Kitty Genovese Murder EXPOSED What Went Wrong That Night..

Police Off The Cuff/Real Crime Stories

Bill Cannon Police off the Cuff/Real Crime Stories

True Crime

4.6 • 809 Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kitty Genovese Murder EXPOSED What Went Wrong That Night. #kittygenovese #kewgardens #38witnesses On March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese was brutally murdered outside her apartment building in Queens, New York. The shocking case sparked widespread outrage and disbelief, not only due to the heinous nature of the crime but also because of the alleged indifference of the dozens of witnesses who failed to intervene. In this video, we delve into the disturbing details of Kitty Genovese's final hours, the investigation that followed, and the myths surrounding the case that have been perpetuated for decades.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome to police off the cuff, real crime stories.
0:11.1	I'm your host, retired NYPD Sergeant Bill Cannon, a 27-year veteran of the NYPD.
0:18.1	Today we're going to bring you a case from 1964, a case that became an international
0:27.2	phenomenon because of the inaction, or alleged inaction, I should say, of people who witnessed a murder, and allegedly 37 of them did not call the police.
0:45.3	And the murder I am referring to is the case of Kitty Genevice.
0:53.3	In 1964, a crime made doubly notorious because it reported now 38 witnesses didn't attempt to stop it.
1:02.0	The problem is it was misreported and according to Cook, much of what we think we know about the incident is wrong.
1:10.0	So why and what did we get wrong in this case?
1:15.4	Why did this become the narrative of what had occurred here?
1:22.6	1964, there was no 911 system.
1:33.2	So when people called the police, they would have to call directly to the station house.
1:43.8	You can imagine how difficult that was to get a quick response, correct information, nearly impossible.
1:57.1	So this case became just a rumor almost that took on a life of its own when one reporter,
2:09.3	allegedly for the New York Times, reported the case incorrectly. According to the New York Times, it was a gruesome story that made perfect tabloid fodder, but soon it became much
2:15.4	more. The writer, A.M. Rosenthal, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter,
2:23.6	he would go on to become the executive editor of the New York Times,
2:26.9	was then a new ambitious metropolitan editor for the paper
2:31.0	who happened to be having lunch with the police commissioner
2:33.2	10 days after the crime.
2:36.0	The commissioner mentioned that 38 people had witnessed the murder, yet no one had come to Ms. Genevice's aid or called the police.
2:45.0	That was not accurate. Mr. Rosenthal quickly mapped out a series of articles centered around a tale of community callousness
2:52.6	and then followed in June with his quick turnaround book published by McGraw-Hill.
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