On October 20, 1963, 67-year-old Oleeta Lavina Beard McWaters, a white female resident of St. Petersburg, Florida, was found dead in her home. Her body was discovered the following day, and the cause of death was determined to be strangulation. Due to the level of decomposition, authorities were unable to confirm whether she had been sexually assaulted.
Her murder was one of a series of violent attacks targeting elderly women in the area during the latter half of 1963.
The investigation into Oleeta McWaters’ death soon revealed disturbing similarities with other cases. Between August and December of that year, three elderly women were murdered and two others were assaulted in their homes. All incidents involved forced entry through windows, followed by beatings, sexual assaults, and strangulations. The victims included 75-year-old Mary Pawliw, a white female of Austrian descent, and 80-year-old Eva Miller, a white female. Both were found strangled in their homes, and their deaths bore striking resemblance to McWaters’ case.
Authorities eventually linked the crimes to a single perpetrator, 15-year-old Steven Washington Jr., a Black male from St. Petersburg. He was dubbed the “Window-Screen Rapist” by the press due to his method of entry and the nature of his attacks. Washington left fingerprints at multiple crime scenes, which led to his arrest on January 3, 1964. He confessed to the murders and assaults, although he later claimed insanity as part of his defense.
Washington was charged with multiple counts of murder and sexual assault. In November 1964, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three life terms in prison. His appeals for retrial and federal review were denied in subsequent years. Washington remained incarcerated until his death in 2004 at the age of 55. The case remains one of the most chilling examples of juvenile serial crime in Florida’s history.
