The Wronged Man

In many parts of the world, it is the season of joy, peace, and goodwill towards men.

Not in Philadelphia. Here, it is the season of fear, loathing, and deep-seated mistrust.

We have a serial killer on our hands.

What we also have is the mob frenzy, widespread panic, and media circus that follow along with big murder cases. And the victims of that frenzy include more than the poor women choked to death by a homicidal maniac.

Police have dubbed the killer the “Kensington Strangler”, and have positively linked the murders of Elaine Goldberg, Nicole Piacentini, and Casey Mahoney to one perpetrator through DNA evidence. All three bodies were found partially clothed and sexually assaulted in abandoned Kensington lots.

All three victims had histories of drug addiction and prostitution, which authorities say fit the serial killer profile.

These are women who exist in the dark, shadowy fringes of society; often having had no contact with loved ones for months, even years. They have been written off by their families and even police departments, where their missing person files collect dust in old file cabinets. We see them every day, but pay them little attention – that is, until their broken and lifeless bodies are found in trash-filled alleys and weed-choked empty lots.

Neighborhood residents are near panic, and probably should be. A cold-blooded, remorseless killer walks among them, and no one knows when or where he’ll strike next.

Police have blanketed the area, and have arrested more than 120 men and women in the neighborhood in recent weeks on prostitution-related charges. DNA swabs were taken from more than 150 men in an attempt to find the strangler. The Guardian Angels have swooped in from New York to join the search effort. Reward money for information leading to the arrest of the killer now stands at $37,000, and residents have started websites and pages on social networking sites to share information and tips.

And that is where it gets a little dicey. Just ask 24-year old Kensington resident Triz Jefferies.

Someone spread hundreds of fliers throughout the neighborhood with Jefferies' name, photo and address, naming him as a prime suspect. That same flier showed up on Kensington Strangler Facebook pages and was distributed via text message.

Suddenly, Jefferies found himself a prisoner in his own home. A crowd had gathered outside his door, out for bloody vengeance.

Jefferies had good reason to fear. This is the same neighborhood, remember, where just last year child rapist Jose Carrasquillo was captured by locals and beaten to a pulp. When police arrived, they had to save Carrasquillo from being torn limb from limb before arresting him.

The difference? Carrasquillo was stone guilty, and quickly admitted his crimes. Jefferies, on the other hand, is an innocent man caught in the whirlwind of vigilante justice.

To his credit, a panicked Jefferies called the police himself, and was escorted through the angry mob by officers who took him to the Special Victims Unit. There, he was interviewed, swabbed for DNA, and subsequently cleared as a suspect.

That exoneration doesn’t change the fact that someone - perhaps someone with an unrelated grudge against Jefferies - not only deliberately and maliciously put his life in danger, but momentarily threw both authorities and neighbors off the track of the real killer.

Police say whoever tried to frame Jefferies could face charges if caught, but don’t hold your breath waiting for someone to admit to setting him up. More likely, the episode will soon be forgotten; a tangential footnote to a much larger narrative.
That, to me, is an additional crime. Jefferies’ frightening chapter to this story should be repeated and remembered.

If you, or someone you know and love, just happen to be a young black man who vaguely resembles the widely-distributed description of the Kensington Strangler, Jefferies’ story could easily be your story.

What if Jefferies hadn’t had the presence of mind to call police? What if the mob had gotten to him before police arrived?

No two ways about it. Whoever distributed that flier put out a contract on Jefferies’ life, no different than a mob boss ordering a hit on a business rival. Anonymously, and without much fear of retribution, someone tried to have Jefferies lynched.

The mayor, district attorney, police commissioner and concerned neighbors are right – the Kensington Strangler must be brought to justice soon, and people should keep an eye out for suspicious activity. But mob rule and vigilante justice are not a substitute for cooperative investigation.

Just ask Triz Jefferies.