Virginia Fair Bender, who was an unemployed waitress, had rejected her ex-boyfriend's affections which resulted in an argument and moving out of her family's home, three weeks prior to the murder in her mother's apartment at 580 East 137th Street, Mott Haven, NY 10454.
29 year-old boarder Frank Blazek was jealous of her relationship.
On the day of the murder, she was two weeks from her wedding day with her fiancé Joseph Schapanick, a 26-year-old chauffeur of White Plains, and was about to leave for a vacation to become acquainted with her future in-laws. When Frank paid her a visit around 5:30 PM, she agreed to talk with him and then they went to her room to converse undisturbed. He returned a few minutes later and departed after sending his farewell to the family.
When her brother went into her room a few minutes later to get a book, he found her slain on the bed with a towel over her face. He called their mother Harriet who found Virginia had been stabbed in the heart with a penknife. It was later determined the towel over her face had been used to strangle her and stifle her screams as she was stabbed.
Frank was wandering around the streets for 30 hours and was quickly apprehended from the Alexander Avenue station around 2 AM and confessed to the murder. He was executed in Sing Sing Prison on Thursday, September 12, 1940 at 11:09 PM. An hour before being electrocuted by Old Sparky, his final words were, "I didn't realize what I was doing. I don't deserve such a terrible end."
Virginia Fair Bender, who was an unemployed waitress, had rejected her ex-boyfriend's affections which resulted in an argument and moving out of her family's home, three weeks prior to the murder in her mother's apartment at 580 East 137th Street, Mott Haven, NY 10454.
29 year-old boarder Frank Blazek was jealous of her relationship.
On the day of the murder, she was two weeks from her wedding day with her fiancé Joseph Schapanick, a 26-year-old chauffeur of White Plains, and was about to leave for a vacation to become acquainted with her future in-laws. When Frank paid her a visit around 5:30 PM, she agreed to talk with him and then they went to her room to converse undisturbed. He returned a few minutes later and departed after sending his farewell to the family.
When her brother went into her room a few minutes later to get a book, he found her slain on the bed with a towel over her face. He called their mother Harriet who found Virginia had been stabbed in the heart with a penknife. It was later determined the towel over her face had been used to strangle her and stifle her screams as she was stabbed.
Frank was wandering around the streets for 30 hours and was quickly apprehended from the Alexander Avenue station around 2 AM and confessed to the murder. He was executed in Sing Sing Prison on Thursday, September 12, 1940 at 11:09 PM. An hour before being electrocuted by Old Sparky, his final words were, "I didn't realize what I was doing. I don't deserve such a terrible end."
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AFTER NIGHT ETERNAL MORN
Gravesite Details
Interment Date: June 22, 1939
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