Judith Betteley, a 24-year-old woman from Stoke-on-Trent, England, met a tragic end while visiting Chicago, Illinois, on September 5, 1972. During Labor Day weekend, she was brutally murdered while taking a walk in Grant Park. The attack was vicious, and she was beaten to death near the park's bandshell.
Her murder was later linked to Lester Harrison, a serial killer with a long history of violent crimes. Harrison had a troubling past, with multiple convictions ranging from armed robbery to battery and indecent exposure. His criminal record spanned decades, and he had been in and out of psychiatric institutions. Despite his violent tendencies, authorities did not initially suspect him of involvement in a series of homicides around Grant Park.
Three weeks after Betteley's murder, Harrison was charged with assaulting another woman, Cozetta Gladys, whom he knocked down with a brick and dragged through a Chicago alley. He was released on a $5,000 bond on September 28, despite his history of violence and mental disorders. His trial was still pending when more murders occurred in Grant Park, including the stabbing deaths of Irene Koutros and Lee Wilson in July and August 1973. In one particularly gruesome incident, Harrison was reported to have gnawed on Wilson's body before fleeing the scene.
Harrison's violent spree continued, culminating in the murder of Judith Ott on August 13, 1973. Ott's husband, David Ott, unknowingly tackled Harrison near the crime scene, unaware that his wife had just been killed. Harrison was eventually deemed incompetent for trial in 1951 and was acquitted as insane in 1978, but he was confined indefinitely as a sexual predator.
