Serial killer Joseph Kallingers murder house quietly sells

July 2024 · 2 minute read

The New Jersey home where serial killer Joseph Kallinger’s infamous murder and kidnappings took place quietly sold in February, The Post has learned.

On the afternoon of January 8, 1975, Kallinger and his 13-year-old son at the time, Michael, entered a home in Leonia at 124 Glenwood Avenue by pretending to be salesmen.

When one of the soon-to-be victims opened the door, they forced their way in and tortured a family of 8 in the final act of horror in his vicious 6-week murder spree.

Kallinger instructed seven of the eight victims — Randi Romaine, Edwina Wiseman, Michael Wiseman, Retta Romaine Welby, Frank Welby, DeWitt Romaine and Maria Fasching — to strip down before the brutal killings inside the home.

Using a cord from the Venetian blinds that were on the windows, Kallinger and his son tied all of his victims up, with the exception of 90-year-old victim Blanch Smith, who was bed-ridden.

Fasching, a 21-year-old nurse who showed up to check in on a bed-ridden Blanch after her night shift at Hackensack Hospital ended, refused to cooperate with Kallinger. That’s when he took her down to the basement of the home, slashed her throat and fatally stabbed her in the back.

That tragic day in 1975 marked the end of a series of murders and crimes by Kallinger and his son, who were arrested several days later, according to the AP.

And while the sickening crimes were highly-publicized at the time, the house with its gruesome history still stands.

The home has changed hands at least seven times since the tragedy. Since New Jersey state law does not consider any death in the home to be a “material fact,” it is not required to be disclosed.

The four-bedroom, 3.5 bathroom was most recently sold in February for $587,500.

The home, which spans over 1,700 square feet, had been on the market for a year prior.

Kallinger was sentenced to life in prison. A judge ruled that his son, being a minor, was under his father’s control. He was sentenced to a reformatory and released at the age of 21. Upon his release, he moved out of the state and changed his name.

This post first appeared on Nypost.com

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