I thought the doors between cars were now locked. Even so, I don't know how you can fall between the cars. I've walked through cars many times and a good thing for the world, I'm still around ... "
Having done it dozens of times myself , I agree. There are safety chains that prevent accidental deaths.
The reclassification of Tanya Middleton's Death as Homicide
As explained here, in 1982 the New York Transit Police (NYTP) were not part of NYPD; they were an independent force which was absorbed into NYPD in 1995.
The NYTP immediately and officially classified Mrs Middleton's death as "accident." However, detectives from the nearest NYPD precinct investigated and found witnesses who had seen her thrown off the train. The NYTP reclassified--in August 1982--her death as "homicide."
The New York Times on the murderer of Tanya Middleton (Scroll down at link)
A slimly built man, about 18 or 19 years old, witnesses said, had been walking behind her and he suddenly stepped ahead of her. Then, they said, he paused, held open the door to the second car and said to Mrs. Middleton, ''After you.'' As she stepped out, the man lifted up the safety gate on the left side and pushed Mrs. Middleton off. She died in Lincoln Hospital.
According to Detective Roger Savage of the 41st Precinct, detectives, after interviewing scores of people who knew the slain woman, have just about ruled out the possibility that she was killed by an acquaintance. (Emphasis added.)A Serial Killer?
Tanya Middleton's murderer would be fifty-one or fifty-two years old in 2015.
I read no mention of "safety gates" or "safety chains" in the report on Lorraine O'Garro.
Serial killers kill strangers. They do not kill acquaintances.
According to the Wall Street Journal the number of fatalities caused when passengers "Fell from between cars" in the years 2009-2012 is 12 or an average of 3 per year. If that average held in the 33 years since Tanya Middleton's murder the total would be 99.
Everyone of those horrific deaths was classified as an "accident" by police in charge of law enforcement in New York's transit system.
© 2015 by James Graham
No comments:
Post a Comment