Pictures of serial killers at young age series#
They also wrote the popular book "Mindhunter," which is the basis for a Netflix series of the same name.
McGowan gained notoriety as four killers profiled in the book " The Killer Across The Table," written by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Rockland County's then-medical examiner, Frederick Zugibe, had called the case one of the most brutal crimes he had investigated. Joan's murder shook Bergen and Rockland counties. "I am thankful to all those who came together for the victories we had to make sure he would stay in prison and not harm any more innocent children or anyone else," Rosemarie D'Alessandro said. "He was not only a child killer he was a serial killer in the making." Joan's body was found April 22, Easter Sunday, at the edge of Harriman State Park in Stony Point. He then wrapped up her body, loaded it in his car and drove north.
She was assaulted and dead within minutes of knocking on the door.Īccording to law enforcement, McGowan, who was 6-foot-2, sexually assaulted, beat and strangled Joan, a wisp of a girl at just 4-foot-3. It was Holy Thursday, her mother recalled. Joan had gone to McGowan's house down the block to sell him Girl Scout cookies. It was April 19, 1973. Son of Sam: How 2 Yonkers cops helped solve caseĪccording to the D'Alessandro family, McGowan would have been up for parole again in 2025. Mothers' mission: NY bill bans parole for killers who sexually assault victims under 18 Remembering Joan: Nearly a half-century after her murder, a young girl's spirit inspires He was serving a maximum life term at South Woods State Prison in Cumberland County, New Jersey. McGowan died June 5, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections. "We won’t have to use the time and energy to fight to keep him in prison." "The first thought that came into my mind is now we could concentrate on the 50th anniversary of Joan’s impactful and loving legacy, which will be 50 years in 2023," said Rosemarie D'Alessandro, the mother of Joan, his victim. Joseph McGowan, a former Tappan Zee High School chemistry teacher who admitted to the murder of a 7-year-old neighbor in Hillsdale, New Jersey, in 1973, has died in prison. View Gallery: Rockland pushes to expand Joan's Law