On Dec. 31, 1972, partygoers flooded a singles bar generally known as W.M. Tweeds on New York Metropolis’s Higher West Aspect to ring within the New Yr. A kind of single folks was Roseann Quinn, a 28-year-old trainer and New Jersey native who lived in a studio condominium throughout the road, the New York Times reported.
There, Quinn met a person named John Wayne Wilson. Later that evening, the 2 left the bar and wound up at Quinn’s condominium, the place authorities stated he beat and fatally stabbed Quinn throughout a sexual encounter, in response to the New York Daily News. Wilson fled the scene and Quinn’s physique wasn’t discovered till days later, on Jan. 3, 1973, when a involved colleague went to her dwelling.
Quinn’s bare physique was discovered sprawled out on her mattress with a 65-lb statue of a girl left on her face, which had been crushed, the Every day Information reported. A health worker decided she had about 18 stab wounds, per the outlet.
In line with the Times, police stated she had additionally been sexually mutilated and that an argument could have led to her killing.
Quinn’s demise was a shock to those that knew her. She was described by colleagues as a pleasant trainer who liked her college students on the St. Joseph’s College for Deaf Youngsters within the Bronx, the Every day Information reported. Neighbors stated Quinn “was very good and quiet and shy. She wore skirts and blouses, not this hippy stuff,” per the outlet.
After tracing Quinn’s final moments, investigators tracked down 23-year-old Wilson at his brother’s dwelling in Indianapolis, Ind., lower than 5 days after the invention of the sufferer’s physique, the Every day Information reported. Months previous to Quinn’s killing, Wilson had escaped a Miami jail and he was deemed a fugitive, per the outlet. (His precise prison historical past is unclear.)
Dan Farrell/NY Every day Information through Getty
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Wilson was then introduced again to New York, the place he was by then going through homicide costs in reference to Quinn’s demise. Nevertheless, in Could 1973, Wilson died by suicide in his jail cell whereas awaiting trial, the Occasions reported.
The homicide case turned the inspiration for Judith Rossner’s 1975 novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar, which chronicles the lifetime of trainer Theresa Dunn, who seeks out a collection of sexual encounters and frequents singles bars earlier than being killed by a person she brings again dwelling.
Newsweek described the guide as a “onerous, quick, horrifying learn” whereas the New York Times Magazine referred to as it “a fancy and chilling portrait of a girl’s descent into hell.”
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The guide was additionally the idea for the 1977 movie of the identical title starring Diane Keaton as Theresa Dunn, which was directed by Richard Brooks. Richard Gere additionally starred within the film.
In line with IMDb, the movie made $22.5 million on the field workplace. It additionally earned Keaton a Golden Globe nomination for greatest efficiency by an actress in a drama movie.
