PA Beverly Withers (Babysitter), 37, & Melanie Gargasz, 4, Neshannock Twp, Nov 6 1975

[Legally Bland]

From August 1976:

Marilyn Gargasz daughter - Newspapers.com


Interview with Melanie's mother from 1996:

New Castle News Newspaper Archives, Nov 7, 1996

 

[Betty P]

Very sad. I did some searching at newspapers.com and found an article about a similar murder in 1978 of a woman who lived nearby, Kathleen Kadunce, and her young daughter. In the blog at the link below, the author seems to think at least one of the men involved in the 1978 murders may have killed Marily Gargasz and her babysitter

Jim Fisher True Crime: Frank Costal and the Kadunce Killings: The Satanic High Priest Murder Case

13 Jul 1978, Page 1 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at Newspapers.com

 

[Legally Bland]

Very sad. I did some searching at newspapers.com and found an article about a similar murder in 1978 of a woman who lived nearby, Kathleen Kadunce, and her young daughter. In the blog at the link below, the author seems to think at least one of the men involved in the 1978 murders may have killed Marily Gargasz and her babysitter

Jim Fisher True Crime: Frank Costal and the Kadunce Killings: The Satanic High Priest Murder Case

13 Jul 1978, Page 1 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at Newspapers.com

Thanks for the links, I'll take a look. I just started a thread for the Kadunces this evening:

GUILTY - PA Kathy, 25, and Dawn Kadunce, 4, 11 July 1978, 2 Convicted, 1 Acquitted

There's also this unsolved case in Pulaski, about 3-4 miles away:

PA - Bonnie 34, Jacqueline 7, & Heather Dryfuse 4, Stephanie Herko 5, Fatally Stabbed, Pulaski, 6/15/94

Again the victims were an adult female and young girls. Maybe I'm being naive, but I imagine these sort of cases to be rare. That's 3 in a very small area. Obviously Costel and Atkinson were incarcerated in 1994, but I can't help but wonder if someone else could also have been involved. (Not saying Costel and Atkinson are innocent, they both seem pretty messed up.)

And in the first two cases the victims were both shot and stabbed. That seems pretty unusual to me.

 

[Betty P]

Thanks for the links, I'll take a look. I just started a thread for the Kadunces this evening:

GUILTY - PA Kathy, 25, and Dawn Kadunce, 4, 11 July 1978, 2 Convicted, 1 Acquitted

There's also this unsolved case in Pulaski, about 3-4 miles away:

PA - Bonnie 34, Jacqueline 7, & Heather Dryfuse 4, Stephanie Herko 5, Fatally Stabbed, Pulaski, 6/15/94

Again the victims were an adult female and young girls. Maybe I'm being naive, but I imagine these sort of cases to be rare. That's 3 in a very small area. Obviously Costel and Atkinson were incarcerated in 1994, but I can't help but wonder if someone else could also have been involved. (Not saying Costel and Atkinson are innocent, they both seem pretty messed up.)

And in the first two cases the victims were both shot and stabbed. That seems pretty unusual to me.

Wow, that is unusual. Yeah, Costel and Atkinson were in jail, but it makes you wonder if there was another local accomplice who managed to escape the attention of LE. 30 years is a big gap, though. What happened to Lou Kadunce? He was the husband of Kathy. Atkinson claimed Lou was also involved in the murder of his wife. I've seen a few posts online from his alleged relatives who indicate he was a strange, creepy person. I wonder if he stayed in the New Castle area?

 

[Legally Bland]

Wow, that is unusual. Yeah, Costel and Atkinson were in jail, but it makes you wonder if there was another local accomplice who managed to escape the attention of LE. 30 years is a big gap, though. What happened to Lou Kadunce? He was the husband of Kathy. Atkinson claimed Lou was also involved in the murder of his wife. I've seen a few posts online from his alleged relatives who indicate he was a strange, creepy person. I wonder if he stayed in the New Castle area?

I read LK moved to Ellwood City after he was acquitted for the murders, but it's only about 13 miles away.

 

[Legally Bland]

There's an interesting post here -

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...y-hi-freshman-mixer.76289/page-3#post-3338597

- about the first 2 cases.