A.K.A.: "Boston Belfry Murderer"
Classification: Child killer
Characteristics: Rape
Number of victims: 2 - 4
Date of murders: 1873 - 1875
Date of birth: 1849
Victims profile: Young girls
Method of murder: Beating with a blunt object
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Status: Executed by hanging on May 26, 1876
Thomas W. Piper was indicted for the murder of Mabel H. Young in June 1875, tried for the offence in December 1875, but when this trial resulted in the disagreement of the jury, was again tried on 31st January 1876. Five-year-old Mabel had attended the church Sabbath-school with her aunt on May 23rd, 1874, but after the class she disappeared. The little girl was later found, badly beaten and the church sexton, Piper, was arrested and charged with the crime. She died from her injuries a day later.
December 5, 1873: The Boston Belfry Murderer kills his first victim
Bridget Landregan is found beaten and strangled to death in the Boston suburb of Dorchester. According to witnesses, a man in black clothes and a flowing cape attempted to sexually assault the dead girl before running away. In 1874, a man fitting the same description clubbed another young girl, Mary Sullivan, to death. His third victim, Mary Tynan, was bludgeoned in her bed in 1875. Although she survived for a year after the severe attack, she was never able to identify her attacker.
Residents of Boston were shocked to learn that the killer had been among them all along. Thomas Piper, the sexton at the Warren Avenue Baptist Church, was known for his flowing black cape, but because he was friendly with the parishioners, nobody suspected his involvement. But when five-year-old Mabel Young, who was last seen with the sexton, was found dead in the church's belfry in the summer of 1876, Piper became the prime suspect. Young's skull had been crushed with a wooden club.
