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

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

Are we all ready to dismiss the 3 person theory recently put forth here?

Lot if holes in that theory, starting with why did these persons from Lynn travel to Swampscot to smoke weed.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

Are we all ready to dismiss the 3 person theory recently put forth here?

Lot if holes in that theory, starting with why did these persons from Lynn travel to Swampscot to smoke weed.

No, and we shouldn't be. One was from Swampscott. It doesn't exactly require much travel from Lynn to get there, it's literally blocks away from the border and just behind one suspect's home (at the time). I still believe this theory <modsnip>

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

So the subject carried a bat with him from Lynn to Swampscott? That kind of thing may stick out as odd....especially in December. Someone would have a remembered a kid carrying a bat after news got out that a boy was murdered

I still think the person(s) responsible lived in the neighborhood

I may be wrong, though

 

[Betty P]

So the subject carried a bat with him from Lynn to Swampscott? That kind of thing may stick out as odd....especially in December. Someone would have a remembered a kid carrying a bat after news got out that a boy was murdered

I still think the person(s) responsible lived in the neighborhood

I may be wrong, though

It's been alleged they were driving. One of the group had turned 16 and already had a learner's permit.

 

[seichem745]

So the subject carried a bat with him from Lynn to Swampscott? That kind of thing may stick out as odd....especially in December. Someone would have a remembered a kid carrying a bat after news got out that a boy was murdered

I still think the person(s) responsible lived in the neighborhood

I may be wrong, though

it was a convienent location for the perps who arranged the meeting through most likely a female who Henry was interested in, the perps lived right there, they may have not even had to use the streets to get home. as far as the amount of blood it may have been nill to none actually on the killer as henry was hit from behind and fell forward. he was hit multiple times even know the first hit probably killed him.

 

[seichem745]

It's been alleged they were driving. One of the group had turned 16 and already had a learner's permit.

that story has a lot of holes in it and until those holes can be filled it makes zero sense.

 

[WSFalcon]

it was a convienent location for the perps who arranged the meeting through most likely a female who Henry was interested in, the perps lived right there, they may have not even had to use the streets to get home. as far as the amount of blood it may have been nill to none actually on the killer as henry was hit from behind and fell forward. he was hit multiple times even know the first hit probably killed him.

Some quick input from my end on recent posts:
-"the perps lived right there, they may have not even had to use the streets to get home" Are you saying that you believe the perps lived and bordered that area? That should narrow down suspects.
-"through most likely a female who Henry was interested in," certainly a theory by some and would make sense for teens.
-Lynn-Swampscott-as mentioned, it was not far for someone from Lynn to walk, or even take the public bus which we did at times back then. There was a known bus stop directly across from the park/school, which is also across the street from where this took place.
-it was not that uncommon for a few Lynn kids, especially those that lived right on the border, to hang out in Swampscott on occasion. I am not saying it was common or every day but it would happen.
-my take on carrying a bat around, old wooden bats were cheap and this could have been lying around in the woods or the park and picked up. My understanding is that LE found the bat in the general area after searching around for clues, etc. so it looks like it may have been dropped or thrown when the perp(s) were running away.

 

[seichem745]

Henrys sister stated he skipped his last class and she felt he went up there with a purpose and i believe that. i believe there was an arranged meeting and a girl was the bait, someone in henrys grade that he liked but who was friends with the perp. The intention was to bully and scare henry. I believe this wasn't the first time Henry was bullied. I believe the perps stayed off everyone's radar because they were older, no longer students at the high school but the perp was earlier that year and graduated in the class of 1974. I have been influenced by everything i have seen and heard about this case. I personally asked a life long resident of Swampscott if they ever heard anything about who did this, his response was yes he heard who did it and that he would not discuss it. so i believe the fear of these people is real. <modsnip: Personalizing>

 

[seichem745]

Can there be any other motive besides jealousy in a case like this?

 

[Smiling Faces]

I thought we were leaning towards an adolescent being responsible. A rage killing is what we have here. AND IF this “coach” was responsible he would not have left his precious bat behind. JMO.

IF he was SO scared knowing what just happened it is possible. I remember when he was leaving the area for Florida that he said to someone that "He NEVER wanted to come back to here, to this area again! Also, when he had to return that he was skeptical to be around here. Probably just a weird thing. I wonder IF any siblings DNA would be able to match what they have as evidence or is it all too late

 

[WSFalcon]

Can there be any other motive besides jealousy in a case like this?

I don't think we really know what happened, so we do not know the motive.
I was at get together over the summer and there was a retired local LE officer there. We touched briefly about this tragic event. I would have liked to ask what his opinion was or what the theories were, but didn't get a chance. I don't think he was involved in the investigation but he was on the scene and remembered LE finding the bat, etc.
I would be very curious what the actual current theories from local LE or ex-LE are, and despite what's been speculated on line, if LEs theories are any different than back in the day.
RIP Henry.

 

[Smiling Faces]

SO the "coach" never had a polygraph.. hmmm..I was told that he "had to hide his money in case anything happened" His younger daughter really loved Henry but was told not to go to the funeral! His younger daughter had Ronnie Rubin over for a sleep over on Norfolk Ave. he came but according to the daughter he R.R, wasn't seen and spent the night "somewhere" with G.C. The Feeley's who lived behind G.C the kids would throw things in his yard and he was so mad he would toss it back in anger, and they would call him names., but, once again is there ANY forensics that would help put this case forward?... lastly, in his past he did wack his former step dad with a shovel so hard that he dropped the shovel (not knowing IF he killed him) and took his bike and rode miles to his sister's home... so, drop the bat and run! Just saying...RIP Henry..Hopefully the truth WILL finally come...I pray for your soul.

 

[Smiling Faces]

Unfortually though No DNA No Case just hear say

 

[Betty P]

If it was at the park, a baseball field, etc. it would make more sense, but a 15yr old would find it odd and creepy, even back then, if an adult asked to meet him by himself in a small wooded place at 4:00 PM on weekday.

Good point, I agree. Also agree that if Henry had arranged to meet up with a friend after school at SV, his other friends would have known about it. The idea of secretly meeting a girl there seems a realistic scenario.

 

[WSFalcon]

The idea of secretly meeting a girl there seems a realistic scenario.

Good point. Meeting a girl certainly seems very possible or likely.

 

[Betty P]

Good point. Meeting a girl certainly seems very possible or likely.

Or mistakenly believing you were going to meet a girl. Poor Henry, bless his heart.

 

[WSFalcon]

Or mistakenly believing you were going to meet a girl. Poor Henry, bless his heart.

If so I would think a girl then was somehow involved.

 

[Sneaker33]

I wonder if Othram Labs could be assist. They have been successful solving cases at with old cases with deteriorated DNA. May require fund raising. Not sure. Also DNA Doe.

Othram - Justice Through Genomics

 

[janewall]

I wonder if Othram Labs could be assist. They have been successful solving cases at with old cases with deteriorated DNA. May require fund raising. Not sure. Also DNA Doe.

Othram - Justice Through Genomics

After 47 years would there be any untainted evidence left to get the killer's DNA from?

 

[Sneaker33]

After 47 years would there be any untainted evidence left to get the killer's DNA from?

Well, they had success with a case from early 1974. Henry is late 1974. Here is a link.

After 46 years, Siobhan McGuinness's Killer Has Been Identified