NY NY - Florence 'Flossie' Kane, 29, Brooklyn, 18 May 1925

That should say Flossie, not Fosse in the title. It is not letting me edit the title for some reason........

Flossie went out with friends on the night of May 18th, 1925. They took the subway from Brooklyn into Times Square for a night out. They all took the train home together, each girl getting off at her stop along the way. FLossie got off at her stop which was five blocks from her home. Her brother, who was a NYPD officer, had told her to take a cab from the station due to a string of attacks in vacant dark lots. Flossie did not heed his advice and began to walk. She was found the next morning in a vacant lot 200ft from her home. She had been beaten and stangled. Her brother responding to the call showed up on the scene. He did not know it was his sister until he got there.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/11/01/2008-11-01_who_killed_flossie_.html?page=0

Gotta love the sensationalistic media of the 1920's. One need not be a "giant" to attack a 140lb woman. Makes you wonder just how much the papers embellished witness statements as well: candy shop open at 1am sounds unrealistic for the era/area, this was a residential district not downtown Manhattan.

On the other hand if what the milkman supposedly saw is true then it sounds like a mob hit which in itself explains why it wasn't solved. In many cities it was very difficult to investigate mob murders during the Prohibition, too many people on the take obstructing the process.

This is an interesting case, gaia227, thanks for posting it. I've read about some of those cases in the Daily News NY Crime section from long ago. They're fascinating to read.

I don't think at 140 pounds she would be THAT big. So the part about finding someone of giant stature is weird.

As for what KarlK said, I don't find anything odd about the candy store being open late. It said that it was just open late that night so maybe it was for a special reason. And I can't understand a mob hit on a secretary who worked for an agricultural magazine. I think it was probably related to the recent string of attacks and this one just went too far.

MaryBeth said:

As for what KarlK said, I don't find anything odd about the candy store being open late. It said that it was just open late that night so maybe it was for a special reason. And I can't understand a mob hit on a secretary who worked for an agricultural magazine. I think it was probably related to the recent string of attacks and this one just went too far.

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The mob hit would have had to do with the victim's brother who was a police officer, not her personally. The milkman said he saw a group of men around where she was found, if that is the case it doesn't sound like a maniac attack. Also if we read between the lines it doesn't appear that she was robbed or sexually assaulted.

There was also the guy in the blue suit in the candy store, who may or may not have had anything to do with it, the milkman said he was 2 men in a red car dragging something into a lot, people said they saw a black man hanging around the neighborhood and finally a neighbor woman thought she saw a man in shirt sleeves running from the train station. The problem is you just can't believe most of the witnesses. Sometimes I believe people think they see things that they really don't. I didn't mean to suggest that KarlK's mob theory was totally wrong. I just didn't think that way when there had been other reported attacks in the area. And after reading the article I just didn't think the murder had anything to do with her brother.

The bottom line is, it will probably never be solved.

I was thinking as I read the article that if Flossie was considered so big at 140lbs that only a giant could have killed her then I would have been considered a freaking whale. I wonder how tall she was - a lot depends on height too. I am almost 6 ft tall and if a paper only reported my weight and not height people would probably think I was pretty big. 140lbs on a woman 5' tall would look a lot different than a woman 5'10.

I am at the point where I mostly discredit eye-witness accounts unless it is really, really compelling. I think in a high profile case in your neighborhood a lot of people want to feel like they are involved, part of the excitment, not that they intentionally lie but they find something suspicious in things that really aren't.

I am kinda with Karl on the candy store being open at 1am. For a candy store that seems a little weird.

I got the impression she wasn't sexually assaulted. With the really old cases like this that will never be solved it is surreal (at least for me) to think that pretty much everyone involved - the family, the police, the witnesses, the perp himself, have all passed away and 83 yrs later we are talking about it.

It seems like the milkman's story has the best chance of being the truth, IMO. I find it funny that the police latched on to the story of the "giant black man" but didn't seem to consider the milkman's story of the two men in a red car.

I just love these old cases too! What puzzles me is why all these women were attacked and beaten but not robbed or raped. What was the motive behind that? And I had to LOL about the candy store being open at 1:00 a.m. It was probably a front for a speakeasy.

I wonder if some were raped and "for delicacy's sake" it is kept from the papers...also and I would agree with this......to soften circumstances for the family.
Stella---OMG---I was thinking speakeasy too--lol---it was 1925 after all--- that "soda" may have had a little "something to break the heat of the day " as my late Gramps would say

Anyone else think 5 blocks to home is rather a long and lonely walk???? esp at that hour.........was she followed maybe from the cab stand or from the train???