Unsolved case · 1975
The short answer
Between 1975 and 1977, dismembered remains of six men were found stuffed in garbage bags floating in the Hudson River near New York City. The victims' identities and the killer were never officially established, though a suspect implicated by a witness was never charged in these deaths.
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Suggest coverage for Bag murdersBetween 1975 and 1977, multiple garbage bags containing human remains were recovered from the Hudson River in New York City. Police determined that the remains belonged to six men. Clothing found with the body parts had reportedly been purchased from leather stores in Greenwich Village, a Lower Manhattan neighborhood known at the time for its concentration of gay bars and institutions. Based on this evidence, investigators assumed the victims had been gay. The identities of the six victims were never established, and the case has never been officially solved.
During the same period, a Greenwich Village resident named Paul Bateson was arrested in September 1977 for the murder of film reporter Addison Verrill. At Bateson's 1979 trial, prosecutors called a witness, Richard Ryan, who testified that Bateson had told him, shortly before Verrill's killing, that he had also killed three other men: 29-year-old Ronald Cabeau, 41-year-old Donald McNiven, and 53-year-old John Beardsley. According to this testimony, each of these three men had been stabbed to death in their Lower Manhattan apartments in early 1973 after visiting gay bars. Ryan further alleged that Bateson had admitted to killing and dismembering six gay men whose remains were dumped in the Hudson River. No charges were ever filed against Bateson in connection with the deaths of Cabeau, McNiven, Beardsley, or the six river victims, due to a lack of evidence. Bateson was convicted only of Verrill's murder and received a sentence of 20 years to life. He denied responsibility for the "Bag murders" for the remainder of his prison term.
The case had a lasting effect on the gay community in New York. During Bateson's trial, director William Friedkin, who had known Bateson from a small role Bateson played in Friedkin's 1973 film The Exorcist, visited him in jail. Friedkin later said Bateson partially admitted responsibility in these conversations for the death and dismemberment of one man. Friedkin subsequently adapted Gerald Walker's 1970 novel Cruising into a film, drawing on elements of the murders; the film was released in 1980 starring Al Pacino. Journalist and LGBT rights activist Arthur Bell wrote a series of articles in The Village Voice about the Greenwich Village murders, arguing that homosexuals faced significant social stigma and violence, and that only a small number of the era's murders of gay men in the neighborhood were officially recorded. Bell's reporting drew public attention and contributed to activism connected to the gay liberation movement.
The filming of Cruising in Greenwich Village drew demonstrations from segments of the local gay community, who were concerned about the film's portrayal of gay life and feared it might provoke further violence. Residents petitioned then-Mayor Ed Koch to deny filming permits, but he declined, and protests continued in the streets, eventually requiring police intervention. Interest in the case was renewed in 2019 following an episode of the television series Mindhunter that addressed the murders and Bateson's possible connection to them.
Alleged (per witness testimony at Bateson's later trial) stabbing deaths of three men — Ronald Cabeau, Donald McNiven, and John Beardsley — in Lower Manhattan apartments.
First garbage bags containing dismembered human remains begin appearing in the Hudson River.
Remains of six men, dismembered and bagged, have been recovered from the Hudson River by this point.
Paul Bateson is arrested for the murder of film reporter Addison Verrill.
At Bateson's trial, witness Richard Ryan testifies that Bateson claimed responsibility for the deaths of Cabeau, McNiven, Beardsley, and six men dumped in the Hudson River; Bateson is convicted only of Verrill's murder and sentenced to 20 years to life.
William Friedkin's film Cruising, inspired partly by the case, is released amid protests from the gay community in Greenwich Village.
Season 2 of the television series Mindhunter revives public interest in the Bag murders case.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Film reporter murdered in 1977; Paul Bateson was convicted of his killing.[3]
41-year-old man alleged by witness testimony to have been stabbed to death by Paul Bateson in his Lower Manhattan apartment in early 1973; no charges were filed in his death.[3]
53-year-old man alleged by witness testimony to have been stabbed to death by Paul Bateson in his Lower Manhattan apartment in early 1973; no charges were filed in his death.[3]
29-year-old man alleged by witness testimony to have been stabbed to death by Paul Bateson in his Lower Manhattan apartment in early 1973; no charges were filed in his death.[3]
Convicted of the 1977 murder of film reporter Addison Verrill; implicated by a witness's testimony in the deaths of Ronald Cabeau, Donald McNiven, John Beardsley, and the six unidentified 'Bag murders' victims, but never charged in those cases.[3]
From the record
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Image recordEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListenStonewall Inn, Christopher Street, Greenwich Village · 1960s
A police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a Mafia-owned gay bar in Greenwich Village, in the early hours of June 28, 1969, sparked days of spontaneous street demonstrations and clashes with police, becoming a foundational event for the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
SoHo, Lower Manhattan (near Prince Street and West Broadway) · 2010s
Etan Patz, a six-year-old boy, vanished while walking to his school bus stop in Manhattan in 1979; decades later Pedro Hernandez was convicted of his kidnapping and murder, a verdict upheld after appeals.
Image recordPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenAstor Place, Manhattan, New York City · 1840s
On May 10, 1849, a dispute between rival Shakespearean actors escalated into a deadly riot outside Manhattan's Astor Opera House, ending when militia opened fire on the crowd, killing between 22 and 31 people and injuring more than 120.
Credit: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s OfficePublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenSacramento, California (crimes spanned multiple California counties) · 1970s
Across California between 1974 and 1986, at least 13 people were murdered in a crime series that also included more than 50 rapes, burglaries, kidnappings, and assaults. Forensic genetic genealogy identified former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo in 2018; he pleaded guilty in 2020 to murder and kidnapping charges.
Credit: United States Air ForcePublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenWichita and Park City, Kansas · 1974
Dennis Rader, a Wichita-area man who worked as an ADT security installer and later a Park City compliance officer, murdered at least ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991, taunting police and media with letters as "BTK." He was identified through DNA and computer metadata and arrested in February 2005, later pleading guilty to ten counts of first-degree murder.
Credit: Unknown authorPublic domainSourceSOLVEDListenHollywood, Florida (abduction site: Sears, Hollywood Mall) · 1981
Adam Walsh, a six-year-old boy, was abducted from a Hollywood, Florida department store in July 1981 and found killed weeks later; police named drifter Ottis Toole as the perpetrator and closed the case in 2008, though he died in prison in 1996 without ever being tried or convicted for it.
