Joseph Medley
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Joseph Medley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | July 22, 1901 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 20, 1946 (aged 45) D.C. Jail, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Other names | Larry Fischer |
| Criminal status | Executed by electrocution |
| Motive | Robbery |
| Convictions | District of Columbia First degree murder Michigan Armed robbery |
| Criminal penalty | District of Columbia Death Michigan 30 to 60 years imprisonment |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3 |
Span of crimes | 1944–1945 |
| Country | United States |
| States | Washington D.C., Illinois, and Louisiana |
Date apprehended | March 18, 1945 |
Joseph Dunbar Medley (July 22, 1901 – December 20, 1946) was an American serial killer who killed three women during robberies in Louisiana, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. between 1944 and 1945 after absconding from prison in Michigan, where he serving prison time for armed robbery. He was convicted and sentenced to death for the last murder committed in D.C., as the evidence in that case was the strongest. After briefly escaping from prison with a fellow death row inmate, Medley was executed in 1946.
Medley's three victims were all noted for having red hair.
Medley was born in Pittsburgh in 1901. He later moved to Chicago, where he got a job as a purchasing agent. He got married, but later got a divorce. Medley served 20 months in prison in Arkansas for obtaining money under false pretenses. He then got a job as a field representative for the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, before being fired four months later due to his criminal record. Going forward, Medley never held another job. In 1933, he became the leader of a gang in Michigan that committed numerous robberies.[1] In October 1933, Medley and his gang abducted and robbed Louis E. Brooks, a wealthy manufacturer. The gang escaped with $45,000 ($1,114,418.08 in 2026) in bonds and jewelry, but was discovered soon after.[2] After a months-long manhunt, Medley was arrested in March 1934.[3] He pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.[4]
Escape and murders
On November 27, 1944, after working himself into a position of trust as a clerk for the prison warden, Medley absconded with $775 ($14,176.47 in 2026) raised in war bond by fellow inmates and moved to New Orleans and stayed at the De Soto Hotel. On December 22, 1944, he checked out after drowning Laura Fischer, a 28-year-old Austrian woman staying at the hotel, in her bathtub and stole her money and jewelry.[1]
Medley then checked in at the Atlantic Hotel in Chicago. On December 17, 1945, he checked out of the hotel, after murdering 38-year-old Blanche Zimmerman with an overdose of benzedrine and alcohol after stealing her fur coat and two ruby rings.[1]
On March 5, 1945, Medley attended an all-night poker party at the apartment of 50-year-old Nancy Boyer in Washington, D.C. under the pseudonym of Larry Fischer. After the other guests had left, Medley shot Boyer three times and stole her fur coat, an emerald ring, and several hundred dollars. By this point, however, Medley had been positively identified and was last reported seen at a hotel in St. Louis.[1] He was arrested on March 18, 1945, after entering the room with another woman.[5]