1942: The Brownout Strangler: Eddie Leonski Hanged in Melbourne,
Edward "Eddie" Leonski, an American soldier posted to wartime Melbourne, strangled three women during the wartime blackouts that earned him the nickname the Brownout Strangler. After killing one victim in May 1942, he stumbled drunk into his tent muttering "I killed! I killed!" to a startled tent mate, then calmly read newspaper reports of his own crime over breakfast. He later told investigators his obsession was with his victims' voices: "She had a lovely voice. I wanted that voice... I choked her."
Tried by an American military court-martial under United States law, Leonski became the first foreign national ever tried and sentenced to death in Australia under the laws of his own country. General Douglas MacArthur personally signed the execution order, and Leonski was hanged in Melbourne on this day in 1942.
Leonski never disputed his guilt, later telling detectives of his crimes, "Fancy me a murderer."
