I wonder when that house in the picture was built? Important, because IF it was around the year Henry was killed there was workers in the that house that would be a major point only IF it was being built back then.From news accounts and photos, he was found in the wooded area on top of the hill, at the end of Suffolk Ave. It's uphill from the dead end of the street. On the side near DPS, it's actually on a bluff overlooking the lot. It's also rather high above the abandoned tracks and a steep trail down to the bottom.
Google Maps Street View of the DPS lot with the hill and bluff in the background
خرائط Google
View of the area from the other side, from the end of Suffolk Avenue.
خرائط Google
Why?
I believe Henry was eye witness to his own armed robbery which would have been a felony offence and that was the motive. if they just wanted to terrorize him they could have but once they took his wallet they screwed themselves and left themselves with a huge problem.Just curious, was ALL of his money taken from his wallet? If so, I'm thinking a little different. But, if not, then i stay with the perp that i have been writing about who lived on Norfolk Ave.
looking at the first picture i am assuming he climbed up somewhere on the right side of the picture and suffolk ave is to the right. is this correct?From news accounts and photos, he was found in the wooded area on top of the hill, at the end of Suffolk Ave. It's uphill from the dead end of the street. On the side near DPS, it's actually on a bluff overlooking the lot. It's also rather high above the abandoned tracks and a steep trail down to the bottom.
Google Maps Street View of the DPS lot with the hill and bluff in the background
خرائط Google
View of the area from the other side, from the end of Suffolk Avenue.
خرائط Google
I wonder when that house in the picture was built? Important, because IF it was around the year Henry was killed there was workers in the that house that would be a major point only IF it was being built back then.
when the facebook page was up someone extremely close to the case emphatically stated there were suspects, it was not about money and the problem was there was no way to connect the suspects to anything.Betty P-I agree with your analysis.
I find myself in a circle on this. The attack has always sounded somewhat random to me. Could be random local or outsider opportunity as we now know (we didn't know much back in the 70s) that this does happen with these types of crimes.
But if random, I wonder why did Henry go up that way when it was not a short cut home. And if someone was following, it would be risky, especially for an adult, to go up to that small woods the same way and only a local would know the other ways to access the woods.
I had not considered him coming across a group of kids but if so, they sure have kept it quiet in this somewhat small close knit town. So maybe coming across a lone individual makes more sense though since Henry went out of his way to get up there, he must have been meeting someone or looking for something.
My understanding is that the bat was found near Henry. And that he did not have any defensive wounds or injuries. No idea which way they walked off. I would guess out Suffolk Ave or sneak back down to the old train tracks and walk unnoticed to a street exit like on Stetson Ave. They would not go the way Henry got up there.
Unfortunately what the police thought at the time still seems true today, no real suspects or theories.
"We never got anything that was worthwhile. Nothing. Nothing at all," said James Hanley, the retired Swampscott police captain who oversaw the investigation. "There were all kinds of theories. Theories like some hobo came down the track and killed him. A nut from Lynn could have done it. I never got anything that would kind to seem to have any credence to it."
I comment with the hope that shedding any insight can help this get resolved to provide some level of closure for Henry's family. RIP Henry.
do we know if the body was found closer to suffolk ave or closer to franklin ave?Betty P-I agree with your analysis.
I find myself in a circle on this. The attack has always sounded somewhat random to me. Could be random local or outsider opportunity as we now know (we didn't know much back in the 70s) that this does happen with these types of crimes.
But if random, I wonder why did Henry go up that way when it was not a short cut home. And if someone was following, it would be risky, especially for an adult, to go up to that small woods the same way and only a local would know the other ways to access the woods.
I had not considered him coming across a group of kids but if so, they sure have kept it quiet in this somewhat small close knit town. So maybe coming across a lone individual makes more sense though since Henry went out of his way to get up there, he must have been meeting someone or looking for something.
My understanding is that the bat was found near Henry. And that he did not have any defensive wounds or injuries. No idea which way they walked off. I would guess out Suffolk Ave or sneak back down to the old train tracks and walk unnoticed to a street exit like on Stetson Ave. They would not go the way Henry got up there.
Unfortunately what the police thought at the time still seems true today, no real suspects or theories.
"We never got anything that was worthwhile. Nothing. Nothing at all," said James Hanley, the retired Swampscott police captain who oversaw the investigation. "There were all kinds of theories. Theories like some hobo came down the track and killed him. A nut from Lynn could have done it. I never got anything that would kind to seem to have any credence to it."
I comment with the hope that shedding any insight can help this get resolved to provide some level of closure for Henry's family. RIP Henry.
looking at the first picture i am assuming he climbed up somewhere on the right side of the picture and suffolk ave is to the right. is this correct?
do we know if the body was found closer to suffolk ave or closer to franklin ave?
ok, now i understand better. Henrys sister went up to the site where the body was found 30 some odd years later and described it as a ledge that overlooked the gas station. if the wallet and bag were over by the suffolfk entrance isnt that a bit far from the ledge? was the boy the same boy who found the body the next day?He climbed up on the left side, facing the hill. If you go left on Paradise in the street view, in just a short distance you'll see the remains of the old track and what used to be a rail road bridge over the street. You can see the old raised track bed
خرائط Google
That would be too high to climb, but going to the left rear of the DPS yard, you'll see where there's a more gradual slope up.
خرائط Google
JMO, I don't know for sure. All we know is that one of the DPW workers talked to him as he walked across the lot there, headed in the direction of the hill.
ok, now i understand better. Henrys sister went up to the site where the body was found 30 some odd years later and described it as a ledge that overlooked the gas station. if the wallet and bag were over by the suffolfk entrance isnt that a bit far from the ledge? was the boy the same boy who found the body the next day?
what is the name of the street clarke school is on? that is where the boys lived.Yes, the boy was the same, he had a friend with him.
If you look at some videos on You Tube, people have walked up to the area. On top, it's surprisingly small, not a big area. I don't think he was found on the ledge, but a little further towards Suffolk.
Yes, Norfolk Ave.what is the name of the street clarke school is on? that is where the boys lived.
if the confrontation was premeditated the perp would not bring his own bat. 18-20 year olds def would still use the spot to meet, hang out or smoke a joint IF they lived very vert close by. the perp(s) took the wallet suggesting a face to face confrontation but he was hit from behind again suggesting at least two people present.<modsnip: Quoted post was removed>
I don't know how much cash Henry had on him and I am not sure what was found if anything for money.
My understanding was that the wallet was not found right next to Henry, like things had been hastily thrown around but I am not sure on that.
Yes, the bat had unique markings. I have never heard where anyone could identify it.<modsnip>Early on there was talk or a theory that the markings on the bat could be a # for killings, like serial killer notching kills, but I think that may have been dismissed.
I have never believed robbery was the main motive. The attack has always seemed random or an opportunity attack by a bad unknown perp/stalker as we know now that those types of attacks do happen, but I come back to would an adult, especially if known in the community go up into those woods? That area is not easy to get to and it would look very odd to see an adult go up there, unless his house abutted the wooded area or the old tracks that led to it.
And why did Henry go up there? To meet an adult or <modsnip>?
Note: the "hobo" was a comment from the Police Captain that was the main investigator, who said it was one possible theory but they had no evidence to support any theory. Hobo is not used much anymore but that was the same as saying today some bad perp or bad homeless person living by the train tracks wandered down the old tracks & woods and came upon Henry and killed him. That could possibly make sense to me if the woods were not out of Henry's way home, which sounds like he had a particular reason to go up there late on a Dec. afternoon.
they panicked covered the body, threw stuff everywhere and got out of there with a short walk home.
it has been said that he was hit from behind, with the momentum pushing henry away from him we cant assume the killer was covered in blood.I'm not sure if I've already said this, but I wonder if the killer lived along the path to SV. Otherwise I think someone would notice blood on the killer if they were walking around town after the murder.
I think I'm going to try to get up to that path soon. If I do, I'll report back on how isolated it is and how easy it is to get on and off the path.
I wonder who this killer grew up to be. I wonder if I know them.
I do have some connections to the son of the former police chief and a local baseball star. I'll see if I can get anything from those angles. No promises, though!
if the items were found close to the entrence to suffolk then i would say that is where the killers exited the woods and hastily discarded the items before hitting the street. not a bright thing to do but you have to consider the killers themselves were in shock at what just happened.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.
it started out as public but was turned private, i guess the moderators felt it had served its purpose and got tired of reading comments and theories they knew were not true. you have to understand the people closest to the investigation have way more info than any web sleuths.It's not unusual for family members, friends, etc to do this on social media to discuss the unsolved murder of a loved one.
One reason for privacy is to avoid public discussion of possible suspects. No point in ruining the reputation of an innocent person. Sometimes they're also subjected to harassment or rude comments from the public. There are a lot of crummy people on the internet who say terrible things to family members of victims.
Pretty sure the family has a public FB page for Henry with information about his murder and whom to contact.
ETA: Lawsuits for slander or libel are also a possibility.
