Catherine Genovese (1935 - March 13, 1964), commonly known as Kitty Genovese, was a New York City woman who was stabbed to death near her home in the Kew Gardens, Queens section of Queens, New York. The circumstances of her murder -- most notably, the fact that none of over three dozen witnesses to the attack took action to save her -- prompted investigation into the psychological phenomenon of the bystander effect.

Genovese was born in New York City, the oldest of five children. After her mother witnessed a murder in the city, the family chose to move to Connecticut. Genovese, 19 at the time, chose to remain in the city; she eventually took a job as a bar manager and lived in a Queens apartment with her lover Mary Ann Zielonko.

Genovese had driven home in the early morning of March 13, 1964. Arriving home at about 3:15 a.m. and parking about 100 feet from her apartment's door, she was approached by a man named Winston Moseley . Genovese may have changed direction towards a nearby police call box, but Moseley overtook her and stabbed her. Genovese screamed out; her cries were heard by several neighbors, one of whom shouted at the attacker. Moseley ran away, and Genovese made her way towards her own apartment, seriously injured.

Witnesses observed Moseley enter his car and drive away, only to return five minutes later. He systematically searched the apartment complex, following the trail of blood to Genovese, who was laying, barely conscious, in a hallway. He proceeded to rape and rob her, finally delivering a fatal stab wound. The entire attack had lasted (albeit intermittently) for approximately half an hour.

A few minutes after the final attack a witness, Karl Ross, called police. (He may not have been the first to call, but records of any earlier calls are unclear and were certainly not given a high priority by the police). Police and medical personnel arrived within minutes of Ross's call; Genovese was taken away by ambulance and died en route to the hospital. Later investigation revealed that at least 38 individuals nearby had heard or observed portions of the attack. Many were entirely unaware that an assault or homicide was in progress; some thought that what they saw or heard was a lover's quarrel.

Moseley, a business machine operator, was later apprehended in connection with another crime; he confessed not only to the murder of Kitty Genovese, but to two other murders as well, both involving sexual assaults. Subsequent psychiatric examinations suggested that Moseley was a necrophiliac.

Media attention of the Genovese murder led to reform of the NYPD's telephone reporting system; the system in place at the murder was often inefficient and directed individuals to the incorrect department. The dramatic press coverage also led to serious invesigation of the bystander effect by academic psychologists. In addition, some communities organized neighborhood watch programs and the equivalent for apartment buildings to aid people in distress.

It should be noted that although the idea of "38 onlookers who did nothing" is often cited, this is a misleading conception which began with an investigative article in the New York Times written by journalist Martin Gansberg and published two weeks after the murder. The article begins:

For more than half an hour thirty-eight respectable, law-abiding citizens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman in three separate attacks in Kew Gardens.

This lead, although dramatic, is factually inaccurate. None of the witnesses observed the attacks in their entirety. Because of the layout of the complex and the fact that each attack took place in a different location as Genovese attempted to flee her attacker, it would have been physically impossible for a witness to have seen the entire attack. Most only heard portions of the incident; a few saw small portions of the initial assault. No witnesses directly saw the final rape and attack in an exterior hallway which resulted in Genovese's death.

External links

• Crime TV's Crime Library story on Kitty Genovese
• Kitty Genovese: What you think you know about the case might not be true
• Public crime, secret grief. (2004 article with previously unreported information about Genovese's personal life)