Robert Nixon

Serial Killer

Robert Nixon: The Chicago and Los Angeles Brick Murders

Early Life and Escalation into Violence

Robert Nixon was a young American serial killer whose crimes spread fear through Chicago and Los Angeles during the late 1930s. Born in Tallulah, Louisiana, in 1919, Nixon became involved in theft, burglary and other street crimes while still a teenager. He used several names, including Thomas Crosby, as he moved between cities and attempted to conceal his identity. His criminal activity eventually escalated from petty theft and burglary to violent attacks against women. Nixon became associated with a series of nighttime break-ins in which women were beaten with bricks or other heavy objects. Newspapers gave him the nickname "The Brick Moron," an insulting label tied to his preferred weapon and to the openly racist manner in which much of the press portrayed him. Reports frequently described him through dehumanizing stereotypes rather than presenting a careful account of the evidence. Although Nixon confessed to several murders, historians have since emphasized that he was held incommunicado, reportedly beaten by police and subjected to coercive interrogation. Some crimes were supported by physical evidence, while his responsibility for others rested primarily on disputed confessions.

The Murder of Florence Thompson Castle

One of the earliest killings attributed to Nixon occurred at the Devonshire Hotel in Chicago. During the early morning hours of June 29, 1936, 24-year-old Florence Thompson Castle was attacked in the hotel room she shared with her young son. Castle worked as a nightclub hostess and had reportedly returned to the hotel after finishing work. Her child was present in the room but survived the attack. The intruder apparently reached Castle's fifth-floor room by climbing a fire escape and entering through a window. Castle was beaten to death with a brick, and the room was searched for valuables. The words "Black Legion Game" were written in lipstick on a mirror, apparently as an attempt to suggest that the killing had been committed by the Black Legion, a violent white supremacist organization active during that period. Investigators recovered fingerprints connected to the crime. After Nixon's later arrest, authorities said those prints helped implicate him in Castle's murder. Nixon reportedly admitted entering the room, killing Castle and writing the message on the mirror. Police later returned him to the hotel, where he reenacted the route taken up the fire escape while officers restrained a hostile crowd gathered outside. ...

Confirmed Victims: (5)

Florence Castle , Date of Death: 1936-01-29

Robert Nixon (criminal) - Wikipedia