Cincinnati Strangler

Who was Cincinnati Strangler?

The Cincinnati Strangler was the name given to a serial killer who raped, then strangled seven mostly elderly women in Cincinnati, Ohio between 1965 and 1966. The identity of the Cincinnati Strangler is commonly believed to be former cab driver Posteal Laskey.

During the killing spree there was considerable alarm on the part of many Cincinnatians, with locksmiths and hardware stores unable to keep up with the demand for locks. Despite being charged with only one murder, the citywide panic only abated after Laskey's arrest and conviction, when the killings suddenly stopped, thus supporting investigators' claim that they successfully found and jailed the Cincinnati Strangler.

Originally sentenced to death, Laskey's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when the Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty in Furman v. Georgia. In February 2007, Laskey was denied parole. The grounds cited by the Ohio Parole Board included the heinous nature of the crime, Laskey's prior record and the community disapproval of an early release.

He would have eligible for parole again in 2017 at age 79 years old and was incarcerated in the Pickaway Correctional Institution. Laskey died on May 29, 2007 of natural causes, while still in prison. No one claimed his body and prison officials said he was buried in one of the State of Ohio's prison cemeteries.