Who killed Arthur Oker and Augusta Johnson?
Brenda J. Buote
Boston Globe
__________
Rockport, Massachusetts (US):
Jagged fragments of bone, a pair of wire-rimmed bifocals scarred by fire, and a brittle lock of auburn hair. Nestled away in a dusty safe-deposit tin, these are the only surviving bits of evidence in a Rockport murder mystery that has captivated townspeople for more than 70 years.Who killed Arthur Oker on May 21, 1932?
And did the same villain attack Augusta Johnson on Halloween night 1933, just hours after she threatened to reveal the murderer's identity?In the years since their bludgeoned bodies were discovered, violent death has twice visited this small town, most recently when 35-year-old Wendy Cox was killed in her boyfriend's home on the outskirts of town.But even as news of Cox's death made headlines earlier this month, talk of murder in Rockport's quaint antiques shops and cozy fishing shacks remained stubbornly fixated on the gruesome crimes of the Depression era.Longtime residents like to beguile strangers with details of the crimes and police investigation, one of the state's largest and most peculiar.
But after all these years, it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.The case files disappeared long ago, destroyed it is said, during the Depression, under orders of the town's top police officer, who reportedly feared reputations would be ruined if the documents became public fodder.The first of the two brutal slayings occurred when Oker, the 57-year-old town tailor, was severely beaten in his Main Street shop in the spring of '32.
The crime was committed in the heart of the village, on merchant's row at noon on a Saturday, the busiest shopping day of the week.And yet, no one reported seeing anything, or anyone, suspicious. The weapon, at first believed to be Oker's shears, was never found. Some old-timers speculate that the weapon is still buried behind his shop.
Oct 30, 2005
Brenda J. Buote
Boston Globe
__________
Rockport, Massachusetts (US):
Jagged fragments of bone, a pair of wire-rimmed bifocals scarred by fire, and a brittle lock of auburn hair. Nestled away in a dusty safe-deposit tin, these are the only surviving bits of evidence in a Rockport murder mystery that has captivated townspeople for more than 70 years.Who killed Arthur Oker on May 21, 1932?
And did the same villain attack Augusta Johnson on Halloween night 1933, just hours after she threatened to reveal the murderer's identity?In the years since their bludgeoned bodies were discovered, violent death has twice visited this small town, most recently when 35-year-old Wendy Cox was killed in her boyfriend's home on the outskirts of town.But even as news of Cox's death made headlines earlier this month, talk of murder in Rockport's quaint antiques shops and cozy fishing shacks remained stubbornly fixated on the gruesome crimes of the Depression era.Longtime residents like to beguile strangers with details of the crimes and police investigation, one of the state's largest and most peculiar.
But after all these years, it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.The case files disappeared long ago, destroyed it is said, during the Depression, under orders of the town's top police officer, who reportedly feared reputations would be ruined if the documents became public fodder.The first of the two brutal slayings occurred when Oker, the 57-year-old town tailor, was severely beaten in his Main Street shop in the spring of '32.
The crime was committed in the heart of the village, on merchant's row at noon on a Saturday, the busiest shopping day of the week.And yet, no one reported seeing anything, or anyone, suspicious. The weapon, at first believed to be Oker's shears, was never found. Some old-timers speculate that the weapon is still buried behind his shop.
Oct 30, 2005
