Bludgeoned: The Reed Double Homicide

On August 7, 1897, two bodies were discovered in a small and cluttered home on a quiet lane in North Adams, Massachusetts.

Henry Reed was sleeping in his bed when he was bludgeoned with a carpenter’s mallet. A gun was taken from under his pillow and used to murder his sister, Blanche.

The detectives were stumped because there were too many people with possible motives. It took three years for suspects to be arrested. A grand jury failed to indict the men.

A determined detective believed he had solved the baffling mystery, only to fall ill and pass away. On his deathbed he named the killers and shocked those gathered. Upon his death, the investigation ended.

The case has never been solved.