Lula Kerrick, an 81-year-old white woman, was tragically murdered on December 9, 1966, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her death was part of a series of killings attributed to the infamous "Cincinnati Strangler," a serial killer who terrorized the city between December 1965 and December 1966. Kerrick was found strangled in the elevator of her apartment building, a method consistent with the other victims of the Strangler. However, unlike some of the other victims, she was not sexually assaulted.
The Cincinnati Strangler was responsible for the deaths of seven women, most of whom were elderly and lived in various housing complexes across the city. The murders created widespread fear, leading to heightened security measures among residents. The Cincinnati Police Department assigned a special squad of 22 officers to investigate the case, logging extensive overtime and following thousands of leads. One of the key pieces of evidence was a brown and cream-colored car seen near multiple crime scenes. A witness managed to jot down the license plate number of a suspicious vehicle fleeing an apartment building.
Just four hours after Kerrick’s body was discovered, police arrested Posteal Laskey Jr., a 29-year-old former cab driver. Although Laskey was only formally charged with the murder of Barbara Rose Bowman, authorities believed he was responsible for all seven killings. His arrest led to significant racial tensions in Cincinnati, as Laskey was African American and all of the victims were white. While some witnesses placed Laskey at home during Bowman’s murder, other evidence—including witness descriptions and the license plate number—linked him to the crimes. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. even visited Cincinnati to urge calm amid the unrest.
Despite the controversy surrounding his conviction, police maintained that the murders ceased after Laskey’s arrest, reinforcing their belief that he was the perpetrator. Laskey was sentenced to death, but his execution was later commuted to life in prison when Ohio abolished the death penalty. His case remains a significant chapter in Cincinnati’s criminal history, marked by fear, racial tensions, and lingering doubts about the true identity of the Cincinnati Strangler.
