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

GoodAim

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Henry Bedard was 15 years old in December 1974 when he was found murdered just off a main road, up on a rocky ridge, in Swampscott, MA. It was a spot kids gathered at during warmer months. It was not on his route home.

He had left school for the day, had done several errands in town, was waved to by a police officer as he crossed the street in a hurry; he greeted several DPW workers as he cut across the Public Works yard to a ridgetop just above their offices.

His body was later found there along with the murder weapon, a baseball bat with unusual markings.

Investigators think he was hurrying there to meet someone and that the person who murdered him may have been within a close circle of friends. The proximity of the railroad tracks also left open the possibility of a vicious random act, but that did not seem as likely.

Here's a link for an article from the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/12/16/regarding_henry

This really seems to be a crime worth re-opening. I wish a crime writer would get involved here.
 
How horrible! Yes, it has been far too long for this case to have gone unsolved.

From what I can determine, based on location info in the article, Henry's body was found here:

http://www.wikimapia.org/1222977/

In the image linked above, the Dept. of Public Works yard is in the small center box. The small hill and rocky clearing (where the body was found) are located just next to it. The old railbed slopes along horizontally, directly below the hill (and stretches the length of the map area shown).

From the article: "By 3:40, Bedard was almost a mile south of the CVS when several town workers spotted him walking across the DPW lot. 'He looked up and said, "Merry Christmas," ' said Tom Scanlon, who remembers seeing Bedard walking toward the abandoned railroad tracks that sit next to the DPW yard. Scanlon said Bedard held up a bag and told the town workers he was going home to wrap Christmas presents. The men watched Bedard disappear into the woods, onto the path of the former rail line. Scanlon then went back to work inside the wooden building just 10 feet underneath the ledge. Within the next 15 minutes, Bedard would be attacked just above the workers' heads and left to die. 'We never heard anything,' said Scanlon."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/12/16/regarding_henry/?page=2

According to the article, a couple of boys (and later a third) spotted Henry's wallet -- which was empty -- and the CVS bag with the bottle of perfume purchased as a Christmas gift for his sister.

I suppose Henry might have been murdered while being robbed, but I can't imagine that he had much money in his wallet. Still, he apparently had earned/saved $900 from working two part-time jobs -- perhaps he had been carrying a big chunk of that money with him? It may be that someone he knew, who knew he was saving to buy a car, wanted that money...
 
Perhaps he had been summoned to the location by some other kid in order to "settle accounts" over some silly teenager issue (a girl perhaps?) and he was inadvertently killed by someone whose intent was to rough him up instead. If it had been a planned robbery I don't think the attacker would have left evidence such as the wallet and the bat at the scene. It's pure luck (in the form of rain) that this evidence proved useless. The presence of the bat at the scene could suggest that the attacker panicked, but on the hand, he emptied the wallet... it's a difficult case.
 
It was Christmas time thirty five years ago that Henry Bedard, age 15 was murdered. His case is still unsolved.
 
I'm thinking that it was a robbery. Someone Henry may have owed money to saw him shopping and got angry. This person somehow got Henry up by the DPW and killed him. What I don't understand is how someone who would have been covered with blood could have made it home without someone noticing him. I'm thinking that he may have lived close by so he was able to get home without anyone noticing him.
 
Here is a public facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56189604455

I read the article and I wonder if they the money he saved for a car was found/in the bank?
Since he was Christmas shopping, I also wonder if he ran into someone that saw him looking at something that he couldn't afford. I'm thinking an older teen/younger 20's person because of the baseball bat. Anyway, maybe that person asked how much money Henry had with him and then told him he would sell him that same thing for cheaper and set up a meeting. Then robbed him of that money. Maybe? Just throwing it out there.
 
The bat is distinctive, due to the carvings. It's hard to believe that no one could identify it.
 
The bat is distinctive, due to the carvings. It's hard to believe that no one could identify it.

I agree. But maybe they didn't because they are the perp. I am really leaning toward a teen or young adult doing this. And now that I think about it, leaving the bat there tells me that it either wasn't the perps bat OR the perp was young and not experienced enough to take the weapon with him/her.
I'd love to see this solved!
 
It's been 4 years since I started this thread (after reading Regarding Henry) and I'm happy to see the new links and ideas you've all posted. In this particular case I never got a "flash" of what might have happened to Henry, except that there was a baseball field very close.... so I figured it was more likely a young person than a random homeless person hitching a train ride or walking the tracks.

A friend recently said he thought it was a DPW worker who was sick of the noise that the kids made, hanging out "over" their office.

Do you all think it was most likely another kid his age who, in a fight over a girl or money or whatever, went overboard in hurting Henry? How could a teen live with himself after doing that? And keep it a secret all these years?

I haven't checked really carefully, but the original article WITH PHOTOS OF SOME PEOPLE INVOLVED seemed to illuminate things more than just the words. Maybe one of us can find that version and link it. I'll look.
 
I find it harder to believe it was an adult worker, than a teen that had a motive. I think a worker would have been missed and seen leaving the work area. All this is speculation on my part, however. I hope this is solvable!
 
Maybe since so much time has passed, looking into people from that area that got in trouble with the law since Henry was murdered might lead to something. Or maybe lead to someone that knows something or heard rumors, etc. I hope that made sense? I'm guessing whoever did this had other troubles and this wasn't the only crime commited by the perp.
 
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/01/30/dead_end_case_turns_to_facebook/

Jon Leiberman, a correspondent for “America’s Most Wanted,’’ also said some new leads have come in since a story on Bedard was posted on the show’s website. According to Leiberman, all leads are immediately passed on to police and people can send anonymous tips. Leiberman said one of the most intriguing clues in the case appears on the handle of the bat, which is engraved with markings that appear to form the letters VI or K.
 
O/T - Angels_Not_Forgotten. How are you enjoying your winning season??!!
 
What a sad story, such a terrible loss of a wonderful young man.

This article indicates police think his murder may be linked to a couple of other cold cases in the area, including a young woman who was also killed with a baseball bat 4 yrs later

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.true-crime/4cVTQ0SrwiA

Henry's sister keeps a blog going about his murder

https://henrybedard.wordpress.com/

Someone in this town knows who killed Henry. For the sake of his family and friends, I hope they come forward.
 
Hello everyone!

As someone interested in cold cases, I have to say the horrible tragedy that befell Henry Bedard Jr has been that 'one' cold case to me. The one I have invested my time into searching & developing theories about. The one I want to see closed more than anything. I am not a trained professional in Criminal Justice so please be aware that these are opinions & theories of mine & not facts.

After much research into his murder, one area of the crime that I keep finding myself coming back to & circling around as a major red flag to the type of perpetrator who did this is the brutality of it. This wasn't one swing of the bat to scare Henry or to knock him out to rob him of his purchases or the potential he had money left over from his trip into town..this was rage. This was personal. Henry wasn't just hit once or twice, he was horribly bludgeoned to death. As if the attacker couldn't stop once they started. Strangers like the drifter theory or even robbers don't normally go to that extreme. This seemed like it was full of rage & rage is often times very personal. Bludgeoning or any type of hands on attack like this is up close & the person often times wants their victim to feel their pain, feel their anger or resentment. In short, this was overkill & overkills are often personal. Which tells me it's probable Henry knew his attacker. Whether in passing at school or in town. Second, as it's been pointed out, Henry purposely made a detour to the place he was murdered, as if he was meeting someone or thought he might bump into someone or a group he knew, since the place was known to be a local teen hangout. As for the distinctive murder weapon I have two theories on that. One might be the reason no one has come forward is because the weapon was one of opportunity. Left there by someone else, by accident or as a throw away & someone who might recognize it but is too afraid to say "hey that's mine!" or "that's my friends!" because they didn't do the terrible deed but are afraid if they admit it's theirs..people will go after them. Or the offender was young when they did this & left the murder weapon in a hasty retreat. If the second theory is correct & I add in the hasty covering of his body, then I certainly agree with other users on here in the idea or theory that Henry's attacker was young & inexperienced. That this might be a crime where the offender had resentment & anger towards Henry & he either was unaware of it or went there to talk about it with the person/it came up during a talk there & the person simply snapped. Grabbing the bat as a weapon of opportunity or perhaps they brought it with them to "scare" him. Either way the crime tells my gut that the offender was young, a teen/young adult themselves & something occurred where Henry ended up murdered. I also think about how the murderer got the upper hand on Henry, where no one heard a loud yell since there were DPW workers around & sound does carry; certainly a loud scream or yell might have been heard? Not to mention Henry was athletic, didn't do drugs or drink (had all his senses about him) & had planned on trying out for the high school football team. Had he been given a chance, I would wager Henry would have put up quite a struggle. (I haven't seen anything where it appeared he had, such as broken bones or bruises on hands or arms where he deflected blows or something) This makes me think it was a blitz attack, that he might have turned his back on the person to leave & that's when they struck. Again, it makes me feel the attacker was young, maybe didn't feel they could fight fairly with Henry or hurt him & they hit him when he was vulnerable. Thus, no sound or chance for him to fight back or alert anyone that something was amiss. The last thing I found odd was since this was a bludgeoning attack..the perpetrator would have most certainly been covered in his blood. How did this person manage to get home unseen? How did no one in town or the DPW workers see anyone leaving or walking about with blood on them? Did they have a car parked nearby? It's never sat well with me that in such a close-knit town "no one" saw something like that or saw someone who appeared disheveled or bloody & it makes me think the person responsible was indeed a local who might have known back roads or paths that they knew the likelihood of someone seeing them was minuscule.

Anyways, that's my food for thought there...just theories & opinions like I said. I could be all kinds of wrong with them but I thought I would share them anyways. Henry Bedard Jr. was murdered before I was even born yet his case has touched my heart in such a profound way and the grief that his friend Cindy & his family have gone through all these years makes me deeply sad. I hope that justice for Henry prevails & the person who thought they got away with this...realizes that there people like myself out there who won't let this go until it's solved. Or..at least give it our all. R.I.P Henry Bedard Jr.
 
Thinking of Henry and his family as Christmas nears. I hope they find his killer some day. His story is one of those that tugs at your heart.

Justablogger, your theories sound good. Local LE has worked hard on this case over the years, keeping it in the news now and then. I have a feeling they are thinking the same - that someone local knows what happened to Henry. It certainly seemed like a crime of passion, by someone who knew Henry and possibly arranged to meet him there. Your point about him being able to escape undetected seems very relevant, too. Unless he took some path that took him through woods, away from roads, someone must have seen his bloody clothes.

RIP Henry Bedard, Jr. and bless his family and friends. We are thinking of you this holiday season.
 
Justablogger,

I live in Massachusetts and this case seems solvable to me. You make some very good points, the kind I would make as well. I do not think it was a drifter or a any strangers, so, now I can focus on what I think happened and I a 100% agree with you that Henry knew his attacker and it was personal. I wonder about the attack itself...do you think maybe it was more than one person? I am thinking it is December, Henry meets his attacker alone and the attacker has a bat, in December? I don't think he was going to the batting cages. Do you think Henry has his guard up and doesn't turn his back? Or, did he get held, than get batted? I guess my real point is more than one person (the attacker) knows what happened.
 

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