Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Weirdest Serial Criminal Contest.

If I had to pick the strangest serial criminal, undoubtedly it would have to be Joseph Weir.

You’ll know why, after you read this news article from NY Daily News.



“Falling to his knees on a subway train, a young Brooklyn man allegedly grabbed the feet of scores of female straphangers - kissing and licking them until the women screamed.

But last night Joseph Weir, 23, kept his mouth shut and let his lawyer do the talking as he was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court last night on charges of unlawful imprisonment and forceable touching.

The tall, thin, shy-looking suspect has already confessed to abusing at least 70 female straphangers in the past three years, cops said. The admission came after police busted him Thursday for allegedly violating a woman on a Queens-bound E train in lower Manhattan, the sources said.

The unidentified victim fought off the Licking Lothario near the World Trade Center station, and he was arrested a short time later, police said.

By late yesterday, cops had tracked down 14 unsolved cases involving woman who had reported having their feet slobbered on while riding the subway. The officers ran Weir through nine separate lineups and eight woman picked him out as their attacker, the sources said.

"He would grab women by their ankles, then kiss and lick their feet. A real sicko," a police source said.

Sometimes he would take off with his victims' shoes, police said.

Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Rachana Pathak said Weir would corner a woman alone on the subway at night and bow to her while asking, "Can I date you? Can I be your slave?"

He would then grab his victim's ankles, and pull the woman off her feet, the prosecutor said. In one case, he fondled a woman's thigh and genitals. Another woman was victimized twice in nine months.

"These women are having nightmares," Pathak said. "He is clearly predatory and a menace."

Weir's Legal Aid lawyer, Benjamin Kanstroom, described his client as "an intelligent, pleasant, but confused young man who doesn't cause any real harm."

Weir's family was stunned by the allegations.

"Lord have mercy! He's never had any problems before," said his mother, Jeranda Weir, who described him as a hardworking man who suffers from a speech impediment. Weir had worked as an escort on a Manhattan helipad, but he lost the job several months ago, his mom said.

"He was a hardworking boy until he got laid off last year," she added. "We can't deal with this right now."

Several women who routinely ride the E train were repulsed by Weir's alleged exploits. "That's disgusting," said Madeline Muniz, 21. "I can't believe it. He would go around the train, licking women in front of other people?"

"I can't believe there's someone out there like that," agreed Julia Burnitz, 23, of Manhattan. "Even if you live here, you never get used to New York."

Weir was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail, pending a hearing.”


Do you think you can beat this one?