It’s no secret that the death of Henry Bedard Jr., who was murdered in 1974, has left a scar on the Town of Swampscott.
After his body was exhumed from his grave at the Swampscott Cemetery for further investigation into his death in early October, speculation has continued to fester as to what could prompt the action after so many years.
In fact, it’s much more than just being the first unsolved murder case throughout the Town’s entire history of existence: It’s a case that has sent ripples throughout the entire community, which are still felt by residents to this day.
For Private Investigator Conrad McKinney, president of Hallmark Investigations — who started investigating the case back in 2013 — he remembers the case vividly.
He explained that the Licensed Private Detective Association of Massachusetts established a pro-bono cold case investigative committee unit. After being contacted by someone acquainted with the case, he and his team of investigators began looking into it.
What struck McKinney when he first became involved with the case was “the fact there were so many years that the case hadn’t been solved.”
He also noted people he spoke with in town during the investigation process also shared the same sentiment. McKinney said they began their investigation through what he referred to as “open source researching.”
“We obtained a lot of information through the newspapers, visited the scene of the crime (behind the current Department of Public Works building)… We interviewed classmates, teachers, and friends during the investigation,” McKinney said.
He could not elaborate on any findings or results of the investigation.
“The work you have to do is groundwork. You dig, and dig, and try to get any information you can, and you hope that someone will come forward… As an investigator, my take is that doing something is better than doing nothing,” he said. “That goes for every investigation that I do.”
He expressed his optimism with Bedard Jr.’s body being exhumed for investigation.
“That means something must have come into the Essex County District Attorney’s office when they exhumed the body,” he said. “With the advances in technology, they can look for DNA, anything like sediment… The technology today is unbelievable.”
He described the case as a “very dramatic, sad situation.”
“You carry it forever… especially when you have a situation like this, where nothing’s happened for what’s been going on for 50 years now,” McKinney said.
When asked about the emotional or psychological toll unsolved murders can take on investigators, he said: “You always have it in your mind. I can remember every case I worked on… You always remember them, and you feel very bad for the families. But, as an investigator, you try to do the right thing. We wanted to help.”
He said, “I recently visited the crime scene, and I pray for justice to be finally served after 50 years, and (I) pray for law enforcement to develop new leads to bring justice for Henry’s family.”
Former classmate of Bedard Jr., Dan Dandreo, called Bedard Jr. “the All-American 1970s generation kid.” Dandreo said, “He was happy-go-lucky, loved and played every sport, fun to be around. Carefree. He liked everyone and everyone liked him.”
“Before that awful day, it was an amazing town. Safe no matter what, everyone knew each other, and school was fun. Sports were fun; hanging out was fun. There were no guns, no mass shootings; life was great in the ‘70s,” he said. “After they found him, there was a tragic blur for days. The new rules were to stay off the dead tracks; we still walked to school and resumed normal life, expecting the killer to be caught quickly.”
Dandreo added, “I think it was a town-wide brain blackout for a few days after as we dealt with the shock that a kid like Henry, the nicest kid in the world, could be murdered in our town.”
Director of the DPW Gino Cresta, who lived down the street from Bedard Jr., noted that before his murder, “the town was nice and quiet; you’d never expect something like this to happen.”
“My mother told me about it when it first happened… She had a police radio and heard it from there. I wasn’t home at the time, and she got nervous,” Cresta said. “I was petrified when I heard what happened. I was 12 at the time, and I remember the whole town being on edge.”
Cresta said he hopes and prays that the Bedard family finds closure.
“I know it would bring closure not only to his family, but also for residents who were around back in 1974… I really hope they solve this murder in the near future,” he said.
Police Chief Ruben Quesada said, “When we lost him, we lost a piece of our town’s innocence. While that time has passed, the look in Mr. Bedard Sr.’s eyes still carries the loss of a son like it was yesterday. We not only owe it to Mr. Bedard Sr. to bring closure, but we also owe it to our entire community to find answers that we have all been searching for over the past half-century.”
Quesada added that he’s proud of the efforts made by Swampscott detectives, State Police, and the Essex County District Attorney’s office to come together for “something that is bigger and more important than all of us.”
“Until this investigation is solved, I can promise you that our detectives will not stop searching for the answers that robbed us — not only of our innocence — but one of Swampscott’s first sons,” Quesada said.
