The Central Pennsylvania Assaults

Assaults Committed by Hoy Houck, Centre County and Clinton County December 1940-September 1941

  1. Emma (Kull) Crossley, December 7, 1940, Bellefonte. Attacked while walking home from her husband’s jewelry store at 10:30pm. Wilmer E. Crossley owned a jewelry store on North Allegheny St. The couple lived at 404 Bishop St.. The attack was not reported in the newspaper.
  2. Annie  (Anna Andrews) Miller, December 10, 1940, Bellefonte. Attacked while walking from her job at the Centre County Home to her home on South Spring St. The attack occurred at 8:30pm.
  3. Sara Cunningham, December 13, 1940, Bellefonte. Attacked late in the evening on Halfmoon Hill. Worked at the Bellefonte Water Department.
  4. Mary Elizabeth Sloop, December 26, 1940, Bellefonte. Attacked late in the evening near her home on East Curtin St. Worked as a stenographer.
  5. Sarah Rhoads Lucas, December 28, 1940, Coleville. Attacked while walking home from work at 10:30pm.
  6. Ellen Hassinger, February 25, 1941, Bellefonte. Attacked near her home on East Curtin St. at 11pm, after having gotten off the bus from State College, where she was a student and part-time secretary. In May 1940, she reported a “peeping Tom” at her home.
  7. Lena (Pettingill) Waite, March 20, 1941, State College. Attacked near the Penn State campus at 9pm.
  8. Grace Gray, March 24, 1941, State College. A senior at State College High School, Gray was attacked on West Nittany Avenue.
  9. Betty Schenck, April 19, 1941, Howard. A student at Howard High School, she was attacked while walking home at 10:30pm.
  10. Bonna Teichert, June 10, 1941, State College. Attacked in front of her home in State College at 11pm. She received serious head injuries.   
  11. Dorothy Orner, June 16, 1941, Lock Haven. In the first attack outside of Centre County, she was attacked after leaving work at the Pennsylvania Woven Wire factory.
  12. Dorothy Peters, June 23, 1941. Lock Haven. A 15-year old Lock Haven High School student, she was attacked while walking home from the carnival at 11pm. Her head injuries required a month of hospitalization.
  13. Kathryn Breon, July 15, 1941. State College. A 20-year old graduate of State College High School, she was attacked while walking home from a friend’s house.
  14. Emily Williams, August 1, 1941. Lock Haven. A resident of Jersey Shore who was attending summer school at Lock Haven, she was attacked while walking home at 10:30pm. The attack resulted in a fractured skull.
  15. Arlene Lyons, August 18, 1941, Bellefonte. A 16-year old high school student, she was attacked while walking on the outskirts of town. Her injuries required hospitalization.
  16. Elaine Brungart, August 29, 1941, Millheim, Attacked while walking home from work at the local 5&10.
  17. Ruth Andrews, September 4, 1941. Lock Haven. Attacked while walking home near the Lock Haven campus at 10pm. Hoy Houck was arrested minutes after the attack.

In each case, the victim was alone and was attacked at night. In all but one case, the victim was attacked from behind. In most cases, a weapon, often described as a wrench, was used. In other cases, Houck used his fists. Though some cases were described as purse snatchings, robbery was not a motive. Instead, as Houck himself explained, he felt an uncontrollable impulse to attack his victims and he received a thrill from hearing them scream.