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

[UnlicensedPI]

I haven't read all of the posts yet so forgive me if this has been asked. I wonder how many people Henry told about the $900 that he had saved up? I also keep thinking about how rumors spread and stories change with each telling. I wonder if the attacker (s) had heard a rumor that Henry was prone to carry the large sum of money on his person and upon finding only $37.00 in his wallet went into a rage. Maybe saw him shopping for Christmas and assumed that he had all of that money on him?

That's a great theory! Rumors spread fast and change just as quickly in small towns like these.

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

$900 in 1974 is roughly $4600 today. Could a potential robber reasonably expect Henry to be carrying around that much cash? That is a lot of money just to carry around.

 

[Tommy2step]

I still go back to why the killer had to silence Henry. What was the motive? I could see a large debt/gambling loss as a possible motive, but I feel there had to be something else. What was said that made him so enraged? Enraged enough to beat Henry so bad that his skull was cracked. To me, that's a bit more than money. For what it's worth -and admittedly that's not much- I have another theory. I think another poster may have speculated about it, but I wanted to expand it a bit. Some have questioned if Henry was meeting the killer on SV for some kind of liason. Henry was a handsome, right-hand kind of fella. I submit that it's possible that Henry was meeting this person for some kind of debt owed. During the conversation, maybe a pass is made or interest shared from the killer to Henry. Henry would react pretty strongly to this-as most red blooded 15 year old boys would. Maybe Henry says, "Don'touch me you !!!I'm gonna tell everyone you're a !!!" or something to that effect. Now the other boy/young man is filled with rage...He can't take the chance that Henry would keep this to himself....maybe he's from a prominent family or has a girlfriend or whatever. This would be a tough thing to deal with in the 1970s ...or any era for that matter.

 

[UnlicensedPI]

I still go back to why the killer had to silence Henry. What was the motive? I could see a large debt/gambling loss as a possible motive, but I feel there had to be something else. What was said that made him so enraged? Enraged enough to beat Henry so bad that his skull was cracked. To me, that's a bit more than money. For what it's worth -and admittedly that's not much- I have another theory. I think another poster may have speculated about it, but I wanted to expand it a bit. Some have questioned if Henry was meeting the killer on SV for some kind of liason. Henry was a handsome, right-hand kind of fella. I submit that it's possible that Henry was meeting this person for some kind of debt owed. During the conversation, maybe a pass is made or interest shared from the killer to Henry. Henry would react pretty strongly to this-as most red blooded 15 year old boys would. Maybe Henry says, "Don'touch me you !!!I'm gonna tell everyone you're a !!!" or something to that effect. Now the other boy/young man is filled with rage...He can't take the chance that Henry would keep this to himself....maybe he's from a prominent family or has a girlfriend or whatever. This would be a tough thing to deal with in the 1970s ...or any era for that matter.

I agree it's more likely this was about a personal relationship than money. Either the killer was attracted to Henry, or Henry was flirting/cheating with the killer's girlfriend, or he was hooking up with somebody's sister....I think it's most likely this was a crime of passion in one way or another.

If the killer was gay and Henry threatened to out him, it would be another reason he could be keeping silent after so many years.

 

[Warwick1991]

I grew up in Swampscott, but my family moved away from the area before Henry was murdered. I don’t think I ever knew anyone in his family. I read about it years later, when the Boston Globe published an article on the murder. It is hard to imagine the terrible effects on the victim’s family - a brutal murder with no arrests or answers.

My memories of the town are not pleasant. When I think about the town and its culture, one of my strongest memories was how the town idolized its high school football team and its athletes. It wasn’t the only town to put its athletes on a pedestal, but my memories were that athletes could get away with anything as long as they were talented players.

For me, the baseball bat is what stands out. I think the perpetrator was a member of one of the school system’s athletic teams, and a violent bully. Such individuals thrived in the local culture, and could bully with impunity. Motive could have been marginal, with an attack resulting from a violent impulse with no prior planning. It might be that Henry simply found himself unexpectedly in the crosshairs of an angry, impulsive bully, and was not large enough or strong enough to escape. The perpetrator could have joined a group that Henry went to meet.

I don’t think robbery was a motive. Whatever was taken was probably just taken because the opportunity presented itself.

I don’t have or know any suspects - it’s just how it looks to me. There must be at least a few people who know who did this.

 

[rob525]

I grew up in Swampscott, but my family moved away from the area before Henry was murdered. I don’t think I ever knew anyone in his family. I read about it years later, when the Boston Globe published an article on the murder. It is hard to imagine the terrible effects on the victim’s family - a brutal murder with no arrests or answers.

My memories of the town are not pleasant. When I think about the town and its culture, one of my strongest memories was how the town idolized its high school football team and its athletes. It wasn’t the only town to put its athletes on a pedestal, but my memories were that athletes could get away with anything as long as they were talented players.

For me, the baseball bat is what stands out. I think the perpetrator was a member of one of the school system’s athletic teams, and a violent bully. Such individuals thrived in the local culture, and could bully with impunity. Motive could have been marginal, with an attack resulting from a violent impulse with no prior planning. It might be that Henry simply found himself unexpectedly in the crosshairs of an angry, impulsive bully, and was not large enough or strong enough to escape. The perpetrator could have joined a group that Henry went to meet.

I don’t think robbery was a motive. Whatever was taken was probably just taken because the opportunity presented itself.

I don’t have or know any suspects - it’s just how it looks to me. There must be at least a few people who know who did this.

I kinda got the same sense with regard to the perpetrator.

 

[rob525]

$900 in 1974 is roughly $4600 today. Could a potential robber reasonably expect Henry to be carrying around that much cash? That is a lot of money just to carry around.

I just know that rumors go around and what starts out as a not so serious story can soon become the gospel truth in the minds of teenagers. If the right person told the wrong person that he heard Henry carried all of his savings around, that might be all it took. And I would not expect a whole lot of rational thought from a guy that did something like this.

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

I don't think we can ask ourselves "what would motivate someone to react so violently" The culprit had a lot of rage and anger. It could have been, and likely was, something relatively trivial that set him off.

Having said that, I have also considered this theory: what if Henry was being or had been sexually molested? Maybe he threatened to tell and that set the person off? The problem with this scenario is: 1. the location of the crime. It was a teen hangout. An adult, even a pedophile, likely wouldn't be hanging out there or choosing the place to commit the murder. 2. the money taken from Henry's wallet. In the above scenario the person likely wouldn't have even thought about checking the wallet for money. 3. the murder weapon was most likely from a juvenile not an adult.

 

[Tommy2step]

You're right, it was a kids hangout...in good weather and other three seasons. In the pictures that UnlicensedPI took, you have to be pretty motivated to make that hike in winter...It's muddy, cold and slippery. It was also pushing 4pm that day so it's getting dark. The DPW workers saw henry walk up there, but how much longer did they work? What day of the week was it? If it was a Friday- before Christmas - they might have knocked off early. I agree, the weapon was likely from a kid unless it was left there and was a group/shared bat, which would also explain why no came forward to identify it. If a kid comes forward, he knows everyone will get questioned and everyone will search out "the rat".

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

does this look like a sword to you all?

 

[rob525]

does this look like a sword to you all?

Yes, I think it does. Also the "V" is a symbol that I have seen before, just cant remember where. My first thought was to wonder if this carving was some sort of gang sign.

 

[BlackCloud]

does this look like a sword to you all?

To me it really does. But you know an image can be deceiving...

 

[Warwick1991]

The marking on the bat looks like a sword to me. It seems to be very carefully and deliberately carved. It looks like it was carved over the numeral one. This is the largest and clearest image I’ve seen of the bat markings. The sword elements are clearly there - blade, hilt, and guard. As far as the “V” or “K” is concerned, it looks somewhat like a proof mark or hallmark. Although it isn’t the same, it reminds me of the British “broad arrow” symbol carved into large oaks in New England forests in Colonial days.

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

what is the probability the killer attended Henry's funeral? Id say pretty close to 100%.

 

[Warwick1991]

The symbols carved into the bat are fairly unique. Unfortunately, the individuals most likely to be able to identify who created them are either the perpetrator or family members of the perpetrator. These symbols have some private or personal meaning to whoever carved them, but I don’t think we’ll know much about their significance unless the perpetrator is caught.

 

[Tommy2step]

I was speculating about the killer's motives to help get an idea of what he was thinking or of how he reacted in situations. Did he overreact a lot and freak out whenever something went wrong? Did he instead have a slow burn and it would smolder until he exploded? Was he a cocky loudmouth or a quiet planner? Having an idea of this could bring up names that may not have been thought of before. I think this is a person of some influence now who still has control over people and continues to threaten/intimidate people in his day to day life. If he's married, the wife has likely seen his temper many times -definitely verbally abusive and maybe physically as well. No great revelation s here...just something to get classmates and locals thinking.

 

[jgfitzge]

I say we start to put a package together and start sending Henry’s case out to the True Crime Podcasts asking them to review and gauge their interest. Oh, and make sure to mention this is where the current governor lives...

 

[Tommy2step]

I say we start to put a package together and start sending Henry’s case out to the True Crime Podcasts asking them to review and gauge their interest. Oh, and make sure to mention this is where the current governor lives...

Agreed! What about Breaking Homicide? They've done cases as far back as 30 odds years.

 

[PerhapsIt'sYou]

I've suggested the case to many podcasts. No takers yet

The frustrating thing is that many true crime podcasts want to do the same cases. And most of those cases aren't as intriguing as the bedard case

 

[jgfitzge]

I've suggested the case to many podcasts. No takers yet

The frustrating thing is that many true crime podcasts want to do the same cases. And most of those cases aren't as intriguing as the bedard case

thanks for the efforts. I do realize a lot of the more popular podcasts do you tend to do some of the more well known cases. That being said I noticed that the trail went cold podcast recently did a two in one podcast of two small local Massachusetts stories, the Deanna Cremens and Melanie Melanson cases. Normally if they don’t haveA lot of information they will do what they call mini episodes. So I hear some of them like doing lesser known cases. Well let me put their feet to the fire little bit and see if they’ll take on Henry’s.

If I were to put a small package together and not overwhelm, if you were to put together a few sources or links which ones might you suggest to get them “hooked?”