PA PA - Cpl. Robert Corriveau, 20, Downington, 18 Nov 1968

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<modsnip - quoted post was removed - unverified insider info>


<modsnip> it is likely that he was murdered, and that is how the case is being handled by Pennsylvania State Police.

I first got involved with this case when I saw a brief summary of what was then a "John Doe" case of an unidentified young man found near Downingtown, PA in 1968. It was posted as an unsolved cold case on the PA State Police website around 2009.

The mention of a Marine Corps Bulldog tattoo and partially healed wounds got my attention, and I called the officer working the case to suggest that he call NCIS and ask them to contact the Marine Corps "Deserter" Branch to see if there were any possible missing Marines from that time frame.

Years before, when stationed in Guam, and for reasons that I still do not comprehend, a quarterly report would cross my desk which listed the names of Navy and Marine Corps personnel who were missing and classified administratively as "deserters". The list included names dating back to World War II. I remember thinking, "What do they expect me to do with this information - go out and find them?" But the fact that I knew this list existed and was continually being updated and tracked, contributed directly to my suggestions to the PA State Trooper.

He followed up on the lead and contacts were established with NCIS, your office, and the family. As you indicate, there are very proper established procedures which are followed to identify a person, and to eventually notify the family - and later the public.

Marines do not leave another Marine behind, and that is something which motivated many in this case. Two long retired Marines; Tom Nearny and John Kelly (both former NY Homicide investigators), along with several archive researchers took up the task of tracking down other Marines, Navy hospital personnel, and potential witnesses in an effort to assist PA investigators.

Although the Philadelphia Naval Hospital and the nearby Marine Barracks were disestablished in the 1970's, complete personnel rosters of both were located in the National Archives, and persons on those rosters were located and interviewed 50 years after Corporal Corriveau's death. All information obtained by those dedicated Marines was turned over to Pennsylvania Investigators.

Corporal Robert Daniel Corriveau was identified after 44 years and his record now reflects his honorable service. He was buried with full military honors and I was privileged to attend his funeral.

Although he has been returned home, his murder remains unsolved at this time.
 
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Quick question; what specific clothing was Robert wearing?
 
I’ve been thinking about this case, and Veterans Day reminded me of it again. One thing that caught my attention was the early post noting a single stab wound with no bruises on Cpl Corriveau’s body, with the stab wound made by a round object. Perhaps the murder weapon was a rifle with a spike bayonet. Some spike bayonets are fairly round in section. An assailant using a rifle with such a spike bayonet could have murdered Cpl Corriveau from distance equivalent to the length of the rifle with a bayonet, hence no bruises. This could have been a WWII era rifle like a Lee-Enfield, or a later weapon like a SKS made in a Communist country. It would be unlikely for someone in the hospital to have such a weapon handy, but a person he knew might have one...
 
It is possible that the killer used a British spike style bayonet to stab CPL Corriveau. However, they were not really designed like the knife style bayonets that had a handle. The spike style bayonet was meant primarily to be used on the rifle, but carried separately in a sheath. It could probably have been used in the hand by gripping the attachment area. They were readily available in the US at the time at various Army Surplus stores for only a few dollars.

The link below has a lot of nitty gritty specifics about the British SMLE spike bayonets.

The Communist Red Chinese SKS rifle had a spike style bayonet which remained attached to the rifle, but could be turned under the rifle when not in use. It was not completely round, but rather had some cuts along the sides. While one might have been brought back from Viet Nam, these were NOT available to the general public in the US in 1968.

LINK:

British No. 4 Spike Bayonets
 
@Richard. I do not think you read my post. I am well aware that the British bayonet has no handle, and is designed to fit over the hardware at the muzzle. That is why I stated that Corriveau may have been stabbed by an “assailant using a rifle with such a spiked bayonet” - a rifle with the bayonet mounted on the rifle. That is my explanation for a lack of wounds other than the stab wound. The rifle with is its mounted bayonet could account for the lack of other injuries, especially if it was used by an individual aware of or trained to use a rifle-mounted bayonet as a tactic.

And yes, I know that the SKS bayonet folds under the barrel area when not in use. I agree that the SKS is less likely due to the lack of available imports.

I proposed either of those as the murder weapon due to the fact that they have spiked bayonets.

The angle of the stab wound could be also be interpreted as a bayonet thrust, and have little to do with the assailant’s height.
 
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Warwick1991 said:
@Richard. I do not think you read my post. I am well aware that the British bayonet has no handle, and is designed to fit over the hardware at the muzzle. That is why I stated that Corriveau may have been stabbed by an “assailant using a rifle with such a spiked bayonet” - a rifle with the bayonet mounted on the rifle. That is my explanation for a lack of wounds other than the stab wound. The rifle with is its mounted bayonet could account for the lack of other injuries, especially if it was used by an individual aware of or trained to use a rifle-mounted bayonet as a tactic.

And yes, I know that the SKS bayonet folds under the barrel area when not in use. I agree that the SKS is less likely due to the lack of available imports.

I proposed either of those as the murder weapon due to the fact that they have spiked bayonets.

The angle of the stab wound could be also be interpreted as a bayonet thrust, and have little to do with the assailant’s height.
Click to expand...

I did read your post and you present a good theory regarding the spike type bayonet as a possible murder weapon. There were very few countries which used spike bayonets, the knife style being much more prevalent. As you point out, the British style spike bayonet is somewhat of a limited instrument in that it really has to be fixed to the end of an Enfield rifle to be of maximum effectiveness.

That said, there was also another way that it could have been used - although probably only a remote possibility. That is by fixing the bayonet to a special entrenching tool which also had an attachment lug for its use in locating mines. Here are photos of that equipment:



Such a weapon could have indeed made the single puncture wound that killed Corporal Corriveau.
 
Bumping this cold case up. Corporal Corriveau is only one of many service members who have been murdered far from home and become nameless John or Jane Does until some one takes the time to look into it and attempt to match missing service men and women with unidentified victims.
 


CPL Robert Daniel “Bobby Dan” Corriveau

BIRTH 1 Dec 1947
Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA
DEATH 18 Nov 1968 (aged 20)
Downingtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA
BURIAL
Immaculate Conception Cemetery
Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA

Inscription on bronze VA Marker:
ROBERT DANIEL CORRIVEAU
CPL US MARINE CORPS
VIETNAM
DEC 1, 1947 - NOV 18, 1968
PURPLE HEART & 2 GS (two gold stars)

LINK:

CPL Robert Daniel “Bobby Dan” Corriveau...
 
Untitled.png

Corporal Robert Daniel Corriveau, USMC

LINK:

The Mystery of the Unnamed Vietnam Veteran Finally has a Name: Corporal Robert Corriveau.
 
Robert Daniel Corriveau died on Monday, November 18, 1968. He was 20 years old. Robert was born in Lawrence, MA on December 1, 1947. He was the son of the late Philip G. Corriveau and Kathleen Hannagan Corriveau.

Robert attended Central Catholic High and Mount St Charles Academy. He excelled in sports. He was a feather-weight boxer while he was in the Corp.

He enlisted in the United States Marine Corp on April 1, 1965. After boot camp and field combat training, Robert was deployed to Vietnam where he was wounded in three separate instances. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal with two gold stars. Additional awards were the Combat Action Ribbon, PUC, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with two bronze stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal, two Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citations and a bloodstripe.

He is survived by Kathleen H Corriveau West and the late Philip G Corriveau; his sister Virginia M Cleary and her husband Michael; brothers the late Paul N Corriveau; and the late Thomas P Corriveau. Also survived by his aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

On Monday September 17, 2012, a Chester County Judge ordered that the remains of Robert Daniel Corriveau be released to his family by the Chester County Coroner. He will be exhumed from Longwood Cemetery in Kennett Square and re-interred with full military honors in their family plot in St. Mary's Cemetery, located in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

On November 18, 1968, a Pennsylvania State Trooper, while on routine turnpike patrol spotted a man in a seated position alongside the highway about a mile east of the Downingtown interchange. The trooper stopped to check on the man and found that he was deceased. He carried no identification. An autopsy determined that the young man had been stabbed once through the heart.

He remained unidentified for 44 years. Through the tireless efforts of the Pennsylvania State Police Cold Case Unit, Chester County District Attorney, Pennsylvania Medical Examiner, NCIS, United States Marine Corp and his family, the young man was positively identified by DNA on May 31, 2012 as Cpl Robert Daniel Corriveau, USMC. Cpl Corriveau, just shy of his 21st birthday, was an active duty Marine who had been wounded on three separate occasions in Vietnam in 1967. At the time of his disappearance, Cpl Corriveau was a patient at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital.

October 13, 2012, Cpl Corriveau was buried with full military honors, dignity and respect. Thank you for your service Bobby Dan.

Semper fidelis - RIP.

LINK:

CPL Robert Daniel “Bobby Dan” Corriveau...
 
Laughing said:
@Richard , any movement from the Pennsylvania Highway Patrol on this case?

@jacksonbrown , sorry to learn of your family's' loss.

jmho ymmv lrr
Click to expand...

As far as I know, this is still an open and unsolved murder case in the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Two retired NY homicide detectives (who were also Marines) did extensive investigative work on this case and turned all of their information over to the PA cold case officers. Their investigation involved searching for (and finding) many former staff and patients of the Naval Hospital, Philadelphia from 1968, and many friends and fellow Marines who knew Corporal Corriveau.
 
Though it’s been over 50 years, I feel like this case is solvable if the PA detectives put resources on it while they can still interview people from back then.
 
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