Another woman was attacked in Kensington early Monday morning, ramping up fears in the neighborhood of a serial strangler. Since October, two women have been murdered and four others attacked.
In the latest attack around 2 a.m., the victim was yanked into an alley by her hair as she was walking along the 2600 block of Kensington Avenue. She told police she was choked, punched, sexually assaulted and hit in the head with a brick. She was able to get away and run for help.
This is the second woman who has given police enough information to put together a sketch of the suspect. The sketch from Monday's attack is strikingly similar to a sketch police sent out last month when another woman came forward, saying she survived an attack in early October where she was raped and choked.
The latest victim describes her attacker as a black male in his 20s, 5'7 to 5'11, 160 to 170-pounds with facial hair (sideburns). He was wearing a dark, puffy coat and faded black jeans. He was listening to his iPod at the time of the attack and told her his name is Anthony.
Last Friday, Allison Edwards, 22, was found strangled inside a house in Juniata Park. That house is about two miles from one of the Kensington murder scenes. However, police sources tell us they do not believe Allison's murder is related to the Kensington cases.
Edwards was a recovering heroin addict who told her mom last Wednesday that she was leaving to do drugs one last time.
The Kensington task force has connected two November murders by DNA and they believe the same man is connected to the first attack.
- Early October: Woman is raped and choked until she passes out in an empty lot on East Cumberland.
- November 3: Nursing student Elaine Goldberg's half-naked body is found in an empty lot on Ruth Street. She'd been raped and strangled.
- November 13: Nicole Piacentini's half-naked body is found in the same vacant lot on E. Cumberland, within a mile of Goldberg's murder. DNA links her murder to Goldberg's.
Now the task force is looking into these three attacks to see if they are also connected:
- October 31: Woman is sexually assaulted at Sergeant Street near Kensington.
- November 28: Woman is sexually assaulted on Buckius Street.
- December 6: Woman is sexually assaulted, choked in alley on Kensington Avenue near Sergeant Street.
If you have any information, you're urged to contact the Special Victims Unit at 215-685-3251 ext. 3265.
