Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
New York City has often been the considered the “capitol of the world.” In regards to professional wrestling, NYC was the biggest and most successful territory for many years. In the middle of all that, was the World Wide Wrestling Federation led by Vince McMahon Sr. What happens when the WWWF and a murder in Times Square cross paths? This is that story.
In the early morning hours of June 23rd, 1964…a young 18 year old woman named Joan Wilson was accompanying her sister Margaret from a nearby high school prom. The sisters and another female friend stopped by a parking lot and started chatting for what was reportedly over an hour. At around 1:20 am, as the girls were talking two shots were fired and Joan Wilson was dead.
Wilson was shot once in the back of her head and died almost instantly. The other bullet completely missed the three girls and struck a wall. When police arrived the entire area around Times Square (where Joan Wilson was killed) was closed off. The investigators focused their attention to the building that was directly across from the parking lot…..an old 20 story hotel built in 1927 called the Holland Hotel. Police surmised that the shots came from that building. Over 50 detectives were called upon to interview the hotel residents which included tourists and pro wrestlers.
The Holland Hotel was completely shut down and all the residents were not allowed to leave the premises. All of the occupants that were in the hotel were interviewed by detectives. It just so happened that Vince McMahon Sr and the World Wide Wrestling Federation had an office in the hotel on the second floor. McMahon used the hotel as the WWWF’s hub because of its close proximity to Madison Square Garden which was just eight blocks away. Vince Sr was not at the hotel at the time of the incident, but several wrestlers were.
Among the wrestlers that were interviewed by police were Ernie ‘The Cat’ Ladd, Gorilla Monsoon and Klondike Bill. They were questioned for hours and after, Klondike Bill talked to the press. He was quoted as saying, “If any of us found him (the sniper), we (the wrestlers) would rip him limb to limb.” Unfortunately for police, none of the wrestlers inside the hotel witnessed anything suspicious.
There was one other pro wrestler who was questioned, who happened to be talking with the murder victim just a few minutes before she was gunned down. That wrestler was Kathleen Wimbley, also known as Mrs. Kathleen Brazil…aka the wife of wrestler Bobo Brazil. Wimbley, knew the victim Joan Wilson as they would talk often in a nearby park where Wimbley took her son to play and Wilson hung out at. In this case, Wimbley had just parked her car in the lot and spotted Wilson and they talked for a few minutes. As Wimbley was walking away, she heard a “noise” which she thought was a car backfiring. She looked back and saw Joan Wilson collapse to the ground. Wimbley thought the young girl fainted, but as screams rang out…Wimbley and others ran for cover.
The investigation went on for months with no real solid leads. A break in the case came when a hotel employee was changing drapes in a 5th floor hotel room and accidentally dropped a curtain ring behind a radiator. As the employee reached behind the radiator to retrieve the ring, he spotted a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson lodged deep down behind the radiator. Ballistics confirmed that was the weapon used in the murder of Joan Wilson.
The gun was eventually traced back to a 25 year old Marine Sargent named Roy Francis Nagle. Upon further investigation, Nagle was at the Holland Hotel during the time of the incident. He was in town to attend the wedding of his sister. Nagle was arrested in November of 1964 and charged with the murder of Joan Wilson. There was absolutely no connection between him and the murder victim. Nagle plead not guilty to the charges.
In June of 1966, a jury found Sgt. Roy Nagle guilty and the judge sentenced the marine to 40 years to life in prison. It was never made clear as to why Nagle fired at the young women as he had no connection to them. The police stated it was just a senseless crime with no real motive.
David Fullam
Totally senseless waste of life.