Leroy Snyder

Serial Killer

Leroy Snyder: A Detailed Account of His Crimes

Early Life

Leroy Snyder, also known as "Duke," was born on February 13, 1931, in Camden, New Jersey. He was the fifth of seven children in a family that faced significant dysfunction and instability. The Snyder family moved frequently, and Leroy, along with his siblings, experienced a tumultuous upbringing. In the mid-1940s, the family returned to Camden, where Leroy's early criminal behavior began to surface.

Criminal History

Snyder's criminal activities commenced at a young age:

• December 1949: At 18, he attempted to strangle a local woman using a clothesline. He was briefly jailed for this offense.
• Early 1950s: Arrested for making vulgar threats of rape to two young women, resulting in a four-year imprisonment.
• July 1955: Convicted for robbing and assaulting a cab driver in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, leading to a five-year sentence.
• 1959: Arrested for armed robbery and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released on parole in December 1968.

Murder Spree

Between February and September 1969, Snyder embarked on a brutal killing spree in Camden, New Jersey, claiming the lives of six women and one man. The details of his victims are as follows:

• Lula Crawley (45): Killed on February 14, 1969. She was stabbed 13 times in her South Camden furniture store. Her hands were bound, and she was found lying face down in a pool of blood.
• Mary Freeman (56): Killed on April 12, 1969. Found floating face down in water in a vacant house. She had been raped and stabbed to death.
• Shirley Brittingham (32) and Warren Wells (27): Both killed on April 25, 1969. Brittingham, who was six months pregnant, was brutally beaten, shot multiple times, and stabbed. Wells had his throat slashed and was shot in the back six times. Their bodies were discovered in the basement of an abandoned home on Commerce Street.
• Lovie Williams (52): Killed on May 19, 1969. Found in her home with her face badly beaten and her abdomen slit open.
• Vera Stevens (45): Killed on August 9, 1969. She was beaten to death and had been raped.
• Gertrude Friedman (58): Killed on September 8, 1969. While working alone at her linoleum store, she was raped and had her throat slit. Her body was discovered later that day by a customer.

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Confirmed Victims: (7)

Lula Crawley Age: (45), Date of Death: 1969-02-14

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Leroy Snyder - Wikipedia

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