Steven Washington Jr.: The Window-Screen Rapist and Murderer
One of America’s Youngest Serial Killers
Steven Washington Jr. was an American serial killer who murdered three elderly women and attacked at least two others in St. Petersburg, Florida, during a four-month period in 1963. Washington was only 15 years old when the crimes occurred, making him one of the youngest known serial killers in United States history. Newspapers referred to him as the “Window-Screen Rapist” or the “Window-Screen Rapist-Murderer” because he frequently entered his victims’ homes through unsecured windows or damaged window screens.
Washington targeted older women who were alone inside their residences. His attacks generally followed a recognizable pattern: he entered quietly through a window, confronted the occupant, sexually assaulted and beat her, and, in the fatal cases, strangled her. The victims ranged from 52 to 80 years old. The attacks created intense fear among elderly residents of St. Petersburg, particularly women who lived alone.
Early Life and Background
Steven Washington Jr. was born on July 27, 1948, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Relatively little reliable information is publicly available about his childhood or family background. Despite his young age, he was already married by the time of his arrest. In October 1963, during the period in which the murders were occurring, Washington married a 15-year-old girl named Gwendolyn. The couple reportedly had a daughter.
Nothing about Washington’s outward appearance immediately identified him as the person responsible for the escalating series of home invasions. His age was especially deceptive. Investigators were searching for a predatory offender who had violently overpowered several adult women, and the eventual discovery that the attacker was a 15-year-old boy shocked both law enforcement officials and the public.
The First Known Attacks
Washington’s known crime series began on August 28, 1963, when he entered the home of a 52-year-old woman in St. Petersburg. He choked, sexually assaulted and beat her, but left without killing her. The woman survived and reported the attack to police. Her account provided investigators with an early description of the offender and his conduct inside the home.
On September 3, 1963, six days after the first known attack, Washington entered another residence and attacked a 72-year-old woman. She was sexually assaulted and beaten but also survived. One of the surviving victims described her attacker as a young Black male who appeared to grin during the assault. Although both women survived, the violence demonstrated that the intruder was willing to enter occupied homes and attack physically vulnerable victims at close range.
At that stage, police did not yet know that the attacks would soon become fatal. The surviving victims’ reports nevertheless established important similarities, including the selection of elderly women, nighttime or private residential intrusions, sexual violence and physical beatings.
The Murder of Mary Pawliw
On September 25, 1963, Washington entered the St. Petersburg home of 75-year-old Mary Pawliw through an open window. Pawliw, who had been born in Austria, was alone when Washington confronted her. He sexually assaulted and beat her before strangling her. The pressure applied to her neck was reportedly so severe that a bone was fractured.
On September 26, neighbors became concerned because they had not heard from Pawliw and contacted authorities to request that someone check on her. Police entered the residence and found her body on a bed. The condition of the body indicated that she had been dead for some time before she was discovered.
Pawliw’s killing marked the transition from a series of brutal home-invasion assaults into a serial murder investigation. Evidence at the scene, including fingerprints left near the point of entry, would later help connect Washington to the crime.
The Murder of Oleeta McWaters
On October 20, 1963, Washington attacked 67-year-old Oleeta Lavina Beard McWaters inside her St. Petersburg home. McWaters was strangled to death, and her body was discovered on October 21. Because some decomposition had occurred before she was found, investigators reportedly could not conclusively determine whether she had also been sexually assaulted.
Her death shared critical characteristics with the Pawliw murder and the earlier nonfatal attacks. The victim was an older woman, the assault occurred inside her residence, and strangulation was used to cause death. By this point, investigators increasingly suspected that the crimes were connected and that the same intruder was moving through St. Petersburg neighborhoods in search of isolated victims.
The possibility of a repeat offender intensified public anxiety. Residents were warned to secure doors and windows, while detectives compared physical evidence and victim statements from the different crime scenes.
The Murder of Eva Miller
Washington committed his final known murder on December 30, 1963. He entered the home of 80-year-old Eva Miller through an open window. Once inside, he sexually assaulted, beat and strangled her. Neighbors reportedly heard Miller crying out and contacted police, but she was not found alive.
Miller’s body was discovered on December 31, 1963. Her murder closely resembled the earlier attacks, reinforcing investigators’ conclusion that one offender was responsible. The use of residential windows as entry points led the press to describe the unknown attacker as the “Window-Screen Rapist-Murderer.”
The killing of an 80-year-old woman inside her own home increased pressure on law enforcement to identify the offender quickly. Investigators already had fingerprints from the crime scenes and descriptions supplied by the surviving women. These pieces of evidence soon led them to Steven Washington Jr.
Confirmed Victims and Known Survivors
- Unidentified 52-year-old woman: Attacked on August 28, 1963, inside her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was choked, sexually assaulted and beaten but survived.
- Unidentified 72-year-old woman: Attacked on September 3, 1963, inside her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. She was sexually assaulted and beaten but survived.
- Mary Pawliw, 75: Murdered on September 25, 1963, inside her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her body was discovered on September 26. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled.
- Oleeta Lavina Beard McWaters, 67: Murdered on October 20, 1963, inside her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her body was discovered on October 21. She died from strangulation.
- Eva Miller, 80: Murdered on December 30, 1963, inside her home in St. Petersburg, Florida. Her body was discovered on December 31. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled.
Fingerprint Evidence and Arrest
Washington made little apparent effort to conceal the physical evidence he left behind. Investigators recovered fingerprints from windows and other areas associated with the points of entry. The repetition of this evidence across the crime scenes was instrumental in connecting the attacks.
Police arrested Washington on January 3, 1964. He was only 15 years old. His youth surprised investigators and members of the public who had assumed that the strength and brutality involved in the attacks indicated an older offender.
After his arrest, Washington confessed to the murders and assaults. Reports from the period stated that he admitted attacking the women, although questions concerning his mental condition and legal responsibility became central issues in the proceedings that followed.
Confession and Court Proceedings
Washington was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and multiple burglary offenses. His defense initially pursued claims related to insanity. Because the defendant was a juvenile accused of exceptionally serious crimes, the case attracted considerable attention.
In November 1964, Washington pleaded guilty to the three murders. The following month, he received three life sentences. The punishment meant that although he had committed the crimes as a minor, he would be confined within the adult correctional system for an indefinite period.
Washington later attempted to challenge his convictions. In 1969, he was denied a new trial. Further efforts to obtain federal review were also unsuccessful, and in 1970 the Fifth United States Circuit Court of Appeals declined to disturb the convictions.
Method and Victim Selection
Washington’s crimes were characterized by residential intrusion, close physical contact and the targeting of elderly women. He appears to have selected victims whom he believed would be unable to resist effectively. Open windows and window screens provided him with relatively quiet methods of entry, allowing him to confront women who believed they were secure inside their homes.
Strangulation was used in all three confirmed murders. This method required sustained physical force and placed Washington in direct contact with his victims. The fatal attacks were also accompanied by beatings, and at least two of the murdered women were sexually assaulted.
The two surviving victims show that Washington did not kill every woman he attacked. His escalation from nonfatal assaults in August and early September to murder later that month suggests that his behavior became increasingly violent over a relatively brief period.
Years in Prison and Death
Washington remained incarcerated for the rest of his life. He never obtained a reversal of his convictions or a release from custody. His case continued to be noted because of his unusually young age at the time of the offenses and the severity of the crimes committed during his short period of activity.
Steven Washington Jr. died in Florida on March 18, 2004, at the age of 55. He had spent approximately four decades in confinement following his arrest as a teenager.
Legacy of the Case
The Steven Washington case remains one of the most disturbing examples of serial murder committed by a juvenile offender. At only 15, Washington carried out a sequence of sexual assaults, home invasions and strangulation murders that terrorized St. Petersburg’s elderly population.
The investigation also demonstrated the importance of fingerprint evidence and crime-scene comparison. Washington’s repeated method of entering through windows, combined with the prints he left behind and the statements of surviving victims, allowed detectives to connect crimes that had occurred over several months.
Although public accounts often focus on Washington’s age, the lasting significance of the case rests with the women he attacked. Mary Pawliw, Oleeta McWaters and Eva Miller were killed inside their own homes, while two other women survived violent assaults. Their experiences form the central record of a crime series that ended only when Washington was identified and arrested in January 1964.
