United States of America
3X
Chain Murders
Active in 1930, Queens New York
DID YOU KNOW...
Targetted Fact
Sowley's killing, and probably Mozynski's, weren't random
Interesting Fact
Poor police questioning led a key witness to change her story repeatedly
Spy Fact
3X wrote to a cop, describing the cop's actions the night before
THE DISPATCH
The Beginning
3X was a self-named double murderer whose cryptic and threatening messages sent panic into the streets of New York in 1930. He claimed of being a Russian spy, and was never tracked down nor identified.
Chain Murders
Serial killers have been around for hundreds of years. Each era had their own way to describe sequential and related murders. In 1930s and 1940s USA, they were called Chain Murders, because they were linked together.
The Murders
Joseph Mozynski
- June 13, 1930
- Whitestone, Queens
The bullet-ridden body of Joseph “John” Mozynski was found by passing motorists on June 13, 1930. Police also found a woman’s bloodstained coat on the passenger side of his car. Police tracked down and questioned Catherine May, a 19-year-old woman who was with Mozynski the night he was killed. For two years, May had been having an affair with the married father of two, and told police she and Mozynski were on a “secret love tryst” that night.
May told police the gunman did not say a word before shooting Mozynski and rifling his pockets. The killer then forced May, at gunpoint, to get on a streetcar and leave the area. Before she left, he gave her a note, with Mozynski’s name on it in red ink, and a circled 3X. Police said they did not believe May. It is noted that Mozynski is also spelled Moyzysky and Mozynsky.
The Story Changes
- June 14, 1930
- Queens, New York
Survivor Catherine May told police she did not recognize the killer. However, under intense interrogation, she gave police the name Stephen Lombardo. The 19-year-old then repudiated the story and said the murderer was a man she had met a number of times, but did not know his name.
She later told press “I was tired of being questioned, so I made up the Lombardo story. I never knew anybody by that name.” It eventually came out that a man in a black suit, bow tie and black fedora had demanded Mozinksy’s license before shooting him.
Police received a tip that Joseph Moisette, who lived in the same area as the incident, was the killer. He was arrested by police while on a California-bound train. He was going to attend his mother’s funeral. Moisette was released by police. Police also theorized Joseph Moyzynski was murdered as part of a bootlegging war.
Noel Sowley
- Jun 17, 1930
- Bellerose, Queens
The killer of Mozynsky sent a letter to a New York newspaper, boasting about the murder and claiming he would kill again. He signed the letter with an inverted and underlined “V” and the symbol “3X”.
Twelve hours later, on June 17, 1930, Noel Sowley was shot dead behind the wheel of his Plymouth roadster. Sowley had been on a date with Betty Ring, the daughter of a police officer. She witnessed the murder and later gave police a graphic description.
Ring described a “deaconish-looking man” who took Sowley’s license and shot him in the head. The killer then gave her a piece of paper. On it was Sowley’s name in red ink and a circled 3X. He led Ring to a bus, so she could go home. Her husband would later use this affair to successfully petition for a divorce.
Sowley had been shot in the head and discovered the next morning by a farmhand. The radio salesman was 25 years old. The killer had clipped a newspaper article about Mozyski’s slaying, and laid it on the victim’s lap.
In his letter to the newspaper, 3X said there were fourteen more people to die.
Letters and Disappearance
Letters to Media
- October, 1930
- New York
On October 17, 1930, newspapers reported that the 3X killer, as he had called himself, had sent a letter to police. In it, he said “I’m back. I will pay every cop a visit.” More than 200 detectives were brought into a manhunt for the killer. Over the next number of months, police and newspapers would receive more letters threatening murders. Almost 1,000 extra police officers were detailed to Queens.
At one point, an officer was cleaning his gun in the locker room of the Queen’s Station House. The next day he received a letter signed by 3X, stating “I saw you cleaning your gun last night. I hope you didn’t expect to shoot me. You will never find me.”
For the next year, hundreds of letters would be received, but almost every single one was deemd a hoax.
Last Letter
- October 22, 1931
- New York
The last letter officially ascribed to 3X was received October 22, 1931. In it, the killer threatened to kill three men at once. He said he might use poisoned darts and a blowgun, or some mysterious “very old Hindu trick.” After this note, he was not heard from again.
BOOK
Book including the killer 3X
Still At Large: a Casebook Of 20th Century Serial Killers Who Eluded Justice by Michael Newton
Publisher : Loompanics Unlimited (Oct. 1 1998)
Language : English
ISBN-10 : 1559501847
ISBN-13 : 978-1559501842
They get away with murder. Every year in America, more than 5,000 killers elude police. And most of the notorious murderers who slip the grip of the law commit the same crime again & again, leaving the grisliest of signatures. In Still At Large, master of the crime encyclopedia Michael Newton (author of Hunting Humans, Bad Girls Do It!, Holy Homicide, Cop Killers, Killer Cops, & Black Collar Crimes) recounts chilling tales of unsolved serial murder. So you think you’ll never be the victim of a serial murderer? Don’t be so sure. The killers in this book could be lurking in your neighborhood, your office, & even your home.
PODCASTS
The Trail Went Cold podcast about the 3X Chain Murders.
Rusty Hinges podcast about the 3X Murders
3X Murders episode of the Forgotten Darkness podcast
3X Murders featured on an episode of the Misery Machine podcast
THE STATS
Statistical table for 3X
| Killer Name | 3X Chain Murders |
| Gender | M |
| Sentence | Never captured |
| Birth Location | perhaps Germany or Russia |
| Status | Dead |
| Military Service | Yes |
| Military Service | Special Agent of Red Diamond of Russia |
| Killer Type | Anti-social/misogynist/hate, Spree, Organized, Territorial, Unidentified |
| sk_killer_type2 | Organized |
| comment1 | June 11, 1930, Joseph Mozynksi June 16, 1930 Noel Sowley |
| Total Dead Victims | 2 |
| Victims (Misc) | 2 |
| Victim Gender | M |
| Victim Race | White |
| Victim Age | 26, 39 |
| Victim Type | killer claimed he was Defected member of Red Diamond of Russia |
| Victim Type 2 | Men |
| Method of Killing | Shot |
| Weapon | Gun |
| Efficient | Yes |
| Totem-Body | No |
| Totem-Other | No |
| Body - Left, Not Hidden | Yes |
Killer Rating
RESOURCES
- Daily News (Jun 13, 1930)
- Daily News (Jun 15, 1930)
- The Standard Union (Jun 17, 1930)
- Edmonton Journal pt. 1 (Jun 18, 1930)
- Edmonton Journal pt. 2 (Jun 18, 1930)
- Daily News (Dec 02, 1930)
- Courier-Post (Oct 17, 1931)
- Corsicana Daily Sun (Feb 12, 1932)
- Scrantonian Tribune (Aug 15, 1948)
- Daily News pt 1 (Jun 5, 1955)
- Daily News pt 2 (Jun 5, 1955)
- Daily News pt 3 (Jun 5, 1955)