Tag: murder

UPDATE: 3-17-2024 Still No Name and no Killer almost 50 years later

He has been identified as 22 year old Patrick Andrew Nopper.  More Details to come… Picture at bottom.

granby john doe

The death certificate in the Granby Town Clerk’s office lists his name as Unidentified White Male. That’s what he has been known as since a passing motorist found his body on the side of route 219 in Enders State Park in Granby, Connecticut on September 5, 1977. According to the death certificate, his skull, larynx and facial bones all had fractures. He also had contusions of the brain. The cause of death was listed as a homicide. The Hayes-Huling & Caromon Funeral Home handled his burial and he was laid to rest in March of 1978 in an unmarked grave in Granby Cemetery across the street from the Town Library. Homicides are rare in Granby and it’s neighboring towns. The fact that the victim remains without a name makes this crime harder to solve. It is believed that he was deceased for 24 hours before he was found. A composite sketch was drawn of what he may have looked like and was distributed to various Law Enforcement Agencies and newspapers across the country.

He was 5 foot 7 inches, weighed 140 pounds and his age was estimated to be around 25 years of age. He wore his hair in a pony tale, had a four inch braided goatee and a mole on his right ear. The victim also had brown hair (with blonde roots), brown eyes and a mustache. Another unique identifying factor about the mystery victim is that he had several unusual scars. There were two circular scars on his right knee and a comma shaped scar on his upper left chest. He also had several chipped and missing teeth. According to a 1982 Hartford Courant article, the deceased wore a white shirt that had a print of storefront scenes. One of the stores was of a barbershop that had the name “Lewis” on it. Underneath his shirt, was a T-Shirt that was stamped with the name “Ferguson.” The deceased was also found with no shoes or socks. Perhaps it was message to others from his killers.

In January of 1980, the State of Connecticut offered a twenty thousand dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for the homicide. It is not known if the reward is still available. Because he was found in a State Park, the Connecticut State Police are in charge of investigating his case. The Connecticut State Police did not return phone calls regarding this case. His case is featured as 214UMCT on the Doe Network Web site. The Doe Network is an online database that profiles missing and unidentified persons.  His NAMUS file can be found here.

The problem of unidentified persons is a troubling one for the Connecticut State Victim’s Crime Advocate, Michelle Cruz. Her office is in charge of helping victims of crimes and their loved ones seek justice. One of their responsibilities is to work with various police departments and agencies to solve cold cases involving unidentified persons. “Just because they [deceased unidentified persons] don’t have family to press for justice does not mean that their cases should not be pursued and solved.” Cruz stated. “These unidentified persons are someone’s son or daughter; they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and have the person(s) responsible brought to justice.”

Nearly forty years later, Law Enforcement is no closer to finding his name or his killer(s). If you have any information about the identity of this victim or his killer(s) you are urged to contact Connecticut State Police at 1-800-842-0200. All calls can remain confidential.

 

Source https://dnasolves.com/articles/patrick-andrew-nopper-connecticut/

Music Mogul/Rapper and his Father’s Unsolved Murder

Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy are just some of the nicknames for Sean John Combs. An entrepreneur, he lived his early years on the hard streets of Harlem, New York City where he would eventually attend Howard University, drop out, work his way up in the music industry and eventually form his own record label, Bad boy Records.

Despite having an estimated financial worth of around a billion dollars according to Forbes Magazine, Combs has had his fair share of legal issues and controversy. These include getting into an argument with a patron at a bar and having a member of his entorouge be found guilty of a shooting at a bar. Several allegations of sexual assault by various women including one from long term girlfriend Cassie Ventura which was quickly settled out of court.

Combs also suffered from tragedy in his life, a long term girlfriend and mother of his children died in 2018 and his own father was murdered on the 1970’s mean streets of New York City.

Melvin Combs was a drug dealer in a heroin dealing operation and was an associate of famous Harlem Drug Lord Frank Lucas (who was portrayed in the movie “American Gangster” by actor Denzel Washington).

New York Law Enforcement believe that Combs was killed by members of a heroin drug dealing syndicate. Combs had been previously arrested in possession of heroin and around forty five thousand dollars of cash. A New York Times article stated a member of this drug dealing gang was raided after Combs arrest. Combs was shot to death as he sat in his car in the area of Central Park West in 1972. There has never been any proof that indicated why Combs was murdered and it is believed the case was never thoroughly investigated. Several associates of this drug dealing gang that Combs was involved with were eventually convicted and served time for their role in the illegal distribution of heroin. Frank Lucas was quoted in a New York Post article stating that he believed that Combs was not a police informant and most likely killed for other reasons.

To this date though, the murder of the 33 year old US Air Force Veteran remains unsolved and the killers at least unknown to the general public. However, even decades later…. the streets still talk.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/24/archives/ten-found-guilty-of-heroin-charge-convicted-of-taking-part-in.html

https://nypost.com/2010/06/07/druglord-gangster-fashion-victim/