The Brownout Murders
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ธ.ค. 2020
- VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Sources:
adb.anu.edu.au/biography/leons...
www.theguardian.com/books/201...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...
www.news.com.au/national/crim... www.findagrave.com/memorial/1...
prov.vic.gov.au/about-us/our-...
melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/...
www.ozatwar.com/ozatwar/eddie...
www.collections.anmm.gov.au/e...
www.trove.nla.gov.au/
www.newspapers.com #EddieLeonski
Many thanks to my wonderful sister, Kirsty Skye, for helping me with researching this case! She covers true crime and mysteries on her channel too, be sure to check it out! / kirstycampbell22
Music credit:
Cause of Death OST - Hard Time
CO.AG Music - Father Marcus
CO.AG Music - Abandoned
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Many thanks to my wonderful sister, Kirsty Skye, for helping me with researching this case! She covers true crime and mysteries on her channel too, be sure to check it out! th-cam.com/users/kirstycampbell22
Thank you😊💙
I watch her channel too. Love both of you!
@@KirstyCampbell22 👋
Thanks for the recommendation. She has a new subscriber and I look forward to checking out her channel.
Thank you for all the hard work you put into making videos for us to enjoy. I’m so grateful for your videos they have helped me get through some tough times, that’s just life I suppose. So many Thanks to you Dark Curiosities 💙✌️🙏👋👍💙
Detective Sergent Syd Mcguffie, the Victorian Police Officer who solved the murders and had Leonski confess, was my great grandfather. I'm not sure he would have described him as a friend. He solved many crimes in his career and was a true hero.
I beg you to edit. It's sergeant, please
@@ivia_ol8356 I’m retired army and have seen soldiers spell it all kinds or crazy ways.
I always told my squad or platoon to keep it SGT.
Works for E5, Staff SGT, SGT First Class, SGT MAJ...you get what I’m saying probably lol.
You got me beat lol my family's claim to fame is, on my dads side famous irish comedian ardal o'hanlon and on my mums side, ruth ellis (the last woman to ever be hanged in britain) who was her mums sister
Excellent stuff 👌
Isn’t it wonderful that we also have great people like your great grandpa to solve these murders? Thank you for sharing your family tree
You're right; he did have a babyface. I can imagine that made people trust him and not find him intimidating or threatening. That would be very helpful for a predator. So sorry for these poor Australian ladies. Thank you for covering this; I'd never heard of this case.
It's scary how harmless he looks.
In November 1942, my mother was 28 years old. We lived in Melbourne and the memory of the 'Brown Out' murders was still fresh when she told me about them when I was about 16. She told me that murders were rare in Melbourne and almost unheard of that women were murdered. Both my parents told me that the women of Melbourne were terrified to go out at night because of this man. The fact that the murderer turned out to be an American servicemen truly shocked Melbourne and the whole country. The American soldiers were there to help us and fight, side by side with Australian soldiers, against the Japanese. It took a while for the enormity of the events to sink in, they said.
I went to school with a boy whose father was a senior warder at Pentridge Prison and my father, a grocer, regularly delivered groceries to the Governor of the prison and they became friends. He got bits and pieces of the story of Leonski story direct from the Prison Governor. Many people wanted Leonski to face an Australian court for his crimes but the US military was swift in disposing of the case. A civil murder trial would have taken many months and involved a formal forensic investigation. It was a sad time for Melbournians during a sad war. Thank you for the video. BH
i was wondering why the us didn't step in for this. makes sense.
They had a lot of the old school gangstas at that time in Melbourne..
Thanks for your comment. This story brings light to the fact looks can be very deceiving.
The Brisbane incident.
Whisky and... hot peppers? This guy was a psychopath before he even killed anyone
😂
Well, that was one sick puppy.
Being Australian I know this case well. What I like with this channel is that it always provides a new perspective and additional information. Leonski was an intelligent and complicated person, that in other circumstances could have had an interesting life. He was like American GIs at the time seen as a breath of fresh air by Aussie women, compared to the chauvinistic Aussie men of the time, in this case with fatal consequences. The "Dark Curiosities" voice could have got itself into trouble with him!!
I recall that a movie was made about this series of homicides. Don't recall the name - probably made in the late 1950s or 1960s. Very interesting, well done. It depicted the investigation by Australian detectives, the identification of Leonski, and his subsequent trial and execution.
The money and flash uniforms also attracted many Australian women to them. And as an Aussie living in Wales, the old timers told me they had a saying about American service personnel during the war, Overpaid, oversexed, over here.
The U.S. Government is known for giving out harsher punishments than state or federal authorities. Maybe that's why Australia let them try him.
Why do people always think when a person is drunk they aren't to be believed? It's been proven a person drunk speaks the truth and reveal their true self, a self they aren't confidant enough to show while living in daily life w/o the drunk. So remember if a person treats you badly, calls you hateful names while drunk, that's how they 'really' feel about you lol. If the confess anything ...believe it! If they're super nice but once drunk become violent or super hateful, that's their true self.
uh, no, they don't speak their "true selves." In SOME instances, they may speak things they'd be too shy to say otherwise, but MANY A LIE is told by those who are intoxicated. NOT to say I wouldn't believe someone if they say they were assaulted. But the lips of a drunken person are not to be trusted, generally speaking.
HOWEVER, I do feel the need to say that you are very right not to stay or put up with the awful things someone may say or do to you when intoxicated. People deserve better than that.
A drunk person says what a sober person thinks.
I believe the phrase that you're looking for is, "IN VINO VERITAS."
Exactly- there is a phrase for it - “in vino veritas” in wine there is truth.
It makes me wonder if these women were the only three he killed. Maybe they were the last three he killed and there were others before.
Or maybe they were the before and if he hadn’t have been caught there would have been many more
It's possible, but it seems like these women were "chosen" because they reminded him of his mother.
I remember reading about this case in a book about serial killers called Hunting Humans.
I've lived in Melbourne for almost all of my 60 years. This story was well-known once; perhaps not so much now.
I’ve lived here for 45 and never heard of it.
The main source I had when I was growing up was an encyclopaedia called "Australia's Heritage". It was one of those with installments issued weekly and built up into binders. There were inevitably murder stories included from the Pajama Girl to the Gun Alley Murder.
- What did you do on the night of Halloween?
- I dunno, I browned out
Browned out? Hope you changed your pants!
Never heard of this case before- as usual an informed , interesting video. What is sad and tragic is that violence against women is still alive and well in Melbourne with many murders over the last few decades still occurring 😥😥
Thank You DC for your hard work!!!
Thank You Kirsty Skye for helping your sister with this video!!!
Excellent job Ladies!!!
Always a good day when a new dark curiosities video comes out. Thank you
This is fascinating. I had never heard of this guy.
I had. There are other channels that have covered this case. Mainly australian
This case is well known in Australia.
@@j0nnyism It's actually a fairly well known case among true crime enthusiasts.
But yes, your point is well taken. The U.S. Army almost certainly WAS embarrassed by Leonski and certainly did not want publicity about his case, especially back Stateside. In the country's desperation to stock the armed services full of cannon fodder once war was declared against the Axis powers, many, MANY men were drafted who in peacetime would never have passed the induction screening process and would have been declared unfit for service. Eddie Leonski was one of these, but was far from the only one.
I love when you make long videos! You choose such interesting cases!
I second this comment. 🙂
DC - Its always refreshing to watch one of your videos. Original, well researched and explained very well. Thank you for your dedication.
Your voice is perfect for these🖤
A beautiful, even musical voice. Personally addicted to it.
He had a bad start. He had to deal with the failure of his parents to emotionally support him. I'm baffled how he got so far in the military when he was an alcoholic.
Right?
Another video indicated that he may be schizophrenic.
Sane and insane are more legal definitions than psychiatric ones. That is that it is perfectly possible for someone suffering a mental illness to commit a crime but having the malice aforethought and intention to carry out that crime, and thus is deemed sane at the time of the crime. And likewise someone with no psychiatric issues may carry out a crime on the spur of the moment, perhaps through rage, and be deemed to have diminished responsibility through temporary insanity.
To elucidate on this further, I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and Bipolar Disorder, yet I know right from wrong, and like the majority of mentally ill people, I'm a danger to myself but not to society. Were I to plan and commit a crime, then I would be in full control of my faculties and would know I were doing wrong. Therefore I would be deemed sane.
Of course it is equally possible for a mentally ill person to commit a spur of the moment crime, but unless holding a deep psychosis, that mental illness would still not present a contributory factor to the crime.
This is why Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, was found guilty and sent to an ordinary prison, only to be admitted to a psychiatric unit years later. Sutcliffe was indeed mentally ill, but when carrying out his crimes, which involved a great deal of planning at the time, he was legally sane.
So it seems to be with this guy. He took advantage of brownouts to approach women he deliberately targeted for their voices. So yes, while he may indeed have had an underlying psychosis, he was perfectly in control in planning these attacks, and thus was sane when he carried them out.
Sorry to waffle but since being diagnosed mentally ill a) I have become quite an advocate for the normalisation and destigmatisation of mental illness, b) I think it is important to make the distinction between mental illness and legal insanity, and c) the whole field of psychiatry now fascinates me.
Reading your comment I can hardly believe you have a mental illness, you are very articulate and apparently well read. Kudos to you!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙏🙏🙂
I'd never heard of this case, thank you for sharing!
Always wonderfully produced cases, narrated by a classic beautiful voice. One of the best channels on TH-cam!
Happy New Year, with peace and health to you
You have the prettiest voice on TH-cam, major crush just from the accent 😅
Her sister sounds like her as well!
Me too!!
I second (third? fourth? - I'm so far down on the list..🙁) the crushin'.. You always think you're the only one, don't you? ..only to find out that everyone else was thinking the same thing!
Fuckin' Simp
Ironic becuase leonski killed those women becuase he thought they had a pretty voice.
I’ve seen the documentary about this creep but I had to see yours and you did not disappoint! Great Job as always I love it✌️♥️😊🍾
I always look forward to your vids. Thanks so much. You and BC and the others are just fab.
Thank you for all your work this year. Happy New Year:)
Thank you for another fabulous video. This was fascinating, killing them for their voices? I’ve never heard of another case like this.
Sending peace and love to everybody and have a Happy New Year ❤️🙏✌️👍
It’s interesting, at least to me, that I’d rather hear you talk about anything at all, even these dark things in lieu of all current events. Very good, thank you.
Wow, never heard of this case before. I wonder if there are any cases in his home state that could possibly be linked to him... Was curious about the "Of Mice and Men" references in the headlines, but I guess they were likening him to Lenny (in a later headline).
Happy New Year!
I just stumbled upon your channel again and this time I subbed. I like your narration style.
You mean you were here before and didnt sub?!
*Gasps in horror*
Your voice and delivery drive me more than the content on occasion, even though the research is very good. Thank you so much for the time we’ve spent. So very talented and ambitious💪👍✌️
Indeed a lovely voice.
great job! also good on you for getting the video monetized. I did a story on him as well and my video wasnt. just found your channel and subbing
I'm surprised that I ended this video feeling sympathy for young Eddie. I agree his mother definitely damaged him and he was set on his path. What terror those three women must have felt when he was choking them.
Thanks for another awesome video!!
I absolutely love D/C, I subscribed the 1st time one of her shows came up as a suggested channel and I was hooked. 💙
Thank you for another, as always, thorough account. Truly a heinous case, baby faced Eddie Leonski.
I love both your videos and your sisters! Happy New Year to you and your family.
Your voice is so enjoyable. Thank you for your work.
What a strange one. Thanks for sharing.
So, the father was a drunk and abusive toward his wife and children; mental illness, alcoholism and criminal pathology seemed to affect everyone in the family, but it was his mother's fault that he became a serial killer. Are there actual quotes from him during interviews or mental fitness exams that point to a murderous resentment of his mother (maybe I missed where it was mentioned?). At one time, when homosexuality was considered an illness, it was widely thought to be "caused" by overbearing, over-protective mothers. It's always mom's fault.
Yes, it’s always the mother’s fault. Mothers are pretty important.
No one said it was the mother's fault. I'm not sure where that came from. She said HE had a disdain for his mother and may have killed those particular women because they reminded him of his mother. This is a mental illness at play here.
@@VioletJoy Exactly so. Our relationships with our parents, for better or worse, play an important role in our relationships with men and women going forward. To reiterate,.no one said Eddie's murdering those women were his mother's fault. We, and we alone, are always responsible for our own actions, choices, and behaviors, but how we relate to our parents are certainly influenced strongly by our relationships with our parents.
@@dancingfirefly7761 Exactly! It's always refreshing to hear from those who have a deeper understanding of human psychology.
I find it very interesting that when it comes to criminal adult behavior, their childhood is rarely considered by most. A traumatic childhood has a massive impact on growing brains. Of course there are different variables to consider (age of abuse, length of abuse, depth of abuse, personality, if there was a trusted adult to lean on, etc.), and the later behaviors can differ greatly (go on to continue abuse patterns, end up with abusive partner, criminal behavior, aggression, substance abuse, lack of confidence, etc.). The bottom line is, there is a big impact.
It's not an excuse, but an explanation as to how someone can be capable of such unconscionable behavior. I'd like to see human psychology taught throughout school, as there is so much more to learn.
@@VioletJoy I've watched a lot of true crime videos and am very interested in the human mind and psychology. I've noticed that ever single serial killer--I can think of no exceptions--experienced some sort of childhood trauma. The trauma varied: physical abuse, deprivation, humiliation by a parent, sexual abuse, early exposure to pornography, a father physically abusing a mother, parental addiction, and neglect, and more. These early abuses and traumas seem to open a wound to the soul or spirit that, if not healed and dealt with, can open the door to evil, wickedness, and other dysfunction in the wounded child's heart. In severe cases, you end up with people like Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ted Bundy. However, you can also wind up with people like Harry and Meghan. In Meghan's case, I believe her parents overcompensated for their divorce by spoiling her to the point of her becoming entitled, selfish, and narcissistic. In Harry's case, his parents' horrible marriage with both parents committing adultery, Diana's mental health problems, and her tragic death when he was 12 clearly traumatized him. In addition, there's his anger and bitterness at being the "spare" to his brother's "heir." Meghan and Harry's joint dysfunction, anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness brought them together in a perfect codependent radar, meshing them into a single unit of destruction, greed, and fame seeking. Harry's and Meghan's parents are not responsible for the people Harry and Meghan have become as we are each responsible for our own actions, but you can easily see how the childhood trauma and Meghan's extreme spoiling (as well as those years when Doria wasn't part of Meghan's life) certainly played a major role in molding them into the wildly dysfunctional adults they have become.
it always throws you for a loop when you find out you share your birthday with a serial killer.
6:33 He looks almost identical to an audio diary portrait in Bioshock 2.
I really like your content and your storytelling!
Thank-you as ALWAYS 😊
The brownout killer, just asking to be called some form of shit
My heart goes out to these unfortunate women and their families 💖💖💖 How frightened and confused they would have been by this baby faced soldier turning so viciously on them 🥺
This kind of thing has happened with every war. Seems like when there is a war these monsters think it is okay to do this.
It's not that they think it's okay. This is an example of a very deep, complex mental issue.
There was a made for television movie about this around the mid 1970 ' s . I watched it but for the life of me I couldn't tell you who was in it .
Reb Brown starred in it
I think you're thinking of Death of A Soldier. It was mid-80's and has James Coburn in it.
James Coburn. It wasn't made in the 70's either.
Good presentation as usual,@ least Your own sweet voice makes it easier to listen to these dark cases👋
Dudes grin gives me Pennywise vibes, before he became the clown. lol
Thank You DC
Thank You Kirsty
Great and interesting work
Hey mate, have you heard of the Sydney mutilator? It's a pretty good story with a twist.
Edit. William MacDonald.
Yes. He was a horrific serial killer.
@@ranielalmaria6612 but was also a very tragic, broken human being who had genuine mental issues.
Many, many women have been grown up with terrible violent and possessive fathers, but they have not turned into killers killing men.
Yay a brand new video.
Eddie could have played the joker with that smile. Would be a perfect fit.
What a sad life.
I've never heard of this monster. Awesome video!
I really like this channel! 👍🖤
Incredible and fascinating crime story. 😢
I popped in to the Police museum in Melbourne late last year , they have the leg irons he was placed in a display case as well as the handcuffs.
How come the Father's of these nut cases is NEVER blamed? Why do moms get all the blame? So the Dad beats his wife and kids terrorizes them but somehow that had zero effect on the kids🤔 but the mom who did nothing wrong is somehow entirely the one to blame for Eddie's sickness?
Because women are seen as to blame SOMEHOW when men do bad things. Kindof why when male rock stars kill themselves, men will insist they were actually killed by their wives, or driven to kill themselves BY them.
Men never voluntarily take responsibility for their actions. Even Adam, the 1st man on earth, shifted blame onto Eve for him eating the fruit. Then for centuries, women have been blamed for the “Fall of Man.” Total nonsense.
@@toscadonna I am a Christian and I have always said Adam was a wuss. Really how can you argue with that. And everyone does blame the mom for wackos. Thank you psychologists.
An Australian movie, "Death Of A Soldier" (1986) about this was quite a good movie..
You're right, although I couldn't buy buff Reb Brown as Eddie Leonski.
Its good to cover cases which aren't already covered by other channels.
So sad. Too bad he didn't get the help that he needed.
Excellent video.
I am originally from Melbourne and know exactly know where the murders took place, as well where the bodies where found...
You simply cannot understand how small Australia was back then and these murders caused absolute fear and terror in the community.
Australia was undergoing what was called the "The Friendly" invasion, as thousands upon thousands of US troops poured into all the capital cities. My mum who was dating a US Marine at the time was forbidden to go out after dark!
Groups of men patrolled the streets trying to protect their families. It caused a near brake down in US and Australian relations, leading up to what was called The Battle of Brisbane.
This is where the 6th Australian Division just returned form fighting the German Africa Corps and had an all out fight with US troops in the streets of Brisbane, with soldiers being killed on both sides!!! This went on four a period of four days...
The allied high command literally lost control of the situation!
The Australian soldiers already disliked MacArthur strongly, as he never left the comfort of his Brisbane HQ to visit the front lines and gave out one stupid order after another causing huge Australian casualties for no reason... His nickname was "The Chocolate Soldier" as it was said that he would melt if he came out into the sun.
Not one history book tells the story of when Australia and the US went to war! It really could have caused serious damage to the allied war effort if the Japanese or Germans had have found out!!!
This also happened in Melbourne, as my uncle was in the Australian Navy at the time and he and his shipmates so angry with what was happening.
But this was not the only thing, his ships Captain was told to turn around and proceed back to home port when this was happening, as he told me many years later they were told that they were going to fight the bloody yanks....
Mac Arthur forced a conviction against Leonski just to appease the Australia public. Leonski never should have been tried, as he was medically unfit to stand trial because he was totally insane!
The US army literally borrowed Pentrige Prison, which was the largest prison in Melbourne at that time, to hang Leonski and then handed it back to Australian authorities...
The Brown Out Murders were more than just a terrible serial killer terrorising a community, it cut to the very core of Australian society and its belief in its so called allies...
P J Maguire
@Elizabeth WolfeThanks Ms Wolfe. If you need any information about places and the history of the mood in the nation at that time please don't hesitate to ask... I have so many stories about the Aussies and the Americans told to me personally by my uncle and dad who served in the Australian Navy during WW2, honestly you wont believe them. But it did happen I can tell you.. There was an Australian film made about this story made in the 1980's staring James Coburn, which show's that Leonski was totally insane! Good luck with your research. PJ
My favorite film actor REB BROWN played the killer in a film adaptation of this story called DEATH OF A SOLDIER.
He looks like Howdy Doody! I know looks can be deceiving, but damn! Never in a million years would I have seen this guy and thought, "There goes a psychotic serial killer." 😕
Oh damn, they hanged him. Nowadays, the USA would give him a medal and a Netflix series
Enjoyed the new episode DC. I love your voice very much! 😁❤️.Stay Safe sweetheart!😃
Documentary on the telly in the 1990s, and my dad said, " Oh, yes, Leonkowski. i remember that. ".
Eddie has that Joker smile.
Amazing Dark curious great job with your channel you will have a million subscribers before you know it 😉. I have a suggestion for a video could you consider making a video about a journalist called Danny Casolaro a journalist who was investigating the allegations of US government corruption in to the INSLAW case.
Never heard of this nut. Thanks, DC!
A little correction to the caption at 6:02. Camp Pell was an army camp within Royal Park in the suburb of Parkville (not Albert Park).
This case reminds me of British Serial Killer Gordon Cummins. He was also killing women during blackouts during World War 2.
Well Done!!! Thank You!!! 🌹👍😎
Interesting as my mother was an Australian war bride. Just wondering if my dad was also at this camp? His troop ship was on it's way to the Phillipines but when the Japanese took it the ship went on to Australia. Wonder if Eddy was one of these soldiers like my dad?
Is this a re-upload video because I swear I saw this before. Unless I saw this on a different channel.
So sad, for the victims and Eddie.
Side bar: Beautiful narration.
What an odd story. 'Stealing their voices'...ooookay.
Gives me Ursula the sea witch vibes 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks DC💔🙏🦌
Did you mean 12AM?
Good video
I'm having a brownout while watching this..
I sat in this guy's jail cell in Melbourne
Wow! I live maybe 8 hours drive from Melbourne (a fairly shortish distance in Australia!) but I’ve never heard the details of these murders. I’ve vaguely heard of the ‘Mice And Men’ murders but knew nothing about them. It sounds to me like that young man was deranged, and I wonder how the US military let him serve.? Perhaps War-time standards of fitness were lower than they are today. Such a shame for everyone connected to these murders. ☹️
This was so sick and sad....,there is no humanity within humanity.
His smile totaly creeps me out! 😣😖
Leonski got exactly what he deserved. I also know that General Douglas MacArthur expressed his wholehearted support of Leonski's execution. Back in those days America's military and civilian leaders were, in general, a lot more fair and a lot more decisive than they are today. Leonski would never get the death penalty today if he committed a crime like that.
Beautiful voice
Ohhhh, the Brownout Ripper!
Your one of the only people I've heard pronounce foyer right.
I noticed that too.
How do you only have 100k followers??
💙
Jeez. That guy was coo coo for coco puffs
😳 wow, sad
Weeping in accounts by other soldiers, then smiling in court? Delusions? Mom with manic depression? I'm willing to bet he inherited bipolar disorder from his mother.