GM –FBF – Today’s American Champion event was Christopher’s murder spree began on September 22, 1980, when he killed three black men and one boy in the space of 36 hours with a .22 caliber sawed-off rifle.These murders led to the media epithet of the .22-Caliber Killer A 14-year- diesold boy, Glenn Dunn was the first victim, shot outside a supermarket in Buffalo on September 22. Harold Green, 32, was shot the next day while dining at a fast food restaurant in Cheektowaga. That same evening, 30 year old Emmanuel Thomas was shot while crossing the street to his home, only 7 blocks away from Glenn Dunn’s murder. On September 24, Joseph McCoy was shot to death in Niagara Falls.Today In OUR HISTORY – April 29, 1981 – Emmanuel Thomas dies.Buffalo, N.Y., grand jury indicted Pvt. Joseph G. Christopher of the U.S. Army on murder charges stemming from the racially motivated slayings of three Blacks in September, 1980He committed two more murders on October 8 and October 9, both times bludgeoning his victims to death and then cutting their hearts out.[4][5] The bloodied, beaten, and mutilated body of 71 year old Parler Edwards was found in the trunk of his taxi cab parked in Amherst on October 8. Forty-year-old Ernest Jones was found in similar condition beside the Niagara River in Tonawanda on October 9. Jones’ blood-spattered taxi was found 3 miles away in Buffalo.Collin Cole, 37, was attacked in a Buffalo hospital on October 10. A white man matching the description of the .22 Caliber Killer tried to strangle him to death. Cole said the man snarled, “I hate n*****s” at him before trying to kill him. He was saved by the arrival of a nurse, and though severe damage had been done to his throat, he did survive the attack.These initial murders went unsolved at first, and Christopher enlisted in the United States Army in November, being stationed at Fort Benning. He soon received Christmas furlough and arrived in Manhattan on December 20, where, on December 22, he committed four more murders and two more attacks; this time stabbing his victims to death, thus earning the moniker of the Midtown Slasher.Twenty-five year old John Adams was stabbed at around 11:30 a.m., but survived. 32 year old Ivan Frazier was attacked next about two hours later. He managed to deflect the blade with his hand, suffering only minor injuries. Luis Rodriguez, 19, was the first murder of the day; at around 3:30 p.m., he was stabbed to death. At 6:50 p.m., 30 year old Antone Davis was stabbed to death. Around 4 hours later, 20 year old Richard Renner was stabbed and killed. Finally, a black John Doe was stabbed to death near Madison Square Garden just before midnight.He then returned to Buffalo and fatally stabbed another black man, 31-year-old Roger Adams, on December 29 and 26-year-old Wendell Barnes in Rochester on December 30. He committed another three attacks on New Years Eve and New Years Day (Albert Menefee, Larry Little, and Calvin Crippen) in Buffalo, but all three victims survived), before returning to Fort Benning in January.When back at Fort Benning, Christopher attacked a black soldier with a paring knife in what was described as an unprovoked attack on January 18. The soldier survived the attack and Christopher was placed in the fort’s stockade, where he attempted suicide by cutting himself with a razor. In a subsequent psychiatric session, he told a psychiatrist that he “had to” kill blacks.[1] This admission caused Christopher’s home to be searched by the police. There the police found evidence linking Christopher to three murders, which led to his indictment in April 1981 and his transfer back to Buffalo for his trial on May 8.Army Pvt. Joseph Christopher, who is accused of killing three men here last fall, pleaded not guilty today and said he wanted to conduct his own defense.Private Christopher, 25 years old, who enlisted in the Army in the autumn, was returned here Friday after being extradited from Georgia to face trial on the three charges of second-degree murder. Private Christopher, who is white, had been in custody at Fort Benning, Ga., since January after being charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of a black soldier.The victims in the Buffalo killings were black, and witnesses told investigators they were shot by a white man. Each of the victims was shot with a .22-caliber weapon, investigators said.A grand jury indicted Private Christopher April 29 on three counts of murder. He is also a suspect in a fourth, similar murder in Niagara Falls. But that killing was in another jurisdiction, and no grand jury has been convened in the case. Private Christopher is also a suspect in the fatal stabbings of three black men and a darkskinned Hispanic man in New York City last winter.When the defendant was brought into the courtroom for his arraignment today, he was in leg irons, with his hands chained to his waist and a ski mask over his head. Need for Mask Argued• Unlock more free articles.Karl Keuker, the assistant District Attorney of Erie County, told Justice Samuel Green of State Supreme Court that the mask was needed because the private had not yet appeared in a lineup before witnesses of the killings. Justice Green was asked to arraign Private Christopher in the mask, but he refused.”I will not arraign a defendant without knowing and seeing who he is,” Justice Green said. ”I don’t know whether that is Joseph Christopher or someone else beneath that mask, and I want it removed. Otherwise, get him out of here.”The mask was removed and Private Christopher’s hands were released from cuffs during the hearing. Sheriff’s deputies and plainclothes police officers formed a human shield around him to prevent spectators and reporters from seeing him.The defendant told Justice Green that he wanted to conduct his own defense. ”I don’t feel they have anything against me,” Private Christopher told the judge, referring to the investigators.When Justice Green asked why the private refused to allow Kevin Dillon and Mark Mahoney, attorneys retained by his family, to represent him, the defendant twice said, ”I’ll represent myself, sir.” Later, he added, ”I don’t want no lawyers.” Mental Tests OrderedAfter a recess in the 40-minute hearing, Justice Green approved Private Christopher’s request to defend himself, but appointed Mr. Dillon and Mr. Mahoney ”to advise him at all stages” of the trial. The judge also ordered Private Christopher held without bail and ordered him to undergo a mental examination by an examiner of his attorneys’ choosing.”I don’t want to see a doctor,” said the soldier, who added he would not cooperate in a mental examination. The beginning of the arraignment was delayed about three hours and the courtroom was changed twice while officials carried out what they called ”security arrangements.”One of the spectators at the arraignment was Therese Christopher, the defendant’s mother. A short, somber figure, she said little to others and spent the time fanning herself. At one point, Private Christopher refused to consult with his mother about defense attorneys. Research more about this great American Tragedy and share it with your babies. Make it a champion day!