The knot shaped our first tangible lead. Ribbons are ordinary things; red bias tape was popular with dancers and florists. But the knot was not a florist’s finish. It was a garrote knot—tight, deliberate, meant for strangulation. Someone who had read enough manuals to know the difference.
Preventing garrote attacks requires a multi-faceted approach, involving law enforcement, community outreach, and education. By raising awareness about the dangers of the garrote and providing support to those who may be vulnerable, we can work to prevent these types of attacks. Red Garrote Strangler
There is one postscript to this story that keeps the legend alive. In 1912, a petty thief named Laurence "Laughing Larry" O’Toole was arrested in Philadelphia for pickpocketing. While in a drunk stupor in his cell, he allegedly told a priest: "They blamed the Red Rope on one man. It wasn’t one. It was every man who ever got angry. But... I did the one in the trunk. The one in Chicago. That one was mine." The knot shaped our first tangible lead
Modern criminal profilers (retrospectively analyzing the case in 1999 for the Journal of Forensic Psychology ) argue that the Red Garrote Strangler is a fantasy composite. You see, in 1892, a "red garrote" was actually a popular stage prop in melodramas. A play titled The Spanish Avenger featured a villain who killed with a red scarf. It ran on Broadway for three years. It was a garrote knot—tight, deliberate, meant for
Meeks never went to trial for the majority of the Red Garrote murders. He was found dead in his Tulsa jail cell in 1965, an apparent suicide, having fashioned a noose from—ironically—a strip of red fabric torn from his mattress. With his death, the official manhunt ended, but the question lingered: was Meeks the only Red Garrote Strangler?