Richard Renner was a 20-year-old Black man stabbed in midtown Manhattan late on the evening of December 22, 1980. The attack occurred at about 10:40 p.m., later accounts placing the stabbing at a candy store on 49th Street. He was taken for medical treatment but died from a chest wound.

Renner’s killing came near the end of a single day in which a lone attacker struck multiple victims across Manhattan. Contemporary investigators linked six attacks that day, with four fatalities and two survivors, and noted similarities in approach and the chest-directed, unusually forceful stabbing technique. Police mounted a large manhunt and circulated a composite drawing.

Investigators later identified Army private Joseph Gerard Christopher as the central suspect in the broader spree and brought Manhattan charges related to other victims, but Christopher was not charged at trial with Renner’s murder. Renner is nevertheless historically associated with the Midtown Slasher attacks. If anyone knew Richard Renner or saw activity near 49th Street on December 22, 1980, please share what can help this case.