by Laurel | February 4th, 2007
[Adapted from the Springfield Republican, Jan. 1, 1922.]
Mrs. Leon Berube of Holyoke Shot by Roomer Who Kills Self — No Motive for Deed Known.
Holyoke, Dec, 31, 1921.—Mrs. Leon Berube of 41 Newton street lies unconscious at the House of Providence hospital tonight, critically wounded, and the body fo Frank A. Bedard, 38, of the same address, lies in a local morgue, as the result of a shooting affray as inexplicable as it was tragic. Shortly after 8 this morning, Bedard, who had been a roomer at the Berube house eight years, followed Mrs. Berube into her kitchen, shot her three times, wounding her in the breast and in both arms, and then fired a bullet into his own temple, dying immediately.
No motive for the tragedy is known. It had no witnesses. So far as known, no altercation preceded it. Edna Berube, 14, daughter of the stricken woman, who was in another room at the time, heard no conversation before the shooting began. Neither did Mrs. Laura Clark, who lives in the apartment above that occupied by the Berubes.
The autopsy on the body of Bedard showed that the bullet from the revolver plowed clear through the brain, lodging in pieces of broken bone in the opposite side of the head. The bullet fell out when the scalp was cut. The intestines showed several adhesions and the liver was low. His gall bladder had been previously removed. He must have suffered much pain, but the doctors scout the idea that this would be likely to lead him to commit murder.
Brother’s Tragic Death
It was learned this afternoon that Jack Bedard, a brother of the dead man, shot his wife in Rochester about 19 years ago, and then killed himself. The wife did not die of her wound.
The revolver used by Bedard was owned by Mr. Berube. The former took it from the closet in which it was kept.
Mr. Berube and Albert Beaupre, brother of the wounded woman, went to work at about 7 this morning. Edna, the daughter, and Louis Berube, 18, her brother, were at home, as were Mrs. Berube and Bedard.
When Edna got up at around 8, her mother was sewing. She then went into the kitchen to do some ironing. It was directly after this that the shots were fired. Edna heard her mother scream, and saw her rush to the piazza, knock at the door of Mrs. Parent, a neighbor, start back toward her own kitchen, and collapse.
Clutching Revolver
Patrolman Luke Kilmurray and John Goss, who had been informed of the shooting, arrived soon afterward. They found Mrs. Berube unconscious, and Bedard’s body lying on the kitchen floor, the revolver clutched in the right hand.
Police headquarters and the House of Providence hospital were notified. Inspectors Joseph Kane, John O’Donnell and Peter Manning were detailed on the case.
Notice was sent to the father, who was employed by the Farr Alpaca Company, and to Sergeant Charles T. Beaupre of the state constabulary, stationed at Northampton, who made a hurried trip to Holyoke. Associate medical examiner Stanley Cox presided at the autopsy. He was assisted by Drs. W. P. Ryan and George D. Henderson. The Bullet went clear through the man’s head. It dropped out on the other side at about the first incision at the autopsy.
Parents Dead
Bedard’s parents are both dead. He leaves three sisters, Mrs. James J. Connors and Mrs. Andrew Goddu of Holyoke, and Mrs. Napoleon Duchaine of Worcester, also two brothers, including Henry of New York city.
