James Rudolph Snyder was born in Camden, New Jersey, on January 2, 1932, to Rex W. Snyder and Anna Jackson. He was the sixth of at least seven children, following Clarence F., Woodley R., Julius, Margaret, and Leroy Snyder. A sister, Florence, was born in 1936. The Snyder family moved to Camden from Philadelphia shortly after Woodley’s birth in 1926. The 1930 Census lists them at 919 South 9th Street, along with Rex’s mother, Jane, and her second husband, Louis Frazier.
The family broke apart in the late 1930s, likely due to Anna Snyder’s passing and Clarence F. Snyder’s death. The 1940 Census shows Woodley living at the New Jersey Home for Boys in Middlesex County, while Julius, Leroy, and James were living with their grandparents, Howard and Caroline Jackson, in Sleepy Hole, Virginia (now part of Suffolk, Virginia). They had been there since at least 1935. By 1940, Rex Snyder was boarding at 904 Douglass Street in Camden, and Jane Frazier had moved to 736 Cherry Street. Margaret Snyder was raised by Chasten and Mary Howard in Pennsauken, New Jersey. By 1942, Rex Snyder lived in the 700 block of Mt. Vernon Street.
In the 1940s, Woodley, Julius, Leroy, and James Snyder returned to Camden. Woodley had been in trouble with the law since age nine and was sent to Jamesburg in 1942 for breaking and entering. After escaping from the Boys Home, he was arrested for possession of stolen goods and sentenced to 10-15 years in prison for severely beating an elderly woman during a robbery. Julius Snyder faced legal issues, including gambling, embezzlement, burglary, and assault, but eventually straightened out. Leroy and James Snyder, however, continued to cause trouble.
Leroy Snyder was arrested in December 1949 for assaulting and attempting to strangle a young woman. After a short prison term, he was sent back to jail for robbing and threatening two young women, receiving a four-year sentence. Following his release in June 1955, he was arrested for robbing a Philadelphia cab driver and sentenced to three to five years. After another release in 1959, he was soon arrested for armed robbery and sentenced to ten years. Released in January 1969, he began a killing spree within six weeks, murdering seven people, including Mrs. Lula Crawley and Mrs. Friedman. Leroy pleaded no defense to seven counts of homicide, preventing a death penalty and receiving three consecutive life terms. He died in prison in October 2001.
James Snyder attended Whittier School before serving in the United States Army, likely as a draftee, and was stationed at Walter Reed Hospital by May 1952, achieving the rank of Corporal. Arrested in Camden for possession of a stolen car, he was fined and turned over to the Army at Fort Dix. Afterward, his life spiraled out of control. Sent to Lorton Reformatory for larceny in Washington, D.C., he committed robbery and murder shortly after his release. Acquitted on grounds of insanity, he was confined to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. He escaped in 1972, returned to Camden, and murdered Mrs. Muskogee Edwards. Her dismembered remains were found, but Snyder wasn’t tried until 1975.
Police searched Mrs. Edwards’ home but found no body. James Snyder had taken extraordinary measures to conceal his crime, and investigators believe he may have eaten her. At a hearing on March 16, 1973, Richard D’Auria, a Camden Police Department detective, testified that on September 20, 1972, the Camden, New Jersey police, investigating the disappearance of Mrs. Muskogee Edwards, went to her house’s basement. In a trash can, they found three fingers, a large amount of human hair, approximately 15 pounds of musk (a mix of lime, cement, and decomposed body tissue), blood-soaked sheets, pillowcases, and a quilt. One finger was identified as Muskogee Edwards’. Also found were a hacksaw, a meat cleaver, a knife, and an axe, all stained with blood. Human hair on the axe and a hacksaw blade matched hair found in Mrs. Edwards’ belongings.
One theory is that James Snyder may have eaten Mrs. Edwards; another is that he used acid to break down her remains. Richard D’Auria wrote in 2019 that without a body, witness, or confession, it took years and a different prosecutor to proceed with the case.
James Snyder was not tried until 1975. He was convicted of first-degree murder but apparently never served time in New Jersey prisons, having been returned to federal custody. Declared criminally insane, Snyder lived out his years at St. Elizabeth’s, passing away on July 16, 2013.
Shortly before his death, Snyder participated in a documentary, Voices From Within, which featured long-term inmates of St. Elizabeth’s forensic unit. The film offered a sanitized view of the inmates, focusing on their current state rather than their crimes and victims. An Amazon.com review of the film suggests it could have been more impactful if it had revealed the patients’ histories, demonstrating how dangerous and manipulative they could be despite appearing docile and sympathetic.
The review criticizes the portrayal, arguing that these men should have been in prison, not a mental hospital, and that their crimes and manipulative nature indicate they are psychopaths. For instance, Lewis Ecker, a diagnosed sexual sadist, rapist, and murderer, raped and murdered a young senator’s aide in the 1960s and continued to exhibit dangerous behavior while committed. Despite repeated petitions for release, his actions necessitated severe restrictions on his freedom.
James Snyder, a Korean War veteran, was committed for murdering his lover. While committed, he exhibited extreme violence, including stabbing a fellow patient 17 times with an ice pick, attacking a staff member with a ball-peen hammer, and killing a woman he was living with after escaping. He was found driving her car and using her checks when recaptured.
The review encourages viewers to research these men, suggesting that lifelong commitment or prison sentences were necessary. It distinguishes between individuals with mental illnesses like schizophrenia, who may commit crimes due to delusions, and manipulative psychopaths like Snyder and Ecker, who managed to avoid prison by staying in a mental hospital. Keeping them away from society was deemed the right decision.
Shortly before his death, James Snyder participated in a documentary, Voices From Within, featuring long-term inmates at St. Elizabeth’s. The film portrayed a sanitized view of these inmates, neglecting the full extent of their crimes. Snyder’s past, including brutal murders and violent behavior, was glossed over, misleading viewers about the true danger these individuals posed.
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James R. Snyder
James Rudolph Snyder was born in Camden, New Jersey, on January 2, 1932, to Rex W. Snyder and Anna Jackson. He was the sixth of at least seven children, following Clarence F., Woodley R., Julius, Margaret, and Leroy Snyder. A sister, Florence, was born in 1936. The Snyder family moved to Camden from Philadelphia shortly…
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United States of America v. James R. Snyder, Appellant
United States of America v. James R. Snyder, Appellant (three Cases), 529 F.2d 871 (D.C. Cir. 1976) US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit – 529 F.2d 871 (D.C. Cir. 1976) Argued Jan. 13, 1975. Decided Jan. 7, 1976. Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/529/871/386785/ Thomas A. Guidoboni, Washington, D.C., with whom Herbert M. Silverberg, Washington,…
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