There was an obvious clue to the fact this was no ordinary prisoner. The van had a US Army escort as it took him to Pentridge Prison, where he was taken inside to a waiting hangman.

Conducted in secrecy his execution was not recorded in the prison hangman’s journal.

But a statement was later issued: “The sentence imposed by court-martial on Private Leonski has been approved by the Board of Review and the Commander-in-Chief and has been executed.”

Dubbed the “Brownout Murderer”, Eddie Leonski had murdered three women in cold blood in May 1942.

His killing spree ended when he was arrested, tried by an American military court and sentenced to death. That sentence was carried out 75 years ago today.

From his background it is easy to see a killer in the making.

He was born Edward Joseph Leonski in Kenvil, New Jersey, in the US, on December 12, 1917. His father, John, was a Russian migrant, his mother, Amelia, from Poland.

Both were alcoholics. His cruel, abusive father abandoned the family when Leonski was only six and his mother took up with an alcoholic boyfriend.

Leonski’s brothers were often in trouble with the law, one spending his life in an institution. His mother suffered a breakdown and was committed to an asylum.

Teased for being a “mommie’s boy” as a child, he pumped weights to prove his strength and masculinity. He also enrolled in a secretarial course, finishing in the top 10 per cent of the class.

He was working as a clerk at a Manhattan supermarket in February 1941 when he was called up for military service.

In the army Leonski drank heavily, trying to show off his manliness by drinking whiskey laced with pepper and chillies and performing feats of strength.

During one drunken binge, while stationed in Texas, he tried to strangle a woman.

Although arrested and charged with assault, his victim decided not to press charges, so he wouldn’t be kicked out of the army.

Soon after the US entered World War II and Leonski was sent to Australia as part of the Allied Pacific forces, commanded by General Douglas Macarthur.

Leonski arrived in Melbourne in February 1942, and was based at Camp Pell, Royal Park.

He continued drinking and abusing women, attempting to rape a woman in her flat in St Kilda, but she got away.

Leonski attempted to strangle other women, but his first victims all managed to flee in time, his identity concealed by the streetlights that had been deliberately dimmed because of the war, what was known as a “brownout.”

But on May 3, in Albert Park, he met 40-year-old Ivy McLeod while she waited for a tram. She smiled at the handsome American, whose looks and charm masked his dark nature.

Leonski later told police “I put my arm around her. I pressed my fingers into her throat and throttled her. I started ripping her clothes.”

McLeod’s purse was not taken, so police ruled out robbery, but as they worked on solving the crime the killer struck again.

Leonski met 31-year-old Pauline Thompson, a policeman’s wife, in a cafe on May 9. After talking and drinking for a time, he offered to walk her home.

As they walked she sang, but when she stopped he choked her to death.

His last murder was on May 18 when he attacked Gladys Hosking while she walked across the Royal Park after dining with friends.

Again he had been drawn by her singing. He later said he choked her because “She had a lovely voice. I wanted it for myself”.

Leonski was spotted by a guard sneaking back into the camp, covered in mud.

He said he had fallen over in the park but had left a trail of clues.

Eyewitnesses said Thompson was with an American before she was murdered, and testimony from other witnesses (including the camp guard) led police to camp Pell where Leonski was rounded up for a line-up with others from the camp.

He was identified and arrested for murder on May 22.

Due to the outcry over a US soldier murdering Australian women, the US military moved quickly insisting they try Leonski for murder.

After consultation with Britain, prime minister John Curtin allowed it.

Declared sane, Leonski was court martialled and sentenced to death — the only time a foreign court has ever passed sentence on crimes committed on Australian soil.

He was hung at Pentridge Prison on November 9, 1942.

He was buried in a Melbourne cemetery, but the body was later exhumed to be buried in the American section. The remains were later sent to Hawaii where they were buried in a cemetery for servicemen who died or were executed in military custody.