Murder of Joyce Malecki

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Joyce Malecki
File:Joyce Malecki The Baltimore Sun 14 November 1969.jpg
Malecki, c. 1968
Born
Joyce Helen Malecki

(1949-06-12)June 12, 1949
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
DiedNovember 11, 1969(1969-11-11) (aged 20)
Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Cause of deathStrangulation[1]
Body discoveredPatuxent River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Resting placeLoudon Park Cemetery, Maryland, U.S.
39°09′55″N 76°24′17″W / 39.1654°N 76.4047°W / 39.1654; -76.4047 (approximate)
OccupationCredit Control Administrator
Known forVictim of unsolved murder
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)

The murder of Joyce Malecki is an unsolved murder which occurred in Baltimore, Maryland, in November 1969 in which a 20-year-old office clerk was abducted and murdered before her body was discarded within the Little Patuxent River on the perimeter of Fort Meade. Her body was discovered two days after her family reported her missing. An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed in the throat, then strangled to death.[2] Despite contemporary police efforts, Malecki's murder remained unsolved and the case gradually became cold. The investigation into her murder was renewed following the screening of the 2017 Netflix documentary series The Keepers. In December 2023, Malecki's body was exhumed in efforts to extract DNA evidence from her body in the ongoing effort to identify her murderer or murderers.[3] Malecki's murder has been speculated to have been committed by the same individual responsible for either the murder of Catherine Cesnik or the murder of Pamela Lynn Conyers, although these theories have never been proven and forensic analysis has failed to substantiate these claims.[4]

Biography

Joyce Helen Malecki was born on June 12, 1949, in Baltimore County, Maryland, to Casimir P. and Doris Marion (née Johnson) Malecki. She had three brothers, Donald Joseph, Darryl, and Casimir Jr., and one sister, Darlene.[5][6] Malecki was living in Lansdowne, on the 200 block of Laverne Avenue, and worked at a liquor distributor.[7]

Disappearance and death

On November 11, 1969, Malecki went Christmas shopping at Harundale Mall in Glen Burnie.[8] She was wearing a brown turtleneck sweater and plaid slacks, and was scheduled to meet a boyfriend stationed at Fort Meade for a date, but never appeared. Malecki's disappearance occurred four days after the disappearance of Cathy Cesnik, a Catholic religious sister who taught at Archbishop Keough High School.[7] Two days after her disappearance, Malecki's body was discovered partially submerged on the bank of the Little Patuxent River, at Fort Meade's Soldier Park training area, by two hunters constructing a deer blind. She was found with her hands tied behind her back and with scratches and bruises on her body, indicating she had struggled with her assailant.[9] An autopsy performed by Dr. Isidore Mihalakis indicated the cause of death was either by choking or drowning. A single deep knife wound found in Malecki's throat was insufficient to cause death. She had approximately "15 superficial cuts on the neck and abrasions on her forehead, nose and chin".[7] Malecki's body was found on federal property, and the case was therefore under FBI jurisdiction. At the time, FBI agents believed there was a possible link with Cesnik's disappearance: both women had been shopping in close proximity, had similar builds, and disappeared within days of each other. However, the Bureau was unable to conclusively link the two cases. Edwin R. Tully, special FBI agent in charge of the Baltimore field office, claimed to have a number of suspects.[7] The Bureau remains the lead agency for this case, and despite information circulating online, the investigation has not been handed over to the Anne Arundel County Police Department.[10]

Renewed interest

In 1994, Jean Hargadon Wehner and Teresa Lancaster, two former Keough students who suffered alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Father Joseph Maskell, brought a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Wehner claimed to the Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD) that Maskell had driven her to a wooded area and shown her Cesnik's body. Consequently, the BCPD reopened Cesnik's case and reviewed a possible connection with Malecki's.[11] Police received numerous telephone calls providing information regarding Cesnik's murder after local news reports about the allegations against Maskell renewed public interest.[12] It was discovered that Malecki had spent time around Maskell.[13] A second wave of interest was sparked following the release of the Netflix documentary series The Keepers in May 2017.[14][15] Cesnik and Malecki's murders have been linked to two additional killings in the area. On October 16, 1970, 16-year-old Pamela Lynn Conyers disappeared from Harundale Mall.[16] Her body was discovered less than a week later in Anne Arundel County, placed between the eastbound and westbound lanes of what was then Maryland Route 177 (now Maryland Route 100).[17] On September 27, 1971, 16-year-old Grace Elizabeth "Gay" Montanye of Franklin High School disappeared from a shopping center in Reisterstown. Her body was found two days later by Mount Auburn Cemetery in South Baltimore.[8][18] In 2023, police announced that they had identified the man who killed Pamela Lynn Conyers as Forrest Clyde Williams III using genetic testing and forensic genealogy. Williams had died of natural causes in 2018.[19][20] Maskell's body was exhumed on February 28, 2017, for DNA testing involving the murder of Cesnik. Maskell's DNA did not match the forensic profile from 1970, but this is not enough to definitively discount him as a suspect.[21] In December 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation exhumed Malecki's body as part of an ongoing investigation.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FBI to Exhume Woman's Body After Netflix Docuseries Examined Whether Her 1969 Murder was Linked to Baltimore Nun's Killing". CBS News. December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Exhumation in 1969 Cold Case Raises Hopes for Answers". The New York Times. December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  3. ↑ "FBI to Exhume Woman's Body From Unsolved 1969 Killing in Netflix's 'The Keepers'". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  4. ↑ "The Keepers: Body of Woman from Unsolved Murder in Netflix Series to be Exhumed". Sky Group. December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  5. ↑ "The Keepers". IMDB. imdb.com. May 19, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Obituary: Doris Marion Malecki". Legacy.com. November 14, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Clark, Michael L. (November 15, 1969). "Sister Catherine Cesnik Case: Tests Show Girl Fought With Killer". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Robinson, Lisa (June 1, 2017). "Netflix's 'The Keepers' Generates Interest in Other Maryland Cold Cases". WBAL-TV. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Sister Catherine Cesnik Case: 1969 Slayings of Two Women Forge Police-FBI Liaison". The Baltimore Sun. July 1, 1994. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Maryland News: Local Police Remind Public FBI Investigating Joyce Malecki Murder". CBS News. May 25, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2024.
  11. ↑ Erlandson, Robert A.; Nawrozki, Joe (July 1, 1994). "1969 Slayings of Two Women Forge Police-FBI Liaison". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  12. ↑ Erlandson, Robert A.; Nawrozki, Joe (July 10, 1994). "Police Get Several Tips in 1969 Slaying of Nun". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  13. ↑ Parker, Brinton (May 27, 2017). "The Keepers: Everything You Need to Know About the Other Victim, Joyce Malecki". PopSugar. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  14. ↑ Davis, Phillip (May 25, 2017). "'The Keepers' Sparks Flood of Calls to Police About 1969 Fort Meade Murder". The Capital. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  15. ↑ Mellins & Moore 2022, p. 341.
  16. ↑ Magness, Josh (August 6, 2016). "Cold Case Files: Pamela Lynn Conyers. October 20, 1970". The Capital. Archived from the original on January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Anne Arundel County PD & FBI Leverage Othram's Genetic Testing Platform to Identify a 1970 Murder Suspect". dnasolves.com. December 4, 2024. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
  18. ↑ Mulvihill, Amy (May 18, 2017). "Five Things to Know Before Bingeing The Keepers on Netflix". Baltimore. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  19. ↑ Skene, Lea (March 12, 2023). "Killing of Maryland High School Student Pamela Conyers Solved 52 Years Later". Fox 26 Houston. Associated Press. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  20. ↑ "Modern Investigative Tools Crack Decades-Old Cold Case Murder". WBAL-TV. March 10, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  21. ↑ Boyette, Chris (May 9, 2017). "Police Exhume Priest's Body in Murdered Nun Cold Case". CNN. Retrieved January 26, 2018.
  22. ↑ Scharper, Julie (December 14, 2023). "FBI Exhumes Body of Joyce Malecki, Whose Killing was Investigated in 'The Keepers'". Baltimore Banner. Retrieved December 15, 2023.

Cited works and further reading

  • Branson, Jack; Branson, Mary (2011). Delayed Justice: Inside Stories from America's Best Cold Case Investigations. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-616-14392-3.
  • Buchanan, Edna (2009). The Corpse Had a Familiar Face. New York City: Gallery Books. ISBN 978-1-439-14114-4.
  • Dunning, John (1987). Mindless Murders. London: Mulberry Editions. ISBN 978-1-873-12333-1.
  • Evans, Colin (1996). The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc. ISBN 978-0-471-07650-6.
  • Fisher, Bonnie S.; Lab, Steven P. (2010). Encyclopedia of Victimology and Crime Prevention. Los Angeles: Sage Publishing. ISBN 978-1-412-96047-2.
  • Halber, Deborah (2014). The Skeleton Crew: How Amateur Sleuths Are Solving America's Cold Cases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-04145-5.
  • Jeffers, H. Paul (1991). Profiles In Evil: Chilling Case Histories From the Files of the FBI's Violent Crime Unit. London: Warner Books. ISBN 978-0-708-85449-5.
  • Katz, Hélèna (2010). Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-37692-4.
  • Mellins, Maria; Moore, Sarah (2022). Critiquing Violent Crime in the Media. New York: Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-030-83758-7.
  • Nash, Jay Robert (1983). Open Files: A Narrative Encyclopedia of the World's Greatest Unsolved Crimes. London: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 978-0-070-45907-6.
  • Newton, Michael (2004). The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-7818-9.
  • Okonowicz, Ed (2009). True Crime: Maryland: The State's Most Notorious Criminal Cases. Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-811-74171-2.
  • Pettem, Silvia (2013). Cold Case Research: Resources for Unidentified, Missing, and Cold Homicide Cases. Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-466-57053-5.

External links

  • Contemporary news article pertaining to the murder of Joyce Malecki
  • 2023 WRC-TV article detailing the renewed investigation into Malecki's murder
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