Waldo Grant

Serial Killer

Waldo Grant: The New York City Serial Killer

Waldo Grant was an American serial killer responsible for the murders of four young men in New York City between 1973 and 1976. Grant lived primarily on Manhattan's Upper West Side during the period in which the killings occurred. His crimes remained disconnected for several years, even though multiple victims were killed in or near places associated with him. The investigation finally focused on Grant after the discovery of his last known victim in Central Park in December 1976. He was taken into custody in January 1977 and confessed not only to that killing but also to three earlier unsolved murders.

Early Life and Move to New York

Waldo Grant was born on November 3, 1946, in Bulloch County, Georgia. He grew up in a large family in the Statesboro area and, while still a teenager, became a self-ordained minister associated with a Black gospel church. After a failed marriage, Grant left Georgia in 1971 and moved north. He eventually established himself on Manhattan's Upper West Side. People who lived around Grant generally remembered him as quiet and solitary. Nothing about his outward behavior caused his neighbors to suspect that several violent deaths occurring in the surrounding area were connected to him. For much of the period in which he was killing, investigators treated the deaths as separate cases.

The Murder of Philip Mitchell

Grant's first known victim was Philip Mitchell. Contemporary police reporting identified Mitchell as 18 years old. The killing occurred on September 14, 1973, at the building where Grant was then living, 203 West 91st Street in Manhattan. According to the police account later provided after Grant's arrest, Mitchell was attacked inside Grant's apartment. He was struck in the head with an iron bar and stabbed. Grant then moved Mitchell's body to the roof of the building and threw it from the roof into the area below. Investigators believed this was an attempt to make the death appear to have resulted from a fall or suicide rather than homicide. Police questioned residents of the building at the time, including Grant, but investigators did not have sufficient evidence to arrest him. Mitchell's death therefore remained an unsolved murder for more than three years. Some later sources give September 13 as the date of Mitchell's death, but contemporary reporting based on the police investigation gives September 14, 1973. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Phillip Mitchell Age: (20), Date of Death: 1973-09-13

Waldo Grant - Wikipedia