1989 Murders of the Harris Family in Dryden Ny

This column was written by Brian Crandall, who runs the blog "Ithacating in Cornell Heights."

The 21st Century Library Campaign – Tompkins Canton Public Library

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In the 1990s, Dryden had a reputation for being the "Hamlet of the Damned."

That unpleasant moniker was received nearly fifteen years ago, when the boondocks was afflicted with heinous, blood-chilling crimes. It'south like something Stephen Rex would have conjured up, as if Dryden was just downwards the road from Castle Rock. A description of the crimes in Dryden from 1989-1999 would exist enough to fill a sordid offense novel. Needless to say, long-time residents of the town didn't have also kindly to the name.

Sometimes the moniker is practical to the Ellis Hollow murders of Dec 1989, to which I'1000 just going to supply the New York Times summary:

"…a gunman tied up 4 members of a suburban family on December. 22, put pillowcases over their heads, shot them 2 or three times in the head and then set their bodies on burn down.

Later on the state constabulary rushed into a domicile on February. 7 to arrest two people in connection with the slayings, there was an initial sense of relief, mental health experts in the area said. But because the prime doubtable, Michael Kinge, 33, was killed past the constabulary in a shootout, many county residents now feel they will never learn why the Harris family was singled out."

A more than explicit New York Times article tin be institute here. Making the event fifty-fifty worse, an investigator planted Kinge'south female parent's fingerprints at the law-breaking scene, and she was in jail for two.five years until she was exonerated. She later sued the state, although the guess just awarded $250k of the requested $500 million considering she was guilty of using the Harris family's credit cards. The details and aftermath of the Ellis Hollow murders could fill a book.

The New York Times noted that it was part of a series of untimely deaths at the start of the 1990s – 9 fatalities in 3 months, vii of which were homicides. The Ellis Hollow murders were the just cases in Dryden, and are separated from the other killings by a few years.

Dryden's dark days began in earnest during the mid 1990s. Null I write will surpass Eastward. Jean Carroll's "The Cheerleaders," a piece detailing Dryden'south suffering in those years, and well worth the read. But I'll offer a quick rundown here.

– On December 29, 1994, 19-year old J.P. Merchant, aroused at his ex-girlfriend, breaks into her family dwelling house and shoots her father expressionless. Subsequently the rest of the family escapes his try to kill them, he drives to a cemetery and shoots himself. Although in Cortland County, the children attended Dryden Loftier, where the male parent was a football game coach.

– On September 10, 1996, high schoolhouse senior Scott Pace dies in a car blow. His brother Billy had died in a machine crash the previous yr.

– On October 4, 1996, High school juniors Jennifer Bolduc and Sarah Hajney are kidnapped, murdered and dismembered past the Hajney family'south next door neighbor, John Andrews. Although he was eventually caught, Andrews hung himself in his jail cell.

– On June eleven, 1999, a drunk driving accident claims the life of xix-twelvemonth old Katie Savino, a classmate of Bolduc and Hajney. Three months later, former classmate Mike Vogt commits suicide.

There's nothing about Dryden that made it any more than or less likely to suffer these crimes and losses; simply an unfortunate serial of events. The abiding loss must have taken quite a toll on the town's morale.

All the same life has gone on, and time has healed the wounds of the 1990s; the scars remain, but today the town is known more for its anti-fracking opinion than for tragedies. Today, a memorial garden, scholarships, and a fundraising walk serve equally reminders to a nighttime time the town has thankfully moved past.

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Brian Crandall reports on housing and evolution for the Ithaca Voice. He can be reached at bcrandall@ithacavoice.com. More by Brian Crandall

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Source: https://ithacavoice.com/2015/03/remembering-dark-days-dryden/