In 1980 a series of racially motivated shootings terrorised Buffalo and Western New York. The newspapers called the gunman "the .22-Caliber Killer." The man eventually arrested was Joseph Christopher, a 25-year-old from Buffalo who had recently enlisted in the Army.
Investigators linked Christopher to a string of killings and stabbings of Black men in Buffalo and New York City in 1980 and early 1981. He was convicted of murder, and he died in prison in 1993. The case shocked the region and became a national story at a time of high racial tension across the United States.
The reporter who was there
Joey 22 is written by Matt Gryta, the Buffalo News reporter who covered the killings, Christopher's arrest and the long legal process that followed. Because Gryta was present throughout, he gives a unique perspective on the crimes and their effect on Western New York. He presents the facts in the context of the time, when the killings were widely seen as a symptom of deeper racial problems in American cities.
True to his roots, Gryta has written a detailed, fact-based account that never tips into melodrama or wild speculation. The facts have enough drama on their own, and he presents them so that this true story reads like a first-rate thriller. One of the most striking elements is the inclusion of material from the psychiatric evaluation prepared for the defence, which gives the killer's own account of events and another window into his mind.
Our verdict
This is a gripping account that takes the confusing twists of a complicated case and makes them clear and absorbing. Christopher's crimes are hard to fathom and probably impossible to understand fully, but Joey 22 gives the reader a clear view of the crimes, the killer, and the time and place in which they happened. Highly recommended for readers of true crime, local history and criminology.
About the author
Matt Gryta is a veteran crime reporter who spent around four decades at the Buffalo News covering crime, punishment and the courts in New York State. Early in his career he served as a U.S. Army correspondent during the Vietnam War, and he has appeared on television documentaries about cases he covered.
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