Episode 398: The Alphabet Murders

Apr 21

Three young girls were murdered in Rochester, New York in the early 1970s. Carmen Colon, Wanda Walkowicz, and Michelle Maenza were out running errands when they were abducted - and witnesses saw various parts of the incidents, they were all found murdered within days of their disappearances. Despite evidence being found and multiple suspects being investigated, their cases went cold. They became known as the Alphabet Murders due to each victims’ first and last names starting with the same letter. But was this intentional by the killer, or just a coincidence?

Sources for this episode:

https://wellsvillesun.com/blog/2025/02/27/revisiting-the-alphabet-murders-rochesters-chilling-unsolved-mystery/

https://allthatsinteresting.com/alphabet-murders

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/thexhuman-equation/202311/strangulation-sadism-and-closing-in-on-the-alphabet-killer

https://troopers.ny.gov/homicide-victim-walkowicz-wanda-lee

https://www.newsweek.com/double-initial-murders-alphabet-murders-alphabet-killer-rochester-new-york-1844558

https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/alphabet-murders-victims-dna-suspects-rochester-new-york

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjKZqOWB0N0

https://www.the-sun.com/news/5692904/chilling-mystery-alphabet-murders-names/

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42558019

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/ny-court-halts-family-dna-searches-for-crime-suspects/3677183/

https://web.archive.org/web/20191228214839/https:/www.whec.com/news/double-initial-murders-was-it-the-work-of-one-killer/5255196/