William MacDonald is an Australian serial murderer.
Crimes
Between June 1961 and April 1963, William MacDonald terrorized Sydney, Australia with a string of gruesome murders. On June 4, 1961, police were summoned to the Sydney Domain Baths. A man's nude corpse was found, savagely stabbed over 30 times with his genitalia completely severed from his body. Alfred Greenfield became the first victim claimed by the killer soon to be dubbed the "Sydney Mutilator".
Thereafter, a second victim, William Cobbin, was claimed. Similar to the first victim, Cobbin was stabbed repeatedly and mutilated in a like fashion as Greenfield. His body was found in a public toilet at Moore Park.
On March 31, 1962, in suburban Darlinghurst, Frank McLean was found alive, though mortally wounded by an assault from the Mutilator. Shortly thereafter, McLean died from his injuries without being able to provide any information about his attacker.
In November 1962, suburban Concord residents complained about a rank odour of putrefaction coming from a shop purchased by one William MacDonald only a fortnight earlier. Further investigation uncovered a nude body, brutally gouged 41 times, with the familiar "signature" mutilation of the genitals. Irishman Patrick Hackett became the Mutilator's fourth victim. The search began to apprehend William MacDonald.
The arrest
Finally, in May 1963, MacDonald was traced to Melbourne, Australia where he had taken a job under the name of "David Allen". Under questioning MacDonald readily admitted to the killings, blaming them on an irresistible urge to kill. MacDonald claimed he was the victim of a teenage homosexual rape, and was inflicting his revenge on victims chosen at what appears to be random.
The sentence
MacDonald was sentenced to life in prison for the slayings. He currently resides in the Cessnock Correctional Centre in New South Wales.
See also
Further reading