Murder of Arthur Collins

On the evening of October 9, 1965, Arthur Collins, with his wife Christine, and their 15-month-old daughter, Patricia, headed home after a visit at his uncle's home in the Bronx. The family boarded a southbound subway at 149th Street, the same time that a young man boarded, who was later described as being about 20 years old and drunk. Once on the train, the man stepped on the foot of an elderly woman and leaned against another elderly woman, all while yelling curses. Collins, who noticed the women were too scared to confront their harasser, asked the man to leave the train as they approached the 125th Street station. The man ignored Collins and continued cursing. Collins then handed his daughter to his wife, approached the assailant, pulled him to his feet and threw him onto the subway platform. The man immediately re-entered the train, drew a switchblade, and stabbed Collins in the chest before fleeing. Collins staggered out of the train, which still had not left the station, and collapsed on the platform. Within minutes, he died in front of his wife and child.[8][9][10] The murder occurred less than an hour before the Transit Authority's anticrime patrol were to begin their shift.[11]

While employed as a computer programmer for Pan American Airways, Collins was paid an annual salary of $6,000, but without life insurance, his wife was left without income to support herself and their child. In an effort to assist, Pan American employed her at their data processing unit with the payrate of $90 per week. However, in order to work, Christine, was forced to send her daughter to live with her mother in her hometown of Lehrberg, Germany.[3]

On December 2, 1965, Christine testified at a public hearing before a New York State joint legislative committee, stating that financial compensation, "would go far in easing at least my financial loss and in bringing me and my daughter back together again."[19] This testimony contributed to a growing public outcry for the assistance of Christine and her child.

The City of New York passed a bill on December 29, 1965 that would award financial assistance, determined by New York City Board of Estimate, to the families of those hurt or killed while assisting a victim of a violent crime.[4]

The New York State Senate passed a bill on July 5, 1966, that would allow innocent victims of crime to receive as much as $15,000 in compensation from the state. State Assembly Minority Leader, Moses Weinstein, who sponsored the bill, said, "For the first time, the state recognizes that it has a responsibility to be interested in what happens to the victim of a crime."[20]

Weinstein's bill was signed into law by Governor Rockefeller on August 1, 1966, creating the Crime Victims Compensation Board.[21][7] During the board's first year of existence, it accepted 196 claims. The board eventually transitioned into what is now Office of Victim Services, a state agency that provides compensation to all eligible victims of crime and helps fund programs throughout the state that provide services to crime victims.[7]

On October 14, 1966, a year and five days after Arthur Collins's murder, the Board of Estimate approved an annual compensation of $4,420 to his widow. The payments were to be paid retroactively (from the date of the murder) for the rest of her life or until she remarried. Christine Collins was the first person in New York State to be awarded victim compensation.[9][22][23]