Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Three Philadelphia Women Raped and Killed By "Necrophiliac" Kensington Strangler
After the lifeless body of Elaine Goldberg, 21, was found in a vacant lot in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, two other women were found dead in similar, brutal fashions.
In 2010, a violent predator terrorized Kensington, a drug-riddled neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia notoriously known as “The Badlands."
On November 3 of that year, the lifeless body of 21-year-old Elaine Goldberg was found by a resident in a vacant lot behind a building. Bruising around Goldberg’s neck suggested that she’d been strangled. Her identification was in her nearby purse, which indicated this wasn’t a robbery-gone-wrong.
“She was partially clothed, her bra and her shirt were around her neck,” Ohmarr Jenkins, a Philadelphia Police Department detective, told Philly Homicide, airing Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
“She was on all fours, which was very unusual, like someone had positioned her that way,” Jenkins said in the “Darkness in Kensington” episode of the true crime series.
The image haunted even seasoned officials. “To see how she was posed, you wonder, ‘What person would do this?” said Carlos Vega, a former assistant district attorney for the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.
The case led detectives to a shocking answer: There was a serial killer preying on vulnerable young women.
Who was Elaine Goldberg?
Investigators learned that Goldberg grew up in Oxford Circle, a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood. “Elaine was funny. Elaine was kind. She would do anything to make you laugh,” her brother, Stephen Goldberg, told Philly Homicide.
While studying nursing at what was then called Gwynedd Mercy College, the pressures of school led Goldberg to become addicted to opioids. “She was dabbling in the wrong stuff,” said her brother.
But she was working toward recovery. In late October of 2010, Goldberg's family planned to celebrate a milestone in her recent fragile sobriety.
Days later, her body was discovered in Kensington. “She probably went down there to, like, get what she needed,” Stephen said.
Elaine Goldberg’s autopsy findings
On November 4, the medical examiner found signs of blunt-force trauma on Goldberg's body, and confirmed that she was strangled. “It's just a horrible, horrible way to die,” Vega told Philly Homicide
The examination revealed that she'd been killed 12 to 24 hours before her body was found.
RELATED: Philadelphia-Area Police Corporal Fatally Shot By Teen He Was Mentoring
“More disturbingly, the medical examiner found that she had been raped and sodomized, both before and after her death,” said Allison Steele, a Philadelphia Inquirer journalist.
The killer’s DNA was collected from the victim and sent to the forensic unit for analysis. Police had hoped that the DNA would identify the killer. Several days later, the results didn’t lead to a match in the national database, the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).
Detectives hit the streets of Kensington
“Police officers immediately started to canvas the neighborhood, knock on doors, talk to people who lived in the vicinity of this vacant lot,” said Steele.
But officers hit a stone wall of silence. “People just do not want to be witnesses,” said Crystal Williams-Coleman, a former detective with the Philadelphia Police Department. "They’ve got that no-snitch policy."
Investigators turned their focus to security cameras in the crime-scene area. They also attended Goldberg’s funeral, knowing that killers sometimes go to a victim’s services. No new leads turned up.
Another woman found murdered and posed
On November 13, the body of 35-year-old Nicole Piacentini was discovered in a shed in a desolate stretch of the city off a highway. The scene was less than a mile from where Goldberg was found.
The similarities to Goldberg’s murder were apparent. Piacentini’s body had also been posed.
“She was bent over, her pants down to her ankles,” said Gary White, a former Philadelphia Police Department detective. “It was obvious that she was sodomized.”
Detectives learned that “Nicole was a sex worker and someone who was in addiction,” said Steele. “Her mother always knew that this day would come.”
Nicole Piacentini’s autopsy findings
The medical examiner determined that Piacentini had been strangled. “Just like Elaine Goldberg, Nicole was raped when she was alive and raped when she was dead,” Vega said. “I’ve seen only three necrophiliacs, and I have a career spanning 35 years.”
DNA taken from Piacentini’s body matched the DNA collected from Goldberg. “Whoever killed Elaine also killed Nicole,” Steele said.
“As soon as word got out that the same killer was responsible for both of these women's deaths,” Steele said, “everyone in the press pretty much started calling this person the Kensington Strangler.”
After the second slaying, a special investigative homicide group was formed, said Bob Wilkins, a former sergeant with the Philadelphia Police Department. “The task force's only job was investigating these murders.”
Woman survives Kensington Strangler
As investigators worked the case, a woman came forward who said that she’d been forced into an alley by a man close to where Piacentini's body was found.
“He choked her violently until she passed out. When she came to, she was naked from the waist down,” said Steele. “She believed she had been raped.”
She also said she believed that she'd survived because her attacker, a young Black man who’d told her his name was Anthony, thought he’d killed her.
The witness went to a sketch artist who created a drawing of her attacker. The sketch was distributed throughout the city, and the Kensington Strangler now had a face.
Third victim found killed and posed
On December 15, the body of 27-year-old Casey Mahoney was found strangled and posed in a wooded area near railroad tracks. Her autopsy revealed she’d been sexually assaulted before and after she was dead.
In this instance, the suspect used a condom, which was found at the scene. The DNA collected matched the DNA collected from the Piacentini and Goldberg crime scenes.
“At this point, we knew we had a serial killer,” said Wilkins.
Investigators learned that Mahoney lived in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Port Richmond. “She had dreams of returning to college,” said Steele. “She struggled with addiction. Her friends said she was a sweet girl.”
In mid-December, a nurse came forward and told police about a scary encounter in Kensington that occurred on December 6.
Security cameras around the encounter scene captured images of a young Black male approaching women. “What really got the police's attention is that he looks like the man in the sketch,” said Steele.
A young man who resembled the suspect was targeted by vigilantes and swabbed for DNA, but was cleared. Then, police got the break they needed to crack the case.
Antonio Rodriguez identified as Kensington Strangler
On January 16, 2011, CODIS yielded a DNA hit for 21-year-old Antonio Rodriguez, who’d had a drug arrest.
“His DNA was submitted on October 25, 2010, but it wasn't logged into the system until January 16, 2011, because there was a backlog,” said Steele.
Rodriguez was arrested. Police were surprised by how “normal” the young man suspected of committing the monstrous acts appeared. “He could be a person in your grocery store,” said Jenkins.
When police brought him in, he confessed relatively quickly. “He did so without much emotion,” said Steele.
RELATED: Abigail Williams and Liberty German's Final Moments Detailed in Delphi Murders Trial
Between DNA evidence and a full confession, prosecutors had a solid case. At a bench trial, the judge in charge of the proceedings found Rodriguez guilty. He received three life sentences without the chance of parole.
In effect, the judge was saying, “Miss Goldberg, your life is important. Miss Piacentini, your life is important. Miss Mahoney, your life is important,’” said Vega. “It's like saying to the family, 'Your girls meant something.'”
To learn more about the crimes, watch the “Darkness in Kensington” episode of Philly Homicide. New episodes of the series air on Saturdays at 9/8c p.m. on Oxygen.
