On a winter afternoon in Leonia, New Jersey, a compassionate young nurse named Maria Fasching was making her rounds. The 21-year-old woman, a licensed practical nurse who dreamed of becoming an RN, was known among friends for her spirited defense of the weak and her kindness to all living things. Maria, who was five feet two inches tall with brown, shoulder-length hair, was engaged to be married and had a reputation as a "free spirit" who championed the downtrodden.
On January 8, 1975, her caring nature led her to the home of the Romaine family to check on an invalid mother, a routine visit that placed her in the path of unimaginable evil.
That day, she walked into a horrifying hostage situation. Joseph Lee Kallinger, a Philadelphia shoemaker, and his 12-year-old son Michael had forced their way into the Romaine home, posing as salesmen. Armed with a pistol and a knife, they had already tied up three residents. As more friends and family members arrived, they too were bound with cords cut from lamps and appliances. Maria was the eighth person to enter the house. The intruders terrorized the victims for hours, subjecting them to sexual assault and abuse.
In the midst of the chaos, Kallinger took Maria to the basement and ordered her to perform a depraved act on another restrained victim. In a final act of bravery and defiance, Maria refused. For her resistance, Kallinger brutally stabbed her in the neck, back, and chest, ending her life. While the horror unfolded, another bound hostage managed to escape the house and alert neighbors, who called the police. By the time authorities arrived, Kallinger and his son had fled, leaving behind a scene of terror and the body of the young nurse.
The investigation quickly gained momentum when police recovered a crucial piece of evidence: a bloodstained shirt Kallinger had discarded near the scene. A laundry mark on the shirt led investigators directly to Joseph Kallinger in Philadelphia. Police soon uncovered his history of child abuse, arson, and other violent crimes. Kallinger and his son were arrested on January 17, 1975, just nine days after Maria’s murder. The arrest brought an end to a six-week crime spree of robbery, torture, and sexual abuse that had terrorized families across Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey.
Joseph Lee Kallinger, who became known as "The Shoemaker," was ultimately charged with three murders, including that of his own son and another young boy. During his trials, he pleaded insanity, claiming that God had ordered him to kill and that he was guided by a disembodied head named "Charlie." Despite his bizarre courtroom behavior, psychiatric evaluators determined he was sane and competent to stand trial. A jury in Pennsylvania first convicted him of robbery and other charges, sentencing him to 30-80 years in prison.
On October 12, 1976, a New Jersey jury found Joseph Kallinger guilty of the murder of Maria Fasching. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, to be served after his Pennsylvania sentence. His son Michael was judged to have been under his father's control and was sent to a reformatory; upon release, he changed his name and relocated. Kallinger spent the rest of his life in prison and state hospitals for the criminally insane, committing assaults on other inmates and attempting suicide multiple times. He died in prison in 1996. Maria Fasching is remembered not as just a victim of a serial killer, but as a courageous woman who stood for her principles until the very end.
