Found Deceased MA - Henry Bedard, 15, found murdered, Swampscott, 16 Dec 1974

[UnlicensedPI]

It's making me do this in two parts. Again, sorry for the photo quality:

 

[UnlicensedPI]

 

[Betty P]

Thanks! Is the top of the hill the area that connects to the residential street?

Great photos!

You make a good point about the observant neighbors. If they had seen someone coming out of the woods that night/evening they probably would have recognized a local kid and would certainly noticed if it was a stranger. Seems likely it was someone local, as you say, someone close to Henry's age who knew where the hang out spot was located and probably hung out there himself.

It's possible he left in the other direction, towards the city garage area because he knew the people on Suffolk Ave would recognize him.

Either way, that's one heck of a hill to climb up and down. Imagine how difficult that was on a cold, rainy evening just before Christmas.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Thanks! Is the top of the hill the area that connects to the residential street?

Great photos!

The first photo I posted was the one taken basically at the entrance with my back to the street. All of the pictures I took were looking inward towards the path. The Google maps images from Suffolk Ave give a pretty accurate view of the area.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I think my friend's dad, the baseball player, used to live on Suffolk Ave...I don't know when he lived there or if it was around the time of the murder, if he would have noticed anything, etc. I'll have to ask about the timeline there.

 

[Betty P]

The first photo I posted was the one taken basically at the entrance with my back to the street. All of the pictures I took were looking inward towards the path. The Google maps images from Suffolk Ave give a pretty accurate view of the area.

Thanks! I looked at it on Google Maps, too. I think I can match your photos with that now. It sure looks like the area farther along would be hidden from anyone on Suffolk Ave. No wonder the kids liked to hang out there, its kind of secluded. You mention, though that you could still hear sounds from Suffolk Ave, so sound still carried?

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Thanks! I looked at it on Google Maps, too. I think I can match your photos with that now. It sure looks like the area farther along would be hidden from anyone on Suffolk Ave. No wonder the kids liked to hang out there, its kind of secluded. You mention, though that you could still hear sounds from Suffolk Ave, so sound still carried?

I could hear sounds from Suffolk Ave (a house party, I kid you not they were playing Peanut Butter Jelly Time and i could hear it well) and cars from Paradise Road. I think residents would be able to hear gunshots or screaming, but in the winter with all the windows closed, maybe not an argument or a beating with a bat. But if residents back then were as aware of their surroundings, I think they'd notice two kids going in but only one coming out.

I also didn't notice any other easily accessible entrances/exits. Also notable, one backyard borders the area. Most of the houses on the street are duplexes, so there are more residents than you'd think.

 

[Betty P]

I could hear sounds from Suffolk Ave (a house party, I kid you not they were playing Peanut Butter Jelly Time and i could hear it well) and cars from Paradise Road. I think residents would be able to hear gunshots or screaming, but in the winter with all the windows closed, maybe not an argument or a beating with a bat. But if residents back then were as aware of their surroundings, I think they'd notice two kids going in but only one coming out.

I also didn't notice any other easily accessible entrances/exits. Also notable, one backyard borders the area. Most of the houses on the street are duplexes, so there are more residents than you'd think.

Yes, due to the winter weather when Henry was killed, people had their windows closed and probably didn't hear anything. There probably weren't many folks outside, either.

 

[Betty P]

I could hear sounds from Suffolk Ave (a house party, I kid you not they were playing Peanut Butter Jelly Time and i could hear it well) and cars from Paradise Road. I think residents would be able to hear gunshots or screaming, but in the winter with all the windows closed, maybe not an argument or a beating with a bat. But if residents back then were as aware of their surroundings, I think they'd notice two kids going in but only one coming out.

I also didn't notice any other easily accessible entrances/exits. Also notable, one backyard borders the area. Most of the houses on the street are duplexes, so there are more residents than you'd think.

Yes, due to the winter weather when Henry was killed, people had their windows closed and probably didn't hear anything.

Remember, though, there were two 10 year old kids going to a birthday party at 4 pm that afternoon on Suffolk. Their friend was Cliff Goodman. They found Henry's empty wallet and the perfume in the woods near the end of the road. It's in this article from 2004

16 Dec 2004, 74 - The Boston Globe at Newspapers.com

They left the items on a ledge in the woods behind Goodman's house where the birthday party was being held. The next day, the kids told their friend about what they had found. After school, about 2:30 pm, they met and went back to the woods to find the wallet and perfume. As they looked around, they spotted Henry's body. Poor kids, it really traumatized them.

There's no mention of the two boys seeing anyone that day. The kids must have wandered back into the woods a little ways to have found the items, because when they went to retrieve them the next day, they saw Henry's body nearby. IDK. But they just missed seeing the killer the day of the murder, because the birthday party started at 4 pm.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Yes, due to the winter weather when Henry was killed, people had their windows closed and probably didn't hear anything.

Remember, though, there were two 10 year old kids going to a birthday party at 4 pm that afternoon on Suffolk. Their friend was Cliff Goodman. They found Henry's empty wallet and the perfume in the woods near the end of the road. It's in this article from 2004

16 Dec 2004, 74 - The Boston Globe at Newspapers.com

They left the items on a ledge in the woods behind Goodman's house where the birthday party was being held. The next day, the kids told their friend about what they had found. After school, about 2:30 pm, they met and went back to the woods to find the wallet and perfume. As they looked around, they spotted Henry's body. Poor kids, it really traumatized them.

There's no mention of the two boys seeing anyone that day. The kids must have wandered back into the woods a little ways to have found the items, because when they went to retrieve them the next day, they saw Henry's body nearby. IDK. But they just missed seeing the killer the day of the murder, because the birthday party started at 4 pm.

I just can't shake the feeling the killer lives close to SV. The kids didn't see anyone, the neighbors didn't see anyone, if someone had the wherewithal to change their clothes they would have taken the bat too...I thought maybe the killer had a gym bag with a change of clothes and the bat but it doesn't make sense to leave it behind. It's not really visually secluded enough to be confident no one would see you change clothes. With the kind of rage shown against Henry, I don't think the killer would calmly walk/drive away either. These neighbors would definitely notice someone running/peeling out of the neighborhood. I think they must have left via Suffolk Ave though because Paradise Road is a main road with heavy traffic and you're much more likely to be spotted if you're going anywhere. I'm convinced the killer was already home by the time the kids found Henry's belongings. I just have a creepy "he was right there the whole time" feeling about it.

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

I have zero doubt that the killer lived close by. The reason no one saw anything is because the killer "belonged' in the neighborhood, so he didn't raise any suspicion

Ive often wondered why the bat was left at the scene. Was the killer worried about being seen with a (presumably bloody) bat that he left it there (oblivious to the prospects of fingerprints being found)

OR did the killer leave it there accidently in his haste to escape the scene?

 

[Betty P]

I have zero doubt that the killer lived close by. The reason no one saw anything is because the killer "belonged' in the neighborhood, so he didn't raise any suspicion

Ive often wondered why the bat was left at the scene. Was the killer worried about being seen with a (presumably bloody) bat that he left it there (oblivious to the prospects of fingerprints being found)

OR did the killer leave it there accidently in his haste to escape the scene?

Hard to say if they panicked or didn't want to be seen with it going home. News articles linked above (the one from 2004 was very good) stated that the bat was found 50 ft away from Henry's body, so it could be the killer was walking out of the woods with the bat before deciding to leave it there. He did take the time to cover up the body with leaves, etc. Perhaps on the way out of the woods, he saw someone walking or driving on Suffolk Ave and decided to leave the bat behind.

It was a definite "rage" killing. The ME/Coroner determined Henry was struck 5 times in the head. The damage was so bad, they first thought he had been shot. It also seems likely the crime scene got trampled quite a bit by the kids who first went back there and later by LE and others who showed up at the crime scene. They did eventually close it off, but the 2004 article said LE was not able to retrieve any footprint evidence because of the rain and mud.

Here's an image I found in the news article of the marking on the end of the bat

 

[Livingston1900]

The one thing that makes zero sense is why did he go from Vinnin Square to SV in the winter? The route from Vinnin Square to Henry's house on McCarthur Circle would not take him there. He was meeting someone!

 

[djtopcat]

Leaving the murder weapon (bat) at the scene is a rookie mistake. So is doing a hasty body cover up after the crime. This wasn't done by someone with experience, I'm thinking a schoolmate who lived near the crime scene. It's eerily similar to the 1983 Patrick Cress murder case I'm struggling with. Same type of brutal head beating with a blunt object and amateur hour body concealment. From what I've read the viciousness of the blows tells me it was a personal attack in complete uncontrolled rage. Bedard was an athlete even a frontal bat attack he would have defended and had defensive wounds on his arms to protect his head. Does anyone know if the police have made public the area of his head which was hit? I'm going to assume the top/back of his head. That would be either an ambush attack from behind, or he turned to walk away thinking things were cool and the killer swung at him. That would have to be someone he knew then. Someone earlier said it could have been someone who brought the bat to meet Henry because he knew Henry was bigger and stronger and wanted to even the odds. I think unless some magic DNA is found on that bat, solving this case is just going to have to come from someone with a guilty conscience coming forward. As it was in 1974 percentages say a lot of the persons of interest could be dead by now. Same thing is happening on the case I'm helping with. The cops say things like "we really would have loved to talk to so and so...but he committed suicide or died in a car accident"
BUT! Even though deceased these people still had families, friends, co-workers, cell mates etc etc who they may have confided in while getting drunk. The answer is out there just have to keep saturating social media and the small town until you get some answers. Most important of all do not give up!

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Leaving the murder weapon (bat) at the scene is a rookie mistake. So is doing a hasty body cover up after the crime. This wasn't done by someone with experience, I'm thinking a schoolmate who lived near the crime scene. It's eerily similar to the 1983 Patrick Cress murder case I'm struggling with. Same type of brutal head beating with a blunt object and amateur hour body concealment. From what I've read the viciousness of the blows tells me it was a personal attack in complete uncontrolled rage. Bedard was an athlete even a frontal bat attack he would have defended and had defensive wounds on his arms to protect his head. Does anyone know if the police have made public the area of his head which was hit? I'm going to assume the top/back of his head. That would be either an ambush attack from behind, or he turned to walk away thinking things were cool and the killer swung at him. That would have to be someone he knew then. Someone earlier said it could have been someone who brought the bat to meet Henry because he knew Henry was bigger and stronger and wanted to even the odds. I think unless some magic DNA is found on that bat, solving this case is just going to have to come from someone with a guilty conscience coming forward. As it was in 1974 percentages say a lot of the persons of interest could be dead by now. Same thing is happening on the case I'm helping with. The cops say things like "we really would have loved to talk to so and so...but he committed suicide or died in a car accident"
BUT! Even though deceased these people still had families, friends, co-workers, cell mates etc etc who they may have confided in while getting drunk. The answer is out there just have to keep saturating social media and the small town until you get some answers. Most important of all do not give up!

I just want to clarify that Henry was a small guy. He was not physically imposing, but he was brave and never backed down from a fight. I think this attack could have been motivated by rage or by fear.

 

[Tommy2step]

Does anyone know if LE. looked into Albert F. Moore as a suspect?

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Does anyone know if LE. looked into Albert F. Moore as a suspect?

This guy?
FindLaw's United States First Circuit case and opinions.

Why would he be a suspect...?

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

I have no idea why Moore would be a suspect. I don't think there is any connection between Moore and Bedard.

 

[Tommy2step]

I hear you. Its a bit of a reach, BUT in 3 months time, it will be 45 years since Henry was murdered. That is 45 Christmases, 45 Thanksgivings, 45 Birthdays... The hope that one of Henry's classmates or a kid in town who saw something is now around 60 years old and is overwhelmed with guilt and will finally be able to come forward is fading out - if it hasn't already. In other words, if they've been able to live with it for almost 45 years, they're not coming forward anytime soon. This case needs to consider an "outside the box" theory. In looking at the few articles available regarding Henry's murder, one mentions that the last murder in the area previous to this was that of Donald Rimer - August 1972. Rimer was a businessman who was the owner/developer of the Summit Estates Apartment Complex in Vinnin Square. He was murdered in his sleep by Moore with a lug wrench borrowed from a co-worker - Blunt Trauma to the head. While this murder occurred in 1972, LE didn't catch up to Moore until 1976 - he was indicted in January and convicted 6/18/76...SO, what does this have to do with Henry Bedard's murder. Well, Moore obviously knew the area well (Vinnin Square), he had a history of/tendency toward violence, was smart enough to "borrow" a weapon (wrench) instead of using one of his, didn't give his victim the chance to fight back. What would the motive be in killing Henry be? What was the connection with Henry? Here's my theory, based on nothing but speculation. One of the prevailing theories is that Henry owned someone money OR was trying to get back money owed to him...most likely a classmate or other kid in town. Maybe Henry doesn't want to pay it back. This other kid is talking about it to his family - maybe an uncle, cousin or older brother - i.e., " This kid at school owes me money! Its pissing me off !!". Lets say its an uncle who tells the kid, "Don't worry...we'll get your money back and teach that punk a lesson". A meeting is arranged and Henry walks into a trap. Maybe he doesn't see the uncle who is hiding. Henry gets blindsided/distracted and "teaching him a lesson" goes too far for the adult - who has killed before. The nephew/other kid is shaken, but is smart enough to keep his mouth shut. What is he going to say? And to who? The kid lives with it...especially after family member is sent to jail for the rest of his life. Now, why was the bat left at the scene?? Why not? The bat was likely borrowed, stolen or maybe found while doing work on a project/someone's home . Once the story got out regarding the bat, who is going to come forward and shout, 'Yep, that's my bat or that's my uncle's or cousin's bat. No kid is doing that. Didn't one of the articles state that the bat was sent out for testing in 2004? Thats 15 years ago...has anything come of that?

To me, it was an adult who committed this crime. From all accounts, Henry might have been on the smallish side, but was scrappy. He might have been able to defend himself against someone his size with a bat, but not an adult male as well. Why did this happen at SV?? As another poster previously stated, its winter time - cold and rainy. So, who would be out? And who wouldn't look out of place? A guy with a truck near the DPW .

Just my theory. If nothing else, maybe it gets people to think and maybe it gets 1 person to remember things differently.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I hear you. Its a bit of a reach, BUT in 3 months time, it will be 45 years since Henry was murdered. That is 45 Christmases, 45 Thanksgivings, 45 Birthdays... The hope that one of Henry's classmates or a kid in town who saw something is now around 60 years old and is overwhelmed with guilt and will finally be able to come forward is fading out - if it hasn't already. In other words, if they've been able to live with it for almost 45 years, they're not coming forward anytime soon. This case needs to consider an "outside the box" theory. In looking at the few articles available regarding Henry's murder, one mentions that the last murder in the area previous to this was that of Donald Rimer - August 1972. Rimer was a businessman who was the owner/developer of the Summit Estates Apartment Complex in Vinnin Square. He was murdered in his sleep by Moore with a lug wrench borrowed from a co-worker - Blunt Trauma to the head. While this murder occurred in 1972, LE didn't catch up to Moore until 1976 - he was indicted in January and convicted 6/18/76...SO, what does this have to do with Henry Bedard's murder. Well, Moore obviously knew the area well (Vinnin Square), he had a history of/tendency toward violence, was smart enough to "borrow" a weapon (wrench) instead of using one of his, didn't give his victim the chance to fight back. What would the motive be in killing Henry be? What was the connection with Henry? Here's my theory, based on nothing but speculation. One of the prevailing theories is that Henry owned someone money OR was trying to get back money owed to him...most likely a classmate or other kid in town. Maybe Henry doesn't want to pay it back. This other kid is talking about it to his family - maybe an uncle, cousin or older brother - i.e., " This kid at school owes me money! Its pissing me off !!". Lets say its an uncle who tells the kid, "Don't worry...we'll get your money back and teach that punk a lesson". A meeting is arranged and Henry walks into a trap. Maybe he doesn't see the uncle who is hiding. Henry gets blindsided/distracted and "teaching him a lesson" goes too far for the adult - who has killed before. The nephew/other kid is shaken, but is smart enough to keep his mouth shut. What is he going to say? And to who? The kid lives with it...especially after family member is sent to jail for the rest of his life. Now, why was the bat left at the scene?? Why not? The bat was likely borrowed, stolen or maybe found while doing work on a project/someone's home . Once the story got out regarding the bat, who is going to come forward and shout, 'Yep, that's my bat or that's my uncle's or cousin's bat. No kid is doing that. Didn't one of the articles state that the bat was sent out for testing in 2004? Thats 15 years ago...has anything come of that?

To me, it was an adult who committed this crime. From all accounts, Henry might have been on the smallish side, but was scrappy. He might have been able to defend himself against someone his size with a bat, but not an adult male as well. Why did this happen at SV?? As another poster previously stated, its winter time - cold and rainy. So, who would be out? And who wouldn't look out of place? A guy with a truck near the DPW .

Just my theory. If nothing else, maybe it gets people to think and maybe it gets 1 person to remember things differently.

I hear what you're saying but Moore lived in New Hampshire and I'm not sure he was from around here. He just worked here. He and Rimer seemed to have great animosity towards each other and the murder was deeply personal. I think the murders are too different in nature and manner to be related. JMO