On September 11, 1969, Leroy Snyder, a 38-year-old junkyard laborer, was arrested and charged with the murder of Gertrude Friedman, 58, in Camden, New Jersey. 

Attacked in her combination apartment and linoleum shop, the victim had been beaten and raped before her throat was slashed. Held without bail on a murder charge, Snyder was still behind bars on July 2, 1970, when he was indicted for six more slayings in Camden, all committed between February and September 1969. 

According to investigators, most of the victims including five women and one man - were friends or acquaintances of Snyder. All were beaten or stabbed to death, and two of the female victims were raped. 

Confessing to all seven murders on July 10, Snyder claimed robbery as the motive in six of the crimes, but "couldn't recall" his motivation for the seventh. Under New Jersey law, Snyder's plea of no defense on seven counts of homicide prevented the state from imposing a death penalty for his crimes. 

On July 16, 1970, he was sentenced to three consecutive life terms, requiring the prisoner to serve 43 years and six months before he is eligible for parole. 

Referring to a court-ordered psychiatric report, the presiding judge publicly described Snyder as a "malignant psychopath" and a "threat to society," expressing the hope that he would never be released from jail.

Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans

SEX: M RACE: ? TYPE: T MOTIVE: CE/Sex.

MO: Robbed/beat/stabbed seven acquaintances, raping two of the females.

DISPOSITION: three consecutiva life terms, 1970.

Leroy Snyder