Leroy Snyder

Leroy Snyder (February 13, 1931 – October 1, 2001) was an American serial killer who, in 1969, murdered six women and one man in Camden, New Jersey, while on parole for armed robbery. After his arrest, he pleaded guilty to each crime to avoid a potential death sentence and was given six life sentences, dying in prison in 2001.

Snyder was once again arrested in July 1955 for robbing and assaulting a cab driver in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for which he was given a five-year sentence. Another arrest came in 1959 for armed robbery, for which he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. He was incarcerated at New Jersey State Prison until being paroled in December 1968.

Murders Between February and September 1969, a series of shockingly brutal murders rocked Camden and the surrounding areas. It was the worst murder-spree the city dealt with in 20 years. Six women and one man were killed:

Lula Crawley (45) – killed on February 14, 1969. She was stabbed to death in her South Camden furniture store. She was found lying face down in a pool of blood, gagged, with her hands bound behind her back with heavy twine. An autopsy found that she was stabbed 13 times in the chest, neck and back. Witnesses reported seeing a suspicious black man wandering around the store the day of Crawley's murder, and a sketch of the suspect was drawn and publicized in local newspapers. Mary Freeman (56) – killed on April 12, 1969. She was found floating face down in a foot-and-a-half of water in a vacant house. Shirley Brittingham (32) and Warren Wells (27) – killed on April 25, 1969. Brittingham was six months pregnant when she was brutally beaten, shot multiple times, and stabbed to death, while Wells had his throat slashed and was shot in the back six times. Their bodies were discovered in the basement of an abandoned home on Commerce Street. Lovie Williams (52) – killed on May 19, 1969. She was found in her home with her face badly beaten and her stomach slit open. Her wristwatch was stolen and some of the clothes she had been wearing were missing. Arrest Three days after Friedman's murder, authorities raided Snyder's home on Cherry Street and arrested him for murder. Police recovered Friedman's stolen watch and several of her missing clothes from his house. After his arrest, the brutal murders in Camden abruptly came to an end. William McDaniels, 29, was a soldier in the U.S. Army who at the time was AWOL and laying low in Camden. He was arrested on June 13, 1969, and charged with the murders of Brittingham and Wells. He was released from custody and cleared of suspicion only a few days later. He confessed to each murder with graphic details that had not originally been made public.

Imprisonment and death Under New Jersey law, Snyder couldn't be sentenced to death after a confession, so on July 17, 1970, Snyder was sentenced to three terms of life imprisonment.

Snyder was required to serve at least 43½ years of his sentence before being considered for parole, which would have been in 2014. On October 1, 2001, Snyder, who had served 31 years of his initial sentence, died at New Jersey State Prison at age 70.