Congamond's Blood and the Ripple Effect of Tragedy
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 jurisdiction of the Town of Southwick, Massachusetts, with various state agencies also having authority over it. Witnesses told investigators that Layman's fifteen-foot boat was roughly twenty feet from the dock when the accident occurred, about the same distance where divers found Anthony's arm.
On July 8, authorities with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles Marine and Recreational Vehicles Division lodged a charge against Carl Layman for operating a motorboat to endanger. The misdemeanor charge carried a maximum fine of $1,000 and up to one year in prison.
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| Congamond Lake is outlined in the Town's seal |
Layman appeared in Westfield District Court for arraignment on July 23.
The fatal accident stirred up the hornets' nest of those living along Congamond Lake, resulting in some 400 disgruntled residents signing a petition requesting that Southwick selectmen restrict boats to six horsepower. Southwick resident Elmer Massai of Point Grove Road delivered the petition to the town.
In response to the petition, Southwick's Board of Selectmen started drafting new bylaws, regulations, and restrictions. The Board also reached out to State Senator Alan D. Sisitsky (D-Springfield). Sisitsky helped set up a meeting between the Board and the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of Marine and Recreational Vehicles. Sisitsky and State Representative Garreth J. Lynch (D-Westfield) also attended the meeting, which took place in Southwick on Saturday, July 27. Instead of restricting boats, the Registry official favored that the Town of Southwick have authorities actively patrol the lake to enforce current laws and suggested that the town hire a sort of harbormaster, who would have full authority over the lake.
In August, the Registry announced that it was implementing a plan proposed by Representative Lynch that increases enforcement of boating laws on Congamond Lakes at the state level through additional manpower and a system of intermittent or unannounced patrols. At the time, the Registry had 47 men to enforce boating laws throughout the Commonwealth, with eleven assigned to patrol 55 lakes in the four counties of Western Massachusetts: Franklin, Hampshire, Hampden, and Berkshire, using two boats.
Layman appeared in Westfield District Court on August 14 to face a single misdemeanor charge of operating a boat within 150 feet of a dock or swimming/bathing area. Judge Sidney Cooley found him guilty and fined him $625. Layman filed an appeal with Hampden Superior Court. (Layman had appeared in Westfield District Court before. In 1955, a Westfield District Court judge found him guilty of speeding and fined him $15.)
Roughly 40 people attended a special town meeting on September 30 where residents voted on fifteen boating bylaws, including the controversial restriction of limiting boat speeds to 25 miles per hour, which they defeated in 19 to 16 vote. The argument was that a low-speed limit would eliminate water skiing and other activities.
Following a three-day trial in Hampden County Superior Court in December 1974, a jury overturned Layman's conviction.
Anthony Warren Krupa: abt. 1954 - July 4, 1974.
Carl R. Layman: July 4, 1935 - March 17, 2008.
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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
Working Titles: July 4, Beyond the Surface: The Anthony Krupa Tragedy, Reaction: The Dark Summer at Congamond Lake, From Accident to Action: The Fight for Safer Waters at Congamond Lake, South Pond, July 4th: A Summer Tragedy on Congamond Lake, The Aftermath of a Fateful Boating Accident
A judge found Carl Layman guilty of fishing in a reservoir in 1966. He fined him $20.
In 1985, the Division of Law Enforcement merged with the Division of Marine and Recreational Vehicles to become the Massachusetts Environmental Police, a division of the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Environmental Law Enforcement.
Popular Southwick High School teacher and chairman of the Southwick Planning Board Donald Desmond favored eliminating motorized boats from Congamond.
Elmer A. Massai: June 9, 1921 - June 21, 2000.
Judge Sidney Milton Cooley: December 21, 1913 - January 7, 2014.