On January 4, 1916, Charles Grace, a night watchman for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H), discovered something troubling in Plainville, Connecticut. While inspecting a sixteen-car freight train on the New Haven line, he noticed a boxcar with a broken security seal. At first glance, the seal appeared intact—but on closer inspection, Grace saw that someone had cleverly twisted it back into place to conceal the breach. Sensing something was amiss, he began a thorough inspection of the entire train. To his alarm, eleven boxcars had similarly tampered seals—all carefully manipulated to disguise the fact someone had opened them.   Grace immediately alerted trainmaster John Snezeley.  A subsequent inventory revealed the extent of the theft: two bicycles from Westfield Manufacturing Company (later known as Columbia), a complete set of sixteen law books, a typewriter, seven chairs, sixteen pairs of high-end men's shoes, and—remarkably—two en...

In 1947, Michael Tysz of Southwick, Massachusetts, was enrolled at the Commercial Trades Institute, a technical school located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. He was studying refrigeration, auto repair, and auto body work. Also attending the school was Anthony Godek from Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. The two men would stay at rooming houses, and they co-owned a truck, which they sometimes lived in. On October 28, Michael received a letter from the school regarding his poor academic performance. Upon reading it, he remarked to Anthony, "Gee, a guy in a mess like I'm in ought to shoot himself." Anthony dismissed the comment at the time, thinking little of it. A few days later, on November 3, Anthony returned from classes to a grim discovery. Inside their truck parked in front of their rooming house at 1604 Lunt Avenue, he found Michael's body with a bullet hole through his head. Michael was holding a knife in his hand, and a .22 caliber rifle lay n...

Charlie Kropp lived a modest life in Bristol, Connecticut. Even in his early 80s, it was common for folks to see him driving around town in his red convertible. Charlie was said to be full of life, well-spoken, and well-dressed, a refined gentleman in every sense of the definition. Charlie routinely purchased lottery tickets for the Connecticut State Lottery at Frank's Stationery, a small variety store in the historic Forestville section of Bristol. However, nine days before marrying 68-year-old Rose Paquette in February 1975, Charlie purchased a $25 season ticket for the Massachusetts Lottery's Big Money Game at the Southwick Pharmacy in Southwick, Massachusetts. The season ticket automatically entered Charlie into multiple drawings over an extended period. It also gave him a once-a-week chance at the million-dollar top prize. Frank's Stationery The Big Money Game, an offshoot of The Game, was introduced in March of that year with a top prize of $500,000. Players selected ...

Anthony Krupa of Windsor, Connecticut, dove off a wooden raft into South Pond at Congamond Lake on Thursday, July 4, 1974. Swimming underwater, he resurfaced about 20 feet in front of an oncoming boat operated by Carl Layman of Wallingford, Connecticut. Layman, the lone occupant in the boat, immediately acted but not quick enough. The watercraft's 70-horsepower outboard motor was at half-throttle when the propellor ripped into the right side of Anthony's body - exposing his organs and cutting his arm off at the shoulder. Anthony was bleeding profusely. His younger brother and Layman brought him to shore on the Suffield, Connecticut, side of South Pond. A Suffield ambulance took Anthony to Noble Hospital in Westfield, Massachusetts, where he underwent extensive surgery. Sadly, his injuries were too severe. He died while on the operating table roughly five hours after the accident.  Although it shares a shoreline with Connecticut, Congamond Lake was primarily under the jurisdicti...

Henry N. Cowdery was a constant hunter, so it was common to see him walking around the Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut carrying his shotgun. In 1883, he shot and killed a massive four-foot, 22-pound wildcat in Hartland, Connecticut, where he lived before moving to Granville, Massachusetts, in April 1894. After Henry's wife Hattie died in their Granville home on April 23, 1917, he briefly moved to Springfield before returning to Granville a short time later to start work on the new road the state was building. George Oysler, who lived on Maple Street (modern-day Main Road) in Granville, saw Henry on November 8, 1917. And as usual, Henry was carrying his shotgun. The men conversed a bit, and Henry went on his way. Like Henry, George Oysler was well known because he was the village blacksmith in Granville. He mainly did shoeing for horses. When cars replaced horses and wagons, George started welding and doing other ironwork.   George Oysler's House Geor...