Washington City Paper: Contents for Feb. 27

Post-Mortem
After six women died, Park View residents wondered who was preying on their neighborhood—and found the killer right around the corner.

Cover Story

John Slack found his first body on a shiny Thursday morning in May.xxxxx

The woman was lying down beneath the torn-up floorboards of Slack's property at 766 Princeton Place NW. Sunbeams shining down from the second-story skylight provided the gutted building's only illumination. A beam of light caught her half-dressed body beneath the ripped-up floor as Slack walked into what used to be a kitchen.

At first, Slack thought Lateashia Blocker was sleeping. He'd found a lot of sleeping bodies during his two decades of owning a strip of downmarket row houses along the street. Unaware that she wasn't going to wake up, he stood up on the floor above her—the body was on the ground two feet below—and he shouted.

"I hollered to her, 'Excuse me, young lady, you cannot sleep down there,'" says Slack. But of course, as much of Washington now knows, there was no response. So he shouted again. "I said, 'Hey!'" She still didn't move. "I yelled and yelled."

Slack walked to a pay phone at the corner of Georgia Avenue, and the police arrived to begin the administrative dance of death. Within a few minutes, there were 15 or 20 uniforms in the empty shell of a house, taking pictures, dusting surfaces, pacing, examining, jawboning amongst themselves.... Continued

Issue of Feb. 27 - Mar. 5, 1998

News and Features

Post-Mortem
After six women died, Park View residents wondered who was preying on their neighborhood—and found the killer right around the corner.
Cover Story By Michael Schaffer
Perk Patrol
Fred Watkins fiercely protects the No. 1 privilege of elected office: reserved parking.
The City By Laura Lang
Unwelcome Wagon?
Mental health treatment center proposal has Capitol Hill residents going nuts.
The City By Michael Schaffer
Sidney Blumenthal: First Amendment Warrior
The City By David Carr
Proctor My Eyes
The Mail By Allen Flanigan
Pet Sounds
The Mail By Mary C. Healey
Cat Power
The Mail By Patricia Yates
A Tale of Two Atrocities
The Mail By David T. Bachrach
Incontinental Divide
The Mail By Kevin Cherry
Kiss My Arce
The Mail By Andrew Chapin
True to Raul
The Mail By Joaquín L. Gutiérrez
Cesspool Hall
The Mail By Donald Smith
Dream City
The Mail By Mark Gauvreau Judge
Bending Over Backwards
The Mail By John J. Wayne

Columns

Bred & Chocolate
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Land Grab
City Desk By Ta-Nehisi CoatesEddie DeanLaura Lang, Paula Park and Erik Wemple
Proctor's Friday The 13th Massacre
Loose Lips By Ken Cummins

Eats

Movies

Rufus and Gallant
Film Review By Arion Berger
Communication Breakdowns
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
That's Entertainment?
Film Review By Joel E. Siegel
Qu'est-ce Que C'est?
Videocrity By Dave Nuttycombe

Music

The Good Guys
Music Review By Rickey Wright
Star Rise: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook: Remixed
Music Review By Christopher Porter
Gastr Del Sol
Music Review By Amy Domingues
Swervedriver
Music Review By Arion Berger
Back Again
Former local hero Tommy Keene takes the lead on his second Matador disc.
Music Review By Rickey Wright

Theater

Arts and Events

Accounting for Taste
Artifacts By Louis Jacobson
Exodus
Artifacts By Jason Cherkis
Declaration of Independents
Slowdime's Juan Carrera and John Wall uphold the indie traditions of their adopted hometown.
Arts By John Dugan
Shlock of the New
Books By Louis Jacobson