Microtheme 1: Summary In the 1964 article, “Thirty-eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call Police,” reporter Martin Gansberg illustrates that murder of Catherine, “Kitty”, Genovese was preventable if any of the thirty-eight witnesses had called the police during the three separate stabbing attacks. In a neighborhood of one-family homes in the $35,000 to $60,000 range, nobody called the police to help the well-known screaming woman in their own neighborhood (2). Winston Moseley, a married, working, and family man, decided on March 14, 1964 to stab Kitty as she was entering her apartment coming home from work. Although she screamed out for help from her neighbors, only one neighbor yelled out to Moseley, who then decided to stab her again. Neighbors responded with only curiosity by turning on their lights and peeking out their windows. At 3:35 A.M., Moseley afraid of the witnesses drove away (2). Kitty struggled to crawl to safety, but Moseley returned to finish his job by stabbing her the last time. Police received their first call at 3:50 A.M. after a neighbor’s long consideration on whether to get involved. Police arrested and charged Moseley with homicide six days after the assault. He also confessed to two other murders. The multiple non-responsive witnesses surprised the police and other citizens who heard the story. Witnesses gave multiple reasons for not taking action such as “We thought it was a lovers’ quarrel” and “I was tired” (2-3). Neighbors did not approach the scene until the ambulance arrived at 4:25 A.M (3). Catherine Genovese’s symbolic brutal murder is now known as “the Kitty Genovese Syndrome” according to social scientists (3).

Works Cited Gangsberg, Martin. “Thirty-Eight who saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police.” NewYorkTimes. Web. 16 Jan 2015. http://www2.southeasternedu/Academic/Faculty/Scraig/gangsber.html.
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