Murder of Kitty Genovese

Coordinates: 40°42′33.98″N 73°49′48.76″W / 40.7094389°N 73.8302111°W / 40.7094389; -73.8302111

Catherine Susan "Kitty" Genovese (July 7, 1935 – March 13, 1964) was a New York City woman who was stabbed to death outside her apartment building in Kew Gardens, a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, on March 13, 1964.

Reports of the attack in The New York Times conveyed a scene of indifference from neighbors who failed to come to Genovese's aid; thirty-seven or thirty-eight witnesses supposedly saw or heard the attack and did not call the police. The incident prompted inquiries into what became known as the bystander effect or "Genovese syndrome". Some researchers have questioned this version of events, offering alternative explanations as to why neighbors failed to intervene, and suggesting that the actual number of witnesses was far fewer than reported.

Genovese's attacker, a Queens native named Winston Moseley, was arrested during a house burglary several days after the attack; and he confessed to the murder while in custody, along with the murders and sexual assaults of two other women. At his trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to be executed, which was later reduced to life imprisonment. As of 2016, he is still in prison.