Beach Haven Axe Murderer, 1929

-
New Jersey Courier 2 Aug 1929:


BEACH HAVEN AXE MURDERER FOUND INSANE BY JURY

Sam Conklin, Who Battered John Carlson's Head With Axe, Called Insane By Dr. Cotton
A jury of seven men and five women, taken from the regular petit jury panel of the December term, on Wednesday pronounced Samuel T. Conklin, Beach Haven, as insane and unfit to stand trial for the murder of John Carlson. Conklin had previously, since his arrest, admitted the killing of Carlson on his (Conklin's) houseboat near Beach Haven, on Sunday night, December 16 last in a drunken brawl. Carlson's body was found next morning along the main road to Beach Haven, his head smashed in with an axe, and his face battered. A wide trail showed that the body had been dragged from Conklin's houseboat on the bay shore. Conklin said that they had a quarrel over a sick dog and he had killed Carlson, or the other man would have killed him.
Conklin was indicted for murder. Before time for trial, he was said to be acting strangely in the county jail. Dr. Cotton was called in and the result was the jury action on Wednesday, before Judge Gallagher. At this time, Dr. Henry A. Cotton, head of the state hospital at Trenton, said that Conklin was mentally deficient; had hallucinations; saw things that did not exist; did not talk connectedly, and went barefoot in the county jail.

The jury brought in a verdict, after a twenty minute deliberation, that Conklin is insane and should be confined in a state institution till he recovers sufficiently to stand trial.

The jury consisted of :

Mrs. Bertha Bogert
Mrs. Anna Bryant
Alice Adsit
Mildred Rutter
Elizabeth Gunther
Howard Gaskill
George Evernham
Frank Sutton, Sr
Frank Turner
Walter Martin
John Matthews
William Jones


______________________________________________________
The only John Carlson who appears on the 1920 census was one John Carlson of Long Beach township, age 42. He was a Swedish immigrant, having arrived in 1900. He was employed as a fisherman. He was boarding in the home of Amos Crosta on Long Beach Island at the time. Whether or not this is the actual victim, we can't be sure. I was unable to locate a Samuel T. Conklin anywhere in Ocean County in 1920.
Location: Beach Haven, NJ, USA

Comments

  1. faithDecember 4, 2018 at 10:22 PM

    Sam Conklin lived in a house boat...maybe the census takers didn't go to the docks to take their census
    .

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Biegenwald murders

-
About 25 years ago, a string of New Jersey girls were brutally murdered. This page tells the story of the monster responsible. Richard Biegenwald's childhood was as volatile one. His father was an alcoholic and, by the time Biegenwald was 5 years old, his mother could no longer control him. When police were digging up the yard of her Staten Island home, Sally Biegenwald described her son as a hyperactive child. He was prone to lighting fires in his bedroom. Once, he ignited his bed and threw himself in the fire. At the age of 5, he was institutionalized and received shock treatment. He spent most of his childhood in New York state youth detention centers. One medical report said young Biegenwald had a death fantasy and suffered from night terror. He was released when he was 15 and began high school the next year. But about six months later, he dropped out of school and drifted through the South. Over the next three years, Biegenwald had several brushes with the law. In Nashville
Read more

Murder in Manahawkin, 2006

-
Asbury Park Press 10 Nov 2006 STAFFORD TOWNSHIP — Two sisters died minutes apart Thursday after they were shot in the driveway of their home by their mother's ex-boyfriend, who then turned the gun on himself. On most Thursday mornings, 15-year-old Jessica Veitch would be in school. But with school out for the New Jersey Education Association's convention, the Southern Regional High School sophomore was able to spend the morning with her 21-year-old sister, Melissa. The young women were shot before they were able to make it to the front steps of their Mercer Avenue home after returning at about 11:30 a.m. from a trip to a convenience store. Neighbors who heard the shots and screams called 911. "I was in the service, so I knew it wasn't firecrackers," said Thomas Niemiec, 61, who lives a few houses away from the Veitches. Police arrived to find both girls on the ground next to the car, which had its passenger-side window shattered. They were transported to Souther
Read more

Suicide Pact in Forked River

-
The following grim story appeared in the New Jersey Courier on 22 Sep 1939: "A heart rending tragedy touched Ocean County homes Tuesday when Albert J. King, aged 36, and father of 3 small children, and Marie Pirozzi, aged 26, of Bergen avenue, Lakewood, were found dead in the rear seat of King's car in the woods near Lacey Road, about five miles West of Forked River. The man and woman were evidently victims of a suicide pact, as the police and Coroner J. Anderson have found no evidence of violence. The terrible discovery was made by William Cranmer of Forked River, who noticed the car in the woods as he drove along Lacey Road Tuesday afternoon. When he returned about 6:3w0 he again saw the machine and investigated. He found King's body sitting on the side of the rear seat of the car, and Mrs. Pirozzi's body was lying across the seat with her head nestled in his lap. A hose had been taped to the exhaust pipe of the car and pushed through a crack in the floor so as to
Read more