An "almost unbelievable coincidence."

George Jones

It was March 1958 and young George Jones was proving an invaluable asset to the NYPD. In July of 1957, he'd been instrumental in helping them locate the body of 4-year-old Theresa Murphy and now, nine months later, he seemed to have a pretty good idea of where 7-year-old Louis Diamant was.

Well, of course he knew. This was no coincidence. George had killed both of those children by peevishly pushing them off the same West Side Pier and into the Hudson River.

When Theresa Murphy went missing on June 28, 1957, George Jones and his family were living at the Amsterdam Housing Projects (located between 61st and 63rd Street, Manhattan), the same residence as the Murphy family. George's mom Lynette, 33, worked as a seamstress, he had a younger (by two years) sister named Maggie and Lynette's brother Ladda B. Cook was living with them while attending Columbia University.

George was one of many youngsters interviewed by police in the course of their investigation but he was a standout witness because his story kept changing. Early newspaper accounts suggested that Theresa may have wandered away from home. George told police three different tales. In two of them, he'd claimed responsibility for her death. In one version, he'd accidentally brushed against Theresa and knocked her into the river. Another time George said he'd been throwing rocks in the air, had accidentally hit Theresa in the head with one and she tumbled off the pier. Both of these stories end with George making an attempt to rescue her by dangling a "piece of string" for her to hold on to so that he could pull Theresa out of the water but the string broke. He was unable to find a grownup and ultimately went home. A third version has George trying to shift the blame to another older boy but that kid called George a liar and George readily admitted "yes, he was lying."

The one thing George wasn't lying about was where Theresa could be found. Ten days after she'd gone missing, police found her body right where George said it would be. The Medical Examiner could only prove she'd drowned and it was ruled an accidental death.

Google Maps image showing the location of the Jones/Murphy residence and it's proximity to the Hudson River

Flash forward nine months and the NYPD were now interviewing all the residents of the Elliot Housing Projects (located at 427 W. 26th Street) where Louis Diamant lived with his family. The Jones family, having relocated from the Amsterdam Projects, lived 8 floors below the Diamants. George and Louis knew each other, having both been referred to the Hudson Guild Counseling Service.

Mr. and Mrs. Diamant were Holocaust survivors, now Polish DPs (Displaced Persons), who'd come to America 10 years prior to make a better life for themselves. Their middle child Louis was frail, withdrawn and afraid of the dark. He surely would have returned home from an afternoon of roller skating if he could have. The family was frantic.

Housing Authority Police Office Grantley Crichlow recognized George Jones as the same little boy who'd told conflicting stories when interviewed by police as they searched for Theresa Murphy the previous year but he also remembered that it was George who had eventually led them to her final resting place. Crichlow reported this fact to the detectives working the case and they finally had a break. It seemed an "almost unbelievable coincidence."


Police also found two Amsterdam House boys who told them they'd met their former neighbor George skating with a white boy outside the projects and that George had told them "I want you to meet my friend Louis. He lives in my neighborhood."

Police escorted George and Lynette Jones to the police station for questioning. Several times during the interview Mrs. Jones yelled at her son, "You're lying! Tell the truth."

George Jones and his mother

George would jerk everyone around for a bit before finally disclosing the true location of his second victim, a mere 100 feet from where police had previously found Theresa. He would also reveal his reasons for the murders.



George, pointing police in the right direction

According to George, the younger boy had offered to pay George 10 cents if he would play with him. The two had a good time roller skating but at 5 PM when it was time to hand over the promised dime, Louis admitted that he'd spent that money during the course of their day. George became angry and threw the skate key into the water. Louis got down on his hands and knees to look into the water and when he leaned out over the edge of the pier, George pushed him in after it. George was quoted as saying "He went down fast." George again told the story about dangling a "piece of string" down to Louis but that it broke and failing to find a grownup who could help, he went home. The police weren't buying it and they pressed him further about the death of Theresa Murphy.

George now admitted that he'd offered Theresa Murphy a nickel to walk to the pier with him then he shoved her into the water because he was mad at her. Apparently, Theresa had tattled to George's mom that he'd (ironically) been "pushing children down flights of stairs" and for that his mom had given him a whipping.

George was taken to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital for observation and based on their recommendations, he was committed for "an indefinite period" in a state hospital. He was 11 years old.



Front page of the NY Daily News, on March 7, 1958