Mary Bowerman

USA TODAY Network

The man convicted of murdering New York bartender Kitty Genovese — an infamous 1964 knife attack in which dozens of citizens reportedly heard her cries for help but failed to intervene — has died in prison, officials said Monday.

Winston Moseley, 81, died at a Dannemora, N.Y., prison on March 28, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesman Thomas Mailey told The Associated Press. Mailey said an autopsy will confirm Moseley's cause of death.

Genovese's death gave birth to the psychological notion of the "bystander effect" after reports that neighbors heard her screams during the knife attack but did nothing to help her. Those claims were later disputed.

Moseley spent more than 50 years in prison for the rape and murder of Genovese, as well as a slew of other crimes, some of which were committed when he briefly escaped prison in 1968, Reuters reported.

Moseley, who did not know Genovese, followed the 28-year-old bar manager as she left work on March 13, 1964.

Voices: On a grim anniversary, new fears over crime

Around 3 a.m., Moseley attacked Genovese on a street in Queens, briefly fled the scene, then returned to stab her repeatedly and rape her just steps from her apartment.

Shortly after Genovese's chilling murder, the New York Times reported that "38 respectable, law‐abiding cit­izens in Queens watched a killer stalk and stab a woman" but did nothing.

Initial reports that multiple people ignored Genovese’s cries for help sparked the popularity of the “bystander effect,” the idea that large groups of people make individuals less likely to come to a victim's aid.

On Monday, the Times noted that the initial article exaggerated the number of people who ignored Genovese's cries for help, and said that many did not witness the attack in its entirety.

Genovese died on the way to the hospital.

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