The East Broad Street Murders (colloquially 'The Five Smiles Murders') are an unsolved quintuple homicide which took place over the night of September 1-2, 1957, in Savannah, Georgia.
The victims were Jeanette Radcliff (nee Johnston; born June 3, 1932); Desiree Perkins (born January 5, 1932); Katherine "Kit" Mulholland (born December 17, 1931); Susan Getty (nee Prescott, born April 9, 1933); and Susan's sister, Louise "Polly" Prescott (born March 3, 1938).
Above, Left: John and Jeanette on their wedding day, 1956. Right: Jeanette Radcliff
Background
A year prior to the murders, in July 1956, newlyweds Jeanette and Doctor John Radcliff (born June 23, 1928 in Cary, North Carolina), relocated to Savannah from North Carolina when John accepted a psychiatric residency at St. Johns Hall Sanitarium, and moved into the house at 56 East Broad Street.
Though neighbors would later claim the young couple was very obviously in love, John's work at the hospital was demanding, and his bride was often left at home alone for days at a time. To remedy her loneliness, Jeanette would invite friends from North Carolina to visit - sometimes staying for weeks at a time.
At the time of the murders, Jeanette was hosting four guests in the house at East Broad Street: Desiree Perkins, Kit Mulholland, and sisters Susan Getty and Polly Prescott.
Above: police remove the body of Susan Getty from 56 E Broad Street
Murders and Discovery
At around 7 pm on the evening of September 1, Jeanette, Desiree, Kit, Susan and Polly had dinner and drinks at Chart House. Several hours later, a witness recounted seeing the women walking arm in arm down River Street, in the direction of the Radcliff residence.
The witness recalled the women seeming "merry" and "a bit giggly," but "certainly not overly intoxicated." He would be the last to see the five women alive.
The following morning, Doctor John Radcliff returned home from a long shift at the sanitarium. There, in the parlor of his home, he made the grizzly discovery that would change his life.
Five mutilated corpses were arranged in a circle, each with a brown paper bag placed over the head. The murderer had slashed each victim's face from ear to ear, and the resulting blood seeped through the paper bag and gave the appearance of a bloody smile. Local newspapers sensationalized this detail, and later coined the term 'The Five Smiles Murders.'
Above: John Radcliff, pictured at St. Johns Hall Sanitarium in 1958
Aftermath
John Radcliff initially told police he had been at work during the time of the murders. When he failed to substantiate his alibi, he became the prime suspect of the investigation. His behavior became increasingly erratic, leading to him being institutionalized at the same mental hospital where he was once employed. Though he remained the sole suspect of the murder investigation, police were unable to produce evidence connecting him with the killings.
As a patient at the sanitarium, John's mental state continued to deteriorate. He was obsessed with the murders, and began covering his face with sheets of paper, similar to the paper bags worn by the victims when they were discovered.
In 1995, 38 years after the murders, St. Johns Hall was decomissioned. It was only then that it was revealed that John Radcliff hadn't been a patient of the hospital for over 30 years. He had gone missing three decades prior and, in an effort to avoid hysteria, the hospital never made the news of his escape public. To this day, John Radcliff's whereabouts remain unknown.