Marple Newtown Patch Asks: Double Homicide in The Mid-1940s?
A Broomall native is looking for help as he researches an old memory.
Attention longtime residents and history buffs:
Marple Newtown Patch recently received an email from a reader asking about a double murder that took place in the mid-1940s and an old farmhouse.
I would like to find out, if possible, if there would be any news clippings on a double homicide which may have taken place 1945 or 1946? The names would be Amanda Brown, Dick Brown and Billy Clothes. It was an old farmhouse and I would like to know where it was. I was very young when I was there but we always stopped at Spiller's for ice cream cones. Spiller's is now a tire servive store on [Rt.] 320/Sproul Road in Broomall. Dick Brown killed Amanda and Billy. Why, I never knew what took place and my folks never talked about it. Just wondering where the old farmhouse was.
Can anyone provide any information on that old farmhouse or the double homicide that occured in the mid-1940s?
mark
12:49 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
some of the older police officers still live here in broomall they may have some recolection of what happened
MCMA
4:26 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Maybe the police dept. or library have old newspaper articles archived that you could search.
Jennifer Kim
7:53 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012
From Tom McCullough on our Facebook page: The only "real" Delco newspaper back then was the 'Chester Times'. I looked all kind of ways in the Delco library's archives link to the that newspaper. I searched the three names, the years & words homicide, murder and also the terms in combo with the then Broomall/Marple police chief's name: Lester Downes. I found articles with Downes' name and even another with murder & Downes together from the two years but nothing on the names in the letter you received. I also checked the names againts the obits. for those years- nothing. Here is the link if it works:
http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com/SearchResults.aspx
Andrew Ayars
12:50 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Jan Ceton, a Marple Commissioner, emailed in to Jennifer with this response:
"Jennifer, There was a murder in the late 40's on old State Road in the area of
Marple Springfield Shopping Center. It wasn't double murder, but rather two
brothers that killed their father. He was abusing his wife and the boys wanted it to
stop. The waited for him to come home, one with a shot gun and one with a rifle,
and killed him in the driveway to the farm. They were found innocent."
Regina Nau
11:44 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
According to the articles Harry Brown was a boarder in the home of Arthur and Amanda Cloves and had been their boarder for 20 years. The shooting occurred on 7/19/1947 at the Cloves Country Home on Paxon Hollow Rd. The Cloves told Harry they were going to be moving into an apartment. Harry was expecting to lose his job, had no savings and no place now to live. He was going to kill himself but alleged to have accidentally shot Amanda and Arthur. Harry Eastburn and George Burglin of Marple Police investigated.
The links below tell the entire story
http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewer.aspx?img=94290734&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=0¤tPage=0
http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewer.aspx?img=94290031&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=0¤tPage=0
Regina Nau
genealogybygina@gmail.com
Regina Nau
12:13 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Double Homicide in The Mid-1940s?
According to the articles Harry Brown was a boarder in the home of Arthur and Amanda Cloves and had been their boarder for 20 years. The shooting occurred on 7/19/1947 at the Cloves Country Home on Paxon Hollow Rd. The Cloves told Harry they were going to be moving into an apartment. Harry was expecting to lose his job, had no savings and no place now to live. He was going to kill himself but alleged to have accidentally shot Amanda and Arthur. Harry Eastburn and George Burglin of Marple Police investigated.
The links below tell the entire story
http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewer.aspx?img=94290734&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=0¤tPage=0
http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewer.aspx?img=94290031&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=0¤tPage=0
Regina Nau
genealogybygina@gmail.com
Andrew Ayars
2:23 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
From Tom McCullough on our Facebook page: I found it in three minutes with Jan's clue. LOL November 21, 1949. Benjamin (53) Panfilo D'Amore was killed by Nicholiuos(25) & John (22) DiAmore on Old State Road. Their reason they stated was because their father was always beating their crippled mother. I got lucky and checked 1949 as my first query choice, after Jan said it was in the late 40's.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w104/hacksaw_1998/MarpleDoubleMurder1949.jpg