MISSING: Francis L. Tuccitto (Macklin)

 

On June 1, 1953, 45-year-old Frances L. Tuccitto was last seen leaving her home on the 10th block of Commerce Drive in Portland, Connecticut. She was never heard from again. She left behind her 5 children. 

She was a white female and 45 years old at the time. She was 5'2" and 100 lbs. She had greying brown hair and blue eyes. She was missing part of one of her fingers due to a factory accident. She may use her Maiden name, Macklin. 

SOURCES:
NamUs
The Charley Project

UNIDENTIFIED: Who was the well loved Leather Man?

 

In the 1860s there was a man who would make a round of every 34 days to visit the same homes. He would travel around 365-mile walk from Connecticut to New York. He went through towns like Danbury, New Fairfield, Watertown, Middletown, and Canaan into Westchester, New York then back to Danbury. Typically this trip would take around 34 days. He would stay in caves and visit homes he was welcomed to for food. Some of these homes he would visit for more than 25 years.

Now, what was the name of this mysterious traveler?

No one knows. People had noted him for his unique fashion and called him Leather Man since he wouldn't say his name. He wore clothes that were stitched together pieces of leather made from old boot tops. He would wear this outfit all year round even during the summer. It was estimated that his jacket alone weighed 60 lbs.

He would not hunt or fish on someone's land without permission. He also kept the caves on his path neat with a pine bough or leaf bed. He would have wood stocked up for the next visit. He preferred to sleep in the caves rather than in people's homes. People were generous and would give the man tobacco, food, and pennies. In some towns, school was let out for Leather Man day so that the children could visit with him and give him pennies.

It seemed that he was fluent in French and spoke broken English. He would mostly talk in grunts and movement. When people were to ask him personal questions it seemed that he would avoid questions and leave the conversation. He carried around with him a bible written in French. It could be possible he was French Canadian or just French.

After a bad winter in 1888, the Leather Man began to have a growth on his lip. Which turned out to have been cancer. He didn't get treated or help with the growth and in 1889 the Leather Man was found dead in one of the caves in Ossining New York.

There have been many theories on who he was. But for the most part, the theories are tales spun to give him some sort of background. None of them have been proven to be true.

Another mystery appeared in 2011 when the grave of Leather Man had been dug up. Other than a few nails there was nothing in the coffin. Leather Man's body wasn't in the grave and no one knows where it had gone.
 
SOURCES:

Historic Mysteries

The Leather Mans Loop

New England Today

Murder of Jemima Beecher

In 1731 Moses Atwater had a home in Wallingford, Connecticut. In the home, there were two teenage girls; Jemima Beecher, and Hannah Merriman. Jemima was a maid in the home and Hannah was a niece of Moses Atwater. The two girls shared a bedroom in the house and slept in a large double bed together. There was a slave in the household, Hannah, who did not like neither of the girls.

Shortly after midnight of July 3, 1731, Hannah would sneak into the bedroom of the two girls. She brought a large butcher knife and decided to kill them. She would attack Jemima first almost killing her instantly by stabbing her in the throat. She would go to Hannah M. next and stab her in the chest, but because she hit a rib Hannah M. awoke screaming and struggling. 

Her screaming would wake up the household and subdued the murderer. Hannah would be sent to New Haven for her trial. On September 8, 1731, a guilty verdict would be returned and she would be set to be executed. On September 15th she would be taken to the gallows in a tumbrel. She would be hanged and buried under the gallows. 

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in New England page 123

Murder of Eunice Bolles

12-year-old Hannah Ocuish is the youngest and last female to be documented and lawfully executed in North Carolina. Her mother was a Pequot Native American and her father was African American. She was also said to have had some intellectual disability. She was working as an indentured servant for an Ichabod Rogers at the time.

Hannah and 6-year-old Eunice Bolles, the daughter of a wealthy farmer, spent time together in a strawberry patch a few miles north of New London, Connecticut. They did not get along though after Eunice went home she told her parents Hannah was mean and took some of her strawberries.

About six weeks later on July 21, 1786, Eunice was walking to school on the Norwich road in New London. Hannah spotted the 6-year-old alone and beat her to death with rocks for complaining about the strawberry incident. After killing the girl she tried to cover her with large stones trying to make it seem as if the wall collapsed on her. But it was obvious that the stones were placed there and Eunice had been murdered. 

Eunice's body was found at about 9 a.m. The authorities knew of Hannah and Eunice's trouble. They began to interview Hannah and she lied to them claiming to seen four boys harassing Eunice where she was found. Authorities did not believe her and took her to the Bolles home to see Eunice, where she broke down and admitted to killing her.

Hannah was tried in October for the murder. She was convicted and found guilty of the murder.  During the trial, her age was put into account, but since the murder was brutal and she attempted to conceal the body she was given the death penalty. She seemed unconcerned during the trial.

She was set to be executed on December 20, 1786. When it came closer to her execution date she was becoming fearful. On the day of December 20th, she was crying for most of the day. Thousands gathered to watch the young girl hang. Reverend Henry Channing gave a lengthy sermon before her hanging. She said little but did thank the Sherrif for showing her kindness. 

SOURCES:

Courant

Murderpedia

Today in Connecticut  History

Wikipedia
Connecticut History

Fictional Murders: Black Dog Of Rolling Hills

Hanging Hills is a beautiful place to hike. It's mountainous and overlooks the city of Meriden, Connecticut within It's got great scenery and there's a saying some people use as a warning. "And if a man shall meet the Black Dog once, it shall be for joy; and if twice, it shall be for sorrow; and the third time, he shall die."- by W.H.C. Pynchon.

On Hanging Hills there are rare occasions where people see a black dog. The dog is said to be nothing unique in appearance. It's a moderate size has black fur, and nothing noticeable about its appearance. he strange thing about the dog is that when he barks he makes no sound and seemingly disappears when people come close. There's never any evidence he'd ever been there as he doesn't even leave footprints.

Geologist W.H.C.Pynchon had written the earliest accounts of the mysterious black dog in 1898 Even though the legend had been around for much longer. Pynchon mentions he saw the dog and it had followed him to a restaurant and back about the path before he mysteriously disappeared around the area he first saw him. Marshall scoffed and claimed to have seen the dog twice already and the legend did not scare him.

Marshall and Pynchon were looking at a rock formation on the edge of a cliff. They noticed the little black dog approach them, and unfortunately, Marshall slipped on the ice and fell to his death. Even though his death is labeled an accident many believe that the little black dog was to blame.

Many people claim to have the same experiences even over 100 years later. There are even some deaths that people believe are caused by the sighting of the black dog today.

SOURCES:
Connecticut Weekender
Connecticut Boom
The Yankee Express
Unsolved Mysteries

Murder of Unnamed Woman by Busheage

In May of 1644, a Native American man named Busheage went into the home in Stamford, Connecticut. The home was a poor family in the area. At the time the husband was out of the home and the wife and their baby were home. Busheage would take a lathing hammer and severely beat her. When he thought she was dead he robbed the place of clothing and fled. The woman was not dead and was able to tell authorities that it was an Indian who attacked her. She would soon die after revealing this.

Several weeks later other Native American's caught the killer and turned him over to the English in New Haven. He was found guilty of the crime. He would be executed in August or September of 1644 by beheading. He would be tied to a chair and in no less than 8 chops were done.

SOURCES:
Legal Executions on New England
Persons Executed in Connecticut
Registry of Known American Indian Executions