LA LA - Belle Chasse, WhtMale 16-17, UP88342, hanged, suicide note, Feb'75 #2

[iusedtofloat]

I strongly doubt immigrant parents, his English is too good.

Some people who speak or type the best English have it as their second or third language.

 

[Romulus]

I strongly doubt immigrant parents, his English is too good.

Why not? Think of a Dean Martin and Perry Como, both Italian parents, both spoke only Italian up to a certain age, only spoke abruzzese (a dialect of Italian) which comes from Abruzzo, their region of origin in the center of Italy, yet their English was perfect.

 

[Himako14]

Why not? Think of a Dean Martin and Perry Como, both Italian parents, both spoke only Italian up to a certain age, only spoke abruzzese (a dialect of Italian) which comes from Abruzzo, their region of origin in the center of Italy, yet their English was perfect.

Agreeing with this. Best friend and her twin were born to Italian French parents who immigrated, spoke Italian and French until school age and at home. If you didn’t know them before the age of 16, you would think they were native English speakers. My sister speaks and writes better in French and Flemish than English, and English is her native language.

I wouldn’t rule out an immigrant family.

 

[Romulus]

I think it's difficult to understand his origins from a sketch...He could very well be European, Greek, Italian or French, I don't even rule out that he could be Hispanic or english (scottish, irish etc), even if his face doesn't have Hispanic features; he definitely doesn't look Asian, or Middle Eastern, or Native American.

 

[Ciriii57]

I just think that a child born in the US, after their parents arrived say, would have been educated in English, grown up with English TV & movies and had English speaking friends etc. Even if the parents only spoke another language at home I still think the kid's English would be just as good as anyone around him; and possibly even better.
The handwriting on the letter does intrigue me somewhat. I don't know if it was the style of writing being taught in schools in the US back then; I just found the "I"s unlike anything I have seen before. But I'm not in he US, might be completely normal.

 

[Ciriii57]

I think it's difficult to understand his origins from a sketch...He could very well be European, Greek, Italian or French, I don't even rule out that he could be Hispanic or english (scottish, irish etc), even if his face doesn't have Hispanic features; he definitely doesn't look Asian, or Middle Eastern, or Native American.

I agree. It is not possible to ascertain his specific national origins with the info we have. He is most probably caucasian/hispanic, but thats a huge variety of different ethnicities from all over the world. I wouldn't rule out middle-Eastern; he could well be Lebanese or Iranian for instance.

The best we can say is that he was in the USA and his parents also lived in the USA (most probably).

 

[Romulus]

What I would like to say is that for example here in Italy, many people born in southern Italy (Sicily, Calabria, Puglia and Sardinia) are very dark-skinned and have brown or black eyes, they almost look like North Africans or arab and yet they are Italians, so many people in northern Italy appear to be Scandinavian or Eastern European due to their light skin and blue or green eyes; really difficult, personally I would look among the French and Italians since Louisiana was full of these families coming from these states.

 

[BayouBelle_LA]

What I would like to say is that for example here in Italy, many people born in southern Italy (Sicily, Calabria, Puglia and Sardinia) are very dark-skinned and have brown or black eyes, they almost look like North Africans or arab and yet they are Italians, so many people in northern Italy appear to be Scandinavian or Eastern European due to their light skin and blue or green eyes; really difficult, personally I would look among the French and Italians since Louisiana was full of these families coming from these states.

South Louisiana has a large number of French Canadians (Acadians). Some chose to settle in Louisiana after ‘The Great Upheavel’ around the 1750’s. Physical characteristics are olive skin with dark hair and eyes. imo

I just think that a child born in the US, after their parents arrived say, would have been educated in English, grown up with English TV & movies and had English speaking friends etc. Even if the parents only spoke another language at home I still think the kid's English would be just as good as anyone around him; and possibly even better.
The handwriting on the letter does intrigue me somewhat. I don't know if it was the style of writing being taught in schools in the US back then; I just found the "I"s unlike anything I have seen before. But I'm not in he US, might be completely normal.

That’s an interesting observation about the letter I. That’s how I was taught to make them back in the day. I was educated in south Louisiana. fwiw

 

[Ciriii57]

That’s an interesting observation about the letter I. That’s how I was taught to make them back in the day. I was educated in south Louisiana. fwiw

Now that is interesting to hear! Was US handwriting that was taught standardised or could it vary?
(The writing is what I would call fancy, so I admire your letter I greatly haha)

 

[Sweetluv]

At first, because it looked "fancy," I thought it was written by a female. Do we know if it's actually the original?

 

[Beekarina]

South Louisiana has a large number of French Canadians (Acadians). Some chose to settle in Louisiana after ‘The Great Upheavel’ around the 1750’s. Physical characteristics are olive skin with dark hair and eyes. imo

That’s an interesting observation about the letter I. That’s how I was taught to make them back in the day. I was educated in south Louisiana. fwiw

There are a lot of "Savoie/Savoy", as an example.

Also, sorry I did not get to Bayard Cousins yet. Will make an effort this evening. We have an obit for one or both parents here as well somewhere, right?

 

[Ciriii57]

At first, because it looked "fancy," I thought it was written by a female. Do we know if it's actually the original?

Hey not all us males write like serial killers ....nah, nah you're right my writing is atrocious! Haha

Since the letter was published in one of the early newspaper articles I'm thinking it is the original; but that's just a guess.

 

[Sweetluv]

I'm a female and my writing is questionable lol (I blame it on being left handed) I wonder if LE questioned hotels in the area to see if it was one of their bedsheets? Also, I read there was a dry cleaning number on his trousers dd42 or dd44 I believe..anyone else read this?

 

[Ciriii57]

I'm a female and my writing is questionable lol (I blame it on being left handed) I wonder if LE questioned hotels in the area to see if it was one of their bedsheets? Also, I read there was a dry cleaning number on his trousers dd42 or dd44 I believe..anyone else read this?

Yes I do remember reading that, but I guess it was never traced (can you trace a dry cleaning number?)
It would be interesting to know what hotels we're in the area, I mean there were barely any houses so I can imagine a hotel. I suppose it was probably in Belle Chasse which is the closest big town.
I've always found the bedsheet a weird choice if I'm honest. If I had been thinking of suicide for a year I'd probably have found the time to go and buy a rope. A sheet seems quite spur of the moment as something you just had handy at the time. And also quite an ineffectual noose.

 

[summergirl1]

I wonder if the half way house in Memphis had any places they used for dry cleaning? The dry cleaning tag was found in the pants.

 

[carbuff]

Now that is interesting to hear! Was US handwriting that was taught standardised or could it vary?
(The writing is what I would call fancy, so I admire your letter I greatly haha)

His handwriting appears to be standard American cursive, same thing I learned in school in the late sixties. It's somewhat simplified from really fancy writing, like the Palmer method (pointer to sample on Wikipedia Palmer Method - Wikipedia)

Here's a pointer to the chart many of us learned from: Cursive - Wikipedia

We got graded on how accurately we could reproduce those shapes.

 

[Ciriii57]

His handwriting appears to be standard American cursive, same thing I learned in school in the late sixties. It's somewhat simplified from really fancy writing, like the Palmer method (pointer to sample on Wikipedia Palmer Method - Wikipedia)

Here's a pointer to the chart many of us learned from: Cursive - Wikipedia

We got graded on how accurately we could reproduce those shapes.

Thanks! There's that I haha OK so this was pretty standard to learn all over so the handwriting doesn't help narrow down a location, good to know though.
Wow though this writing is so much nicer than anything I was taught!

 

[Beekarina]

Are we fairly certain Marcia is Bayard's mother? I am also not finding anything else that seems to fit, so will look based on this unless someone chimes in with something else.

Edited--OK, I found her college yearbook pics and there is a fairly strong resemblance, so I will go ahead.

 

[carbuff]

Thanks! There's that I haha OK so this was pretty standard to learn all over so the handwriting doesn't help narrow down a location, good to know though.
Wow though this writing is so much nicer than anything I was taught!

It was widespread but more common in rural and smaller schools. One of the complaints about what were called "inner city" schools was that they didn't teach proper cursive. And not everybody bothered to learn it. My brother is only two years younger but not a good student and his writing is...chicken scratchy.

So I would take his handwriting to hint that he was more likely a good student in a mainstream school. I would tend to rule out somebody who immigrated as a teenager, because different countries have different styles. European for instance is pointier rather than rounded.

The other thing I noticed is that his handwriting is extremely neat and tidy. This is not a common characteristic of cursive writing Most people by the time they're his age have started to go sloppy. (I did wonder whether this is the original or if somebody in the coroner's office transcribed it.

 

[carbuff]

Funny enough, I'm a Cousins, Wallace fan but if you told me to guess from photo only, I'll double down on Orin.

I'm not sold on Wallace; in the years I've been on the UID forum here, I've seen a number of can't-miss matches that turned out to be just coincidentally close but the the one.

Earl Joggerst intrigues me. I think somebody suggested him early in this thread.

5401DMMO - Earl Anthony Joggerst