By Staff reporter
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on November 10, 1942
LEONSKI HANGED
Sentence by Court Martial Upheld
U.S. military guard at the Edward Joseph Leonski trialCredit: State Library of Victoria
Private Edward Joseph Leonski, 24, the American soldier who was found guilty of the murder of three women in Melbourne last May, was executed in Melbourne yesterday morning.
Since a court-martial sentenced Leonski on July 17, he had been imprisoned at Melbourne Gaol awaiting a review of his case by the War Department at Washington.
Edward Joseph Leonski, the “Brownout Strangler”.
In the ordinary course a report of the case, with a full transcript of the evidence, would have been sent to Washington, but the Judge-Advocate General of the War Department decided to refer the matter to a board of review in Australia, which he nominated.
It was announced at General MacArthur’s Headquarters yesterday that the board had approved the sentence and this decision had been endorsed by the Commander-in-chief.
The court-martial’s sentence was that Leonski was to be hanged, and this is understood to have been the method of execution.
DRAMATIC-EVIDENCE- AT COURT-MARTIAL
ALLEGED CONFESSIONS TO THREE MURDERS
ACCUSED’S TRAGIC FAMILY LIFE
July 17, 1942
MELBOURNE, Thursday.-Dramatic evidence was given to-day to the General Court-martial which trying Private Edward Joseph Leonski, 24, U.S. soldier, on charges of having murdered three women.
Witnesses alleged that Leonski had confessed to them that he had committed the crimes. The report of the Medical Board which examined Leonski to determine the question of his sanity was submitted to the court-martial. It stated that Leonski was not insane and never had been. It revealed that his family relationships had always been unhappy. His father, a Russian, had been a chronic alcoholic, and had been very cruel. One of his brothers had served a term in prison, another was shiftless, and a third was in a mental hospital.
According to the report, Leonski had said that he was “ready to take his punishment” He did not want to live because “this will always be thrown up at me.”
“I KILLED, I KILLED”
Leonski is charged with having murdered Mrs. Ivy McLeod, 40, at Albert Park, on May 3; Mrs. Pauline Buchan Thompson, 31, at Spring Street, Melbourne, on May 9; and Miss Gladys Lilian Hosking, 40, at Parkville, on May 18.
Mrs Ivy McLeod, Leonski’s first victim.
Excerpts from the hearing:
A first-lieutenant of the United States Military Police said that he had told Leonski that a woman named Thompson had been murdered and the body found in the alley. Witness asked him whether he knew anything about it. Leonski said:
“I remember a woman singing to me, and looking into my eyes. She seemed to be just singing for me. We were in a hotel drinking. When I went broke she continued to buy drinks. When we left the place, she picked up her bag. We walked along the street, and as we were walking she was singing in my ear. She had a nice voice.
“We came to a long flight of steps. I wanted her to keep singing, and I choked her. How could she keep singing when I choked her? I ripped her clothes. I was afraid someone would see me. I wanted to get back to camp, but I had no money. I picked up my cap, and her bag, got two-and-a-half pounds and threw the bag away. I then took a taxi and went back to camp.“
“NEVER BEEN INSANE”
“Leonski is not-insane, and never has been.“
Cross-examined on the report of the Special Board, a U.S. Army major said that the description “psychopathic case” as applied to Leonski implied inability by the patient to adjust himself to his environment. It did not refer to intellect.
The fact that an individual was unable to adjust himself adequately to his environment did not mean that he was insane.
Witness said it could be assumed that similar crimes would again be committed if the accused were freed, and allowed, while under the influence of liquor, to be alone with a woman.