1936 Manhattan Murder Solved by Early Forensics: The Nancy Titterton Case

The Discovery of Nancy Titterton

• 💡 Nancy Titterton, wife of an NBC radio executive and a novelist, was found raped and strangled in her Manhattan home in April 1936.
• 🎯 Her body was discovered in the bathtub by two men delivering a couch, with her hands bound by rope and her neck strangled with her own clothing.

Early Forensic Evidence

• 🔬 Investigators found a length of rope and a single horsehair on the bedspread as the primary evidence.
• 🔍 The rope was traced to a Pennsylvania cord company and then to a Manhattan upholstery shop that had delivered the couch.
• 🧩 Analysis of the horsehair revealed it was the same type used by the upholstery shop to stuff their furniture, indicating the killer was likely one of the delivery men.

Identifying the Suspects

• ⚠️ The two delivery men were the upholstery shop owner, Theodore Krueger (no prior record), and his assistant, John Fiorenza (four prior arrests for theft and diagnosed as delusional).
• 🕵️ Police initially focused on Fiorenza due to his criminal history and mental health diagnosis.

Confession and Conviction

• 💬 Detectives employed a strategy of pretending to need Fiorenza's help, leading him to confess to the murder.
• ✅ Fiorenza confessed and even reenacted the crime with the police.
• ⚖️ Despite a temporary insanity defense, Fiorenza was convicted on May 28, 1936.

Aftermath and Legacy

• ⚡ Fiorenza was executed in the electric chair on January 21, 1937, just eight months after his conviction.
• 📜 This case is noted as one of the most well-documented pre-war murder cases in American history, with extensive photographic documentation from newsreels.