I am gone now but my name was Kitty.

Kitty Genovese.

On March 13, 1964, something terrible happened.

I was murdered.

But that's not the most terrible thing that happened, because

the kind of murder that occurred haunts humanity still.

The reason:

Bystander Apathy.

People stood by and watched me die.

A LOT of people.

Everyone thought that SOMEONE ELSE would help me.

But nobody ever did.

I suppose that the good in any of this, if there is any good at all...

...is that siince 1964, people have studied my death.

My murder.

People study my murder, not because it is an unsolved case

and not because they don't know the entire details of how I died.

They study my murder, my death, to know what makes people

in large crowds REFUSE to act, to assist someone who is being

violently murdered, assaulted, or otherwise harmed.

Science and Scholarly fields have a name for all of this, called:

Genovese Syndrome.

Genovese Syndrome affects people - bystanders, mostly, who are

inadvertently placed in a violent scenario where there are, in fact, ways

to stop the violence...

However...

The whole issue within Genovese Syndrom is the part whereby nobody

reacts in a positive way to use the tools available to stop the harm that

is being done to another person.

What happened to me is still called 'phenomenon' and is known as:

'the bystander effect.'

I had just driven home on the morning of March 13, 1964. The time was in the early morning hours, around 3:15am.

I parked about 30 meters (100 feet) from my own apartment door.

Winston Moseley approached and startled me and I bolted. He ran after me and caught me, overpowering me, stabbing me twice in the back.

I screamed (and someone else saw, too).

Someone yelled out, "Leave that girl alone!"

At this point...I could have survived, I could have lived, because the neighbor who shouted, "Leave that girl alone!" had frightened Moseley away. He fled right away.

I made my way to where my apartment was at the end of the building, even though I was severely injured, but nobody ever came to check on me, even though they had heard my screams and had seen an attacker.

Someone did, however, phone the police, but records show that whatever calls were made over this situation did not receive priority, so still, I received no help.

A witness told later that his father phoned police, giving details as best he could, saying that a woman was being "beat up, but got up and staggered around."

Another witness would say that he saw Moseley get into his vehicle and drive away.

People told, later on, that after Moseley was observed getting into his vehicle and leaving the scene - the noticed that he returned about 10 minutes later.

At this point, since people were quite aware of Moseley's return and were obviously watching out windows, my life STILL COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED...

Moseley returned to kill me.

And nobody acted to help me when they could.

Moseley returned to methodically search the area, including the parking lot and train station, and the immediate apartment complex area.

I had managed to get into the hallway, at the back of the building before Moseley found me. He relaunched a fresh attack, beating and stabbing me several more times. I tried to fight, but this only meant that my hands got cut up, and as I lay bleeding, Moseley sexually assaulted me, then stole my money (about $49) before he again fled from the scene.

The assaults were not quick-as-a-flash - they spanned about a half-hour's time frame, and by the end, I lay beaten, robbed, cut and bleeding - dying.

Karl Ross phoned the police minutes after Moseley's last attack, and FINALLY, police responded to Karl Ross' phone call, arriving a few minutes afterward, along with medical help.

The attacks were too much. I died as they transported me to the hospital.

Later on, the Media (The Times) would report that 38 witnesses heard or saw something related to my death, however, this part was overexaggerated by the media.

Still - about a dozen people DID see and hear what went on - or at least portions of the attacks.

Only one witness, Joseph Fink, claims to have been aware that I was actually stabbed during Moseley's first attack, and only one witness, Karl Ross, claims to have been sure that I was stabbed during the second and final attack.

Many people who heard noises that they couldn't quite name, believed that what they were hearing was a lover's spat or some kind of domestic argument going on. (Yet - it wasn't thought of as serious). Some thought they heard what was a drunken brawl or a bunch of drunken, noisy friends leaving a bar.

Later on, Moseley confessed to killing me, and also confessed to killing two other people.

I wonder if neighbors heard something when those other two people were killed by Moseley.

Winston Moseley went before the parole board for the 13th time at age 73 this March 2008.

Clinton State parole board officials in northern New York say that Winston Moseley is still capable of violence and will be a danger to society.

Parole for Moseley was denied, however, in 2 more years, Moseley can appear before the board again, at the age of 75.

A fellow hubber, Skull Lover has written an excellent hub on a phenomenon called "Bystander Effect" which relates to Genovese Syndrome and the Kitty Genovese situation.

Visit Skull Lover's Profile: Skull Lover

VIsit the article: "Bystander Effect" by Skull Lover

Here's where I treat my hub like a blog (sorry to those who scream "IT'S A HUB")

Hey - it's MY hub...I want to share other hubber's material here.

Here's robie2

Who told me to COOL MY JETS Haha!

robie2 wrote an article that I like:

My Number One Unique Life Lesson? Don't Worry