I am searching for a New York Times article written in July 1972 or
1973.  It was a follow-up article written by a staffer from their
Chicago bureau who attended the funeral (at the First Methodist
Church) of Deborah/Debbie Phemister of Portland, IN.  Debbie, who had
been attending summer drama classes at the Juilliard School in NYC,
had been murdered in the hallway of her apartment building in
Bronx/Brooklyn.  She had ridden home alone late at night on the subway
and was followed by her murderer.

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Clarification of Question by beverly9143-ga on 10 Jun 2003 13:38 PDT

I would like to locate the article itself, and also find out if her
murderer was ever found.

Beverly --

The New York Times ran 4 stories in quick succession in July, 1973
after the slaying of Deborah Phemister, a 21-year-old woman from
Portland, IN on July 20, 1973.  The slaying -- which happened in a
period during which Watergate news dominated headlines -- so shocked
the city of New York that Major Richard Lindsay invited her parents to
Gracie Mansion to offer his condolences.

Phemister was stabbed to death at sometime around 3 a.m. in Brooklyn
Heights on Grace Court.  She had left a theater on Broadway, where she
was studying drama.  She had taken the subway home.  Afterwards the
New York Police Department assigned 20 men to the investigation.

On July 23 police reported that someone had heard the attack.  On July
25, the New York Times carried a 4-column story on the funeral, "Drama
Student Slain Here Buried in Indiana; Life in Home Town Contrasts with
Pace of City."  The story was written by Seth S. King, who I believe
was the national editor of the Times at the time (this Google
researcher was a college stringer for the New York Times that year and
had contributed to a story written by King).

The only other story on the Phemister slaying appears March 3, 1974
and says that "A spokesman for the 11th district homicide squad in
Brooklyn said the case was still open.  There have been no arrests."

Google search strategy:
The New York Times is available for a full-text search back to 1851 in
the Proquest Historical Newspaper collection, commonly available at
major libraries on-line (it's a fee-based service).

I searched "Phemister" from 1968 to 2002 to find these references.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Thank you!  This is EXACTLY the answer I was looking for.  I was a
high school classmate of Phemister's, was working in the back room of
the Portland newspaper at the time of her death, and was interviewed
for the July 25 article.  Thank you!

Beverly --

Thank you for the tip and the excellent rating.  I remember the
incident, having gone to college in Indiana and also because I was
familiar with the area around Portland (a close friend still lives in
Hartford City).

Hopefully you'll have no trouble finding the article.  You indeed are
quoted extensively, starting with:
"It's been something for us, these last 10 days," said Beverly9143-GA
(sic).  "Right in my circle of friends there have been 2 deaths and
this murder and a wedding and a divorce, all in 10 days."

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

JUNE 11, 2003

(1) Do you still need a copy of the article or do you have some way of
getting it on your own or from some other source?

(2) Even though there may not have been any follow-up in the NEW YORK
TIMES about this case, it would be a good idea for you to contact the
11th district homicide squad/New York Police Department directly by
mail or by phone and ask one of the detectives there to check on the
status of the case for you.  It may have been solved by now and the
detective could tell you by looking at the file whether or not it has
been solved.

SINCERELY,
4keith

I have not yet located the article, but will be doing so.  I do
appreciate the additional suggestion about contacting the NYPD.  I
will be surprised to find if the case has ever been closed.  I still
live in the same general region, and would have been aware if it had.