In the autumn of 1988, the city of Philadelphia was gripped by a chilling series of murders attributed to the 'Frankford Slasher.' The sense of fear and unease that had settled over the Frankford neighborhood would only deepen with the death of 66-year-old Margaret Vaughan. Her life came to a violent end on November 11, 1988, a day after she was evicted from her apartment on Penn Street for failing to pay rent.
The following morning, neighbors discovered Vaughan's body in the foyer of
the very building she had just been forced to leave. The scene was one of brutal violence; she had been stabbed a staggering 29 times. The ferocity of the attack was consistent with the other slayings that had been terrorizing the area, leading investigators to believe it was the work of the same individual who had been preying on women in the community.
In the wake of the discovery, a crucial witness came forward. A barmaid from a local tavern recalled seeing Margaret Vaughan on the night of her death. She wasn't alone. According to the barmaid, Vaughan was in the company of a round-faced Caucasian man who wore glasses and walked with a noticeable limp. This description prompted a police artist to create a composite sketch that was widely circulated, in the hopes that someone would recognize the man last seen with the victim. Despite the circulation of the sketch and numerous tips from the public, no viable suspect was ever identified in connection with Margaret Vaughan's murder.
While another man, Leonard Christopher, was eventually arrested and convicted for one of the other murders attributed to the Frankford Slasher, that of Carol Dowd in 1990, he was never implicated in Vaughan's death. The description of the man seen with Vaughan did not match Christopher, and another of the Slasher-style murders occurred while he was incarcerated, further deepening the mystery surrounding the true identity of the killer. To this day, the murder of Margaret Vaughan remains unsolved, and the man with the limp who was last seen with her has never been brought to justice.
