On Christmas Day in 1986, the body of a 64-year-old White female named Suzanna Olszef was discovered in her home in the Bridesburg neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Also known as Susanna “Sue” Evans Deal Olszef, the retired nurse with mobility issues had been sexually assaulted and brutally stabbed to death. Her murder marked a chilling chapter in a series of violent killings that terrorized the Frankford section of the city.
Investigators quickly realized that Suzanna's
death was not an isolated incident. The manner of her death was consistent with the work of an unidentified serial killer who would come to be known as the Frankford Slasher. Suzanna was the third of what would eventually be a string of nine victims between 1985 and 1990. A common thread among several of the victims, including Suzanna, was that they were known to frequent local establishments like the Golden Bar. This connection helped authorities begin to piece together the terrifying puzzle of a predator at large.
The investigation into the slayings was complex and filled with public fear. Witnesses in several of the murders described a potential suspect: a middle-aged white man, possibly in his forties, who wore glasses. Despite this description, the main arrest in the series of murders was that of Leonard Christopher, an African American man who worked at a fish market near where a later victim, Carol Dowd, was found. Although Christopher was convicted for Dowd's murder in 1990, significant doubts about his guilt have persisted. He did not match the description of the primary suspect seen with other victims. Furthermore, another murder bearing the slasher's signature occurred while Christopher was in jail awaiting trial. He maintained his innocence until he died in prison.
Another person of interest emerged during the investigation, a man known locally as “The Minister,” who reportedly fit the description of the white male suspect more closely. This individual apparently rented space in a Frankford church but has since died, and he was never charged in connection with the murders. To this day, the murder of Suzanna Olszef, along with most of the other cases attributed to the Frankford Slasher, remains officially unsolved, a haunting piece of Philadelphia's history.
