Sharp Curve: Two Lives in Six Days
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This story involves a more modern incident from 1976.
It contains sensitive subject matter that some readers may find unsettling.
Reader discretion is advised.
— A Southwick Time Machine Reader-Requested Tragedy
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On the afternoon of December 23, 1976, fifteen-year-old Michael J. Lefebvre of Southwick, Massachusetts, was waiting near the bus stop by his home located at 59 Summer Drive.
While Michael stood at Chapman Street and Point Grove Road near Soja’s Package Store—known today as Oak N’ Keg—a blue pickup truck approached the sharp turn at the corner of Point Grove Road and Chapman Street. The truck failed to negotiate the turn and struck Michael in front of the store.
Michael was thrown approximately sixty feet into the air, landing on the opposite side of a five-foot-tall fence belonging to the store’s owner, Stanley Soja. Seconds later, the truck slammed into a nearby telephone pole at the same corner where Michael had been standing.
Despite the severity of the collision, the driver was able to free the truck. He drove away from the scene, leaving behind a large section of the camper that was attached to the pickup.
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Mrs. Albert Barnes, who lived at 3 Chapman Street, witnessed the violent and terrifying accident from her home or nearby. The crash occurred at the same location where her thirteen-year-old son and ten-year-old daughter had gone ice skating. Believing that her son had been struck, Mrs. Barnes ran to the scene to help him. Only upon reaching the area did she realize that the victim was not her child. The emotional trauma of believing her son had been killed, followed by seeing Michael’s badly injured body, reportedly overwhelmed her; she collapsed.
The Southwick Fire Department responded and rushed the critically injured Michael to Noble Hospital in neighboring Westfield, Massachusetts. Due to the severity of his head injuries, he was quickly transferred to Holyoke Hospital. The ambulance was given a police escort, with cruisers from both Southwick and Westfield working together to block intersections and clear traffic to speed the transfer.
At Holyoke Hospital, Michael underwent more than four hours of extensive emergency treatment.
Meanwhile, back at the scene of the accident, Southwick police examined the large piece of camper left behind by the fleeing truck. Investigators located a serial number on the camper section and traced it back to Travel Town Trailers in Southwick.
Police spoke with Travel Town Trailers manager David Spillane, who told them that only three camper caps of that specific 1976 model had been sold. Spillane provided police with the names and addresses of those customers.
One of those customers was 21-year-old Robert E. Geiger, Jr. of the Feeding Hills section of Agawam, Massachusetts. Within approximately one hour of the accident, Agawam police reportedly located the truck. Southwick police arrested Geiger at his home at 32 Brookline Avenue.
Geiger was officially charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and driving under the influence of alcohol. He was arraigned in Westfield District Court on Christmas Eve, and his trial was set for January 26, 1977.
On the day of Geiger’s arraignment, Mrs. Barnes died in Noble Hospital. Frances Barnes’s death was attributed to a cerebral vascular hemorrhage, believed to have been caused by an elevation in her blood pressure brought on by witnessing the accident.
Despite doctors’ efforts, Michael Lefebvre died six days after the accident, on Wednesday, December 29, 1976, from his injuries. Following his death, authorities filed a third criminal complaint against Geiger, charging him with vehicular homicide.
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| Holyoke Hospital, Holyoke, Massachusetts |
When Geiger appeared in court on January 26, he was formally charged with vehicular homicide, and the case was continued to February 4.
On February 4, 1977, Robert Geiger again appeared in court, where he was found guilty of vehicular homicide. Judge Cooley scheduled sentencing for February 18, 1977.
Frances’s husband, Albert Barnes, filed a civil lawsuit against Robert E. Geiger, Jr. on behalf of himself and his wife’s estate. The suit sought damages for Frances’s death and conscious suffering, loss of consortium, and consequential damages.
Barnes vs. Geiger commenced on December 14, 1978. The defendants successfully moved for summary judgment, and the case was dismissed. The plaintiffs appealed, and the case was argued before the Massachusetts Appeals Court on November 12, 1982.
In 1983, the Appeals Court upheld the lower court’s decision. The court reasoned that extending liability to unrelated persons who mistakenly believe their family member is the victim would unreasonably expand the class of potential plaintiffs. The court also held that the rescue doctrine under Massachusetts state law requires an act of intervention, not merely being an onlooker. Although Frances ran to the scene to help, the court found no evidence that she intervened or attempted to do so. The court further held that a person cannot recover under the rescue doctrine if their purpose was merely investigatory and they did not undertake a specific mission of assistance to alleviate the peril faced by another.
Author’s Note: The civil litigation and appeals in Barnes v. Geiger were extensive and generated discussion within legal and academic settings. This story presents the central rulings and outcomes but does not attempt to document every argument, filing, or appeal associated with the case. Readers interested in the broader legal history are encouraged to explore the case record and related commentary independently.
Michael Joseph Lefebvre: September 30, 1961 — December 29, 1976.
Mrs. Frances (Leighton) Barnes: abt. 1942 — December 24, 1976.
Stories like Michael’s and Mrs. Barnes’s deserve to be remembered with dignity and care.
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The research, sensitivity, and time required to tell these difficult stories properly are significant.
If this story moved you, please consider supporting the Southwick Time Machine so we can continue preserving Southwick’s history — including the hard parts.
This account is based on original research drawn from official
records, documents, period newspapers, and information later shared by
family members and individuals who were in the area at the time, though
not eyewitnesses to the actual incident.
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Edited Out/Author’s Additional Research Notes
Thomas John Lefebvre, Sr.: November 6, 1938 — January 11, 2020.
Elaine Vivian (LaBonte) (Daniels) Lefebvre: abt. 1943 — November 7, 2010.
Thomas John Lefebvre, Jr: June 23, 1959 — January 25, 2009.
Michael Joseph Lefebvre: September 30, 1961 — December 29, 1976.
Frances (Leighton) Barnes: abt. 1942 — December 24, 1976.
Michelle Rene (Lefebvre) (Baird) Bentley: November 16, 1963 — January 19, 2002.
John Dennis Baird: July 20, 1940 — January 25, 2005.
Judge Sidney Milton Cooley: December 21, 1913 — January 7, 2014.
Stanley Adam Soja: August 2, 1914 — July 5, 2004.
David B. Spillane: October 17, 1951 —
Robert Edward Geiger Jr.: abt. 1955 —
Crystal Marie (Pryor) Geiger: July 29, 1958 — September 4, 2016.
Some reports say Michael was waiting for his brother at the bus stop. A relative said he was waiting to retrieve something he left on the bus.
Michelle died at age 38. Conflicts surrounding her last name and manner of death haven’t been resolved.
Michael’s death brought greater awareness and tougher enforcement of drinking and driving laws. The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority announced that free coffee would be available to holiday travelers and motorists at restaurants along the Massachusetts Turnpike on Christmas and New Year's weekends to promote safety.
Michael Lefebvre was a communicant of Our Lady of the Lake Church, Southwick, Massachusetts. His parents (Thomas and Dixie) were married in Airway Heights, Washington, on September 29, 1958.
The Lefebvres moved around quite a bit. Thomas Sr. was in the military.
Albert appears to have remarried.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes had two sons and two daughters. Albert Barnes published a public notice that on or after May 23, 1981, he would no longer be responsible for bills contracted by anyone other than himself. In 1983, one of the Barnes’s sons was arrested for larcency.
Sadly, Michael's older brother Thomas Jr. died after a long battle with cancer. It appears that he was born with health problems (cystic fibrosis). Child welfare services may or may not have taken their son Thomas away in 1971.
Michael and Thomas’s sister Michelle died at age 38. She may have or may not have been taken away from her mother by child services in 1974. Dixie may or may not have been arrested for passing a bad check in 1973. She was sentenced to five years in prison. Michelle's second husband was a man the same age as her parents. Her first husband was Mitchell Bentley. It appears as if maybe her family did not accept her second marriage.
David B. Spillane’s parents owned Travel Town Trailers.
Barnes v. Geiger, 1983 Mass. App. LEXIS 1227, 446 N.E.2d 78, 15 Mass. App. Ct. 365 (1983)
Michael’s sister went by Shelly. Sometimes her middle name is spelled Renee.
On July 24, 1982, Robert Geiger wed Crystal Marie Pryor in Owensville, Missouri. She was born in Raymond, Washington. She moved to Alaska in 1977 to attend college. She graduated in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education. Robert received an associate's degree in arts in 1982.
Robert Geiger worked at Sheldon Jackson College, a small private school named in honor of Reverend Sheldon Jackson, an early missionary and educational leader. The school, founded in 1878, was on Baranof Island in Sitka, Alaska. (The college appears to have closed in 2007.)
Stanley Soja also owned Soja Trucking Company in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
Michael was a native of the state of Washington. He had lived in Southwick for several years and attended Southwick High School. His father was Thomas J. Lefebvre. His mother was Dixie Lee (Morris) Lefebvre. His parents separated in 1967 and divorced in 1968, with his mother getting custody of their “two” minor children. Thomas was ordered to pay $180 child support per month and carry life insurance for the children’s benefit while they are minors.
Dixie later moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. Thomas remarried. His new wife was Elaine.
Robert moved to Alaska. His wife was arrested for "possession of merchandise" (concealment of merchandise) there in 1987.
Robert was involved in an accident in Alaska in 1997. He wrote a letter thanking the medical staff for saving his life. He was believed to have been in an Alaskan traffic court in 1993, but the charges are unclear.
The sharp curve that used to be on Congmond Road was a top accident place in Southwick for many years. However, in 1979, residents voiced concerns about the increased number of accidents on the sharp curve where Sheep Pasture Road meets Point Grove Road. The old railroad overpass, with the chain fence and big hump in the middle, may have been a factor in the number of accidents on the sharp curve where Michael was struck.
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