Did a 1940s serial attacker in Centre County get away with a murder? Answers sought

It’s hard to say when it began and how many victims it included. It might have been when a young woman was drugged in Lock Haven in October 1939 and then another young woman was drugged in Lewistown the next month. But it’s safest to say it began in Bellefonte on Nov. 28, 1939, when Sara Miller was assaulted by a man as she was walking home.

It ended on Sept. 4, 1941. After Ruth Andrews was attacked in Lock Haven, police arrested Hoy Houck, who lived in Bellefonte. He quickly confessed to eight remarkably similar attacks. In addition to Andrews, he admitted assaulting Emily Williams in Lock Haven, Emma Crossley and Mary Elizabeth Sloop in Bellefonte, Betty Schenck in Howard, and Grace Gray, Kathryn Breon, and Bonna Teichert in State College.

Clinton County authorities recognized similarities between Houck’s attacks and a July 12 attack in Pittsburgh that had killed Rose Haber. Before she died, Haber described having been attacked by a well-dressed young white man. Pittsburgh police investigated Houck, who periodically traveled to Pittsburgh to work, but could not overcome his alibi that he was in Bellefonte when Haber was attacked.

Haber’s murder remained unsolved until March 1942, when William Wilson, a homeless Black man, was arrested for a street robbery and later confessed to killing Haber. Wilson was subsequently sentenced to death and executed at Rockview Penitentiary in August 1942.

That’s where my interest in Hoy Houck began. I study the death penalty and I am convinced that William Wilson did not kill Rose Haber. In addition to not matching the description provided by Haber, Wilson’s confession, despite being carefully rehearsed by police, is full of errors.

It’s such a troubling and fascinating story that I am writing a book about it.

As I have studied Haber’s murder, I have come to believe that she may have been killed by Hoy Houck. The circumstantial case is strong and his alibi is weak, though there is more to be learned. As my investigation continues, I have also begun looking at the murder of Rachel Taylor, still unsolved, in State College in March 1940. It was a much more violent, brutal crime than the long series of assaults committed by Houck. It didn’t make sense, authorities then reasoned, that an offender would become less violent over time. That’s a big part of the reason why they did not take a long look at Houck as a suspect. But our contemporary understanding of serial offenders challenges that logic.

Houck was ultimately convicted of five assaults and imprisoned for 13 years. He never faced charges in the other similar attacks that occurred during that era, including attacks on Dorothy Orner and Dorothy Peters in Lock Haven, Lena Waite in State College, Elaine Brungart in Millheim, and Ellen Hassinger, Anna Miller, Sara Cunningham, Sarah Rhoads, and Arlene Lyons, in Bellefonte.

Within weeks of being released in 1954, he offended again, this time in Maryland, and went back to prison. After being released, he moved to Florida. There, he committed a series of sexual offenses against girls and was institutionalized for a few more years.

If you have any familiarity with the people or events I have described or any comments you wish to share, please reach out.

I understand these are difficult events to revisit, but they happened, and the people they happened to — particularly Houck’s many victims and William Wilson — should be recognized and remembered and every effort should be made to right the wrongs they experienced.

Please share your comments with me at lofquist@geneseo.edu.