A man from Washington, D. C., went to visit his father near Loyalton, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, supposedly to get financial assistance to help him get through his loss of his job because of intoxication. In the kitchen, an argument ensued with his mother, at which point the mother summoned the father who was sleeping upstairs. The man shot the father as he entered the kitchen, and then forced his mother to sit with him all night with the body of the dead father lying on the floor in front of them. At first light, the man fled. The mother then called an undertaker to come and get the father’s body. The undertaker called the police who then started searching for the son. After several days, the son was found dead in a shed near his parent’s house; he had taken his own life.
The wife of the man came up from Washington for the funeral in Berrysburg, and it was there that she learned that the man had another wife and eight children living in Wiconisco. The police did not release the names of the two women.
Here’s the story as it was told in area newspapers:
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 24, 1962:
AGED MAN SLAIN BY RIFLE SHOT: POLICE SEEK SON
An 85-year-old Lykens R. D. 1 [Lykens Township] man was slain by a rifle shot in his home last night. Lykens State Police are seeking his son for questioning.
The dead man is Charles Riegel. His son, John J. Riegel Sr., 48 who resides near the victim’s home left on foot after the shooting.
State police have little information on the shooting. They believe it followed an argument between the elder Riegel and his son.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 25, 1962:
BLOODHOUNDS SEEK KILLER AT LOYALTON
State police with bloodhounds continued today to search wooded areas near Loyalton in Upper Dauphin County for a Washington, D. C. man sought for questioning in the slaying of his father.
The bizarre killing in a farm home near Hoffman’s Church did not come to light until Wednesday morning when Emma Reigel, 75-year-old widow of Charles Riegel, 85, called a Berrysburg undertaker to come for the body.
She told state police the son John J. Riegel, 48, had shot his father with a small caliber rifle and then kept her subdued until daylight when he left the home.
Capt. Richard Gray of Harrisburg state police said the mother an son sat up all night in the kitchen where the aged man’s body lay on the floor. Mrs. Reigel was still suffering from shock and state police were finding it difficult to get a coherent story from her.
Close kin to the Riegles said an argument broke out Wednesday night between the mother and son. The father, who was asleep was called by the mother to settle it. As he entered the room the son is said to have fired the rifle.
Undertaker J. C. Hoover, of Berrysburg, called Lykens State Police to report the murder. John Riegel was described as being heavily built, weighing over 200 pounds. At the time of the shooting he was wearing a three quarter length gray overcoat. State Police gave his residence as 1223 Pennsylvania Ave., S. E., Washington, D. C. They said he had been home to visit his parents.
The home is just a few hundred yards east of Hoffman’s Church, midway between Loyalton and Gratz.
Private services for the slain man will be held Saturday at the Hoover Funeral Home, Berrysburg, with Rev. James G. Reed of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, Lykens [Township] officiating. Surviving are his wife, the son John Riegel; a daughter, Mrs. Grace Martin, of Allentown; a brother, Guerney Riegel, of New Cumberland; four sisters – Mrs. Sadie Luessenhot, of Chicago; Mrs. Amuel Snyder, of Washington; Mrs. Minnie Kissinger, of Silver Springs, Maryland; Mrs. Harry Klinger, of Lykens, and several grandchildren.
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From the Harrisburg Patriot, January 25, 1962:
POLICE PRESS HUNT FOR SON IN DEATH OF LYKENS MAN
LYKENS — The search for a Washington, D. C. man accused of killing his father Tuesday following a family argument in the kitchen of the latter’s Lykens R. D. home continued without letup Wednesday night.
The bizarre slaying of Charles Riegel, 85, of Lykens R. D., came to light early Wednesday when his distraught wife telephoned an undertaker….
Capt. Richard D. Gray of Harrisburg State Police said the suspect fled the scene about 7 a. m. Wednesday….
The elder Riegel, said Capt. Gray, apparently was slain with a small caliber rifle, but an autopsy on the body is still to be performed.
Capt. Gray said investigators were stymied in efforts to establish a motive, but apparently the elder man was shot about 11 p. m. Tuesday.
Dauphin County Coroner Dr. Thomas Fritchey said Wednesday night the autopsy would be performed sometime today….
At daylight, after the son fled, Mrs. Riegel called an undertaker who in turn notified State Police….
Richard J. Hoover, Berrysburg funeral director, who went to the Riegel home in response to a call from Mrs. Riegel, said a letter written by the son was left unsealed on a sewing machine in the kitchen.
Addressed to a woman at a Washington, D. C., address and signed by the younger Riegel, the letter stated they would never see each other again.
It gave the woman instructions pertaining to the suspect’s insurance papers, the funeral director added.
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 26, 1962:
MAN SOUGHT IN PATRICIDE TAKES OWN LIFE
State police early today found the body of a 48-year-old Washington, D. C. man accused of killing his 85-year-old father at the latter’s farm home near Loyalton in Upper Dauphin County.
John J. Riegle, had shot himself in the head in a shed just to the rear of the home of his father, Charles Riegle.
He used the same .22 calibre rifle with which he had slain his father Tuesday night.
First word of the killing of the elder Riegle came Wednesday morning when his widow, Emma Riegel, 75, telephoned a Berrysburg undertaker to come for the body of her husband.
She and her son had sat in the kitchen of the home all Tuesday night, with the father’s body lying on the floor. He had been slain by the son as he came from his bedroom to intercede in a quarrel between the son and mother.
Capt. Richard D. Gray of the Harrisburg state police said troopers knew Riegle was in a wooded area near the home which is just to the east of Hoffman’s Church.
It was almost impossible to find him so they decided to wait until he came out.
Last night Riegle sneaked out of the woods into the shed. The body was found shortly after midnight.
According to Smith, the shootings were the climax of an argument over “money matters.”
Smith said the younger Riegle left a letter unsealed in the kitchen for a woman living in Washington. State police did not identify her but they said Riegle, who has a wife in nearby Wiconisco, had been living with the woman in Washington.
The letter, Smith said, told the woman Riegle would not be seeing her. A wedding ring was enclosed, said Smith.
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From the Harrisburg Patriot, January 26, 1962:
SON SOUGHT IN LYKENS MAN’S DEATH….
Police determined two bullets were fired at approximately 6 p. m. Tuesday from a .22 caliber rifle with which they are assuming the suspect is armed.
Washington, D. C. officials said Riegel lived in the nation’s capital with a woman to whom he wrote the letter after the shooting.
He was married many years ago to a Lykens woman now living in Wiconisco with their eight children, according to police reports.
The victim’s wife told [Funeral Director] Hoover, that her son choked her “almost into unconsciousness” when she attempted to summon aid after the shooting.
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From the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, January 26, 1962:
Coroner Thomas J. Fritchey scheduled an autopsy for the victim, Charles Riegle. Police theorized he had been killed by a small calibre weapon, probably fired in the kitchen of the Riegle home here….
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, January 26, 1962:
SLAYING SUSPECT TAKES OWN LIFE
LYKENS, Pennsylvania (UPI) — State police reported that a Washington, D. C. man sought in the killing of his father committed suicide in a shed alongside the family home here early today.
The body of John J. Riegel, 48, was discovered by state troopers on a check of the area in this Upper Dauphin County community. They said he was slumped over a blanket in the center of the floor and had clutched in his hand the same .22 caliber rifle used in the Tuesday night slaying of his father, Charles Riegel, 85.
The younger Riegel died from a shot through the head, apparently “minutes” before his body was found by Troopers Jerome T. Diehl, of Harrisburg barracks, and Edward Miller, of the Lykens sub-station.
State Police Detective Sgt. Robert Smith, of state police headquarters, said Riegel apparently had come to the shed after being frustrated for several days in trying to break through an extensive roadblock in the area. The shed, about 20 feet from home of his parents, had been searched previously.
A note was found on a washing machine in the shed which Smith said contained some “scribbling.”
The younger Riegel had been sought since Wednesday morning when his mother Emma Riegel, about 76, caled an undertaker, after he son left the house.
Police said the killing of the father occurred after a family argument Tuesday night, after which the son and the frightened mother sat up all night in the kitchen while the victim was on the floor.
A letter was found in the house from the son, addressed toa woman at a Washington D. C. address (1223 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. E.) which said they would never see each other again. Police said he had a wife in nearby Wiconisco.
Capt. Richard D. Gray, commander of the Harrisburg sub-station who headed the investigation, said it had been difficult to question Mrs. Riegel because of her age and broken English.
But he said it appeared that the argument Tuesday night was over “money matters” — that Riegel had lost his job as a gasoline service station manager in Washington because of excessive drinking and apparently came home Sunday night. Capt. Gray said the 200-pound Riegel had a “vicious temper.” Mrs. Riegel told investigators that her son shot his father twice — as the older Reigel came down the stairs into the kitchen, and then fired a bullet into the father’s head as the latter was crawling on the kitchen floor.
Mrs. Riegel also said her son choked her.
Gray said that Riegel and his former wife, who lives in nearby Wiconisco, had eight children.
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From the Harrisburg Patriot, January 27, 1962:
SUICIDE ENDS AREA SEARCH FOR SLAYER
A suicide ended a three-day hunt for John J. Riegel, sought in the Tuesday night slaying of his father at the family home near Loyalton in Upper Dauphin County….
Dr. S. E. Herrold, of Lykens, deputy Dauphin County coroner, ruled the death a suicide and said there would be no autopsy….
Henry Lahr of Lykens R. D., an uncle, identified the body.
The elder Riegel’s body was found in the kitchen of the family home Wednesday by a Berrysburg funeral director who went to the Riegel home in response to a telephone call….
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From the Pottsville Republican, January 30, 1962:
OTHER WIFE OF SLAYER AT FUNERAL
A 40 year-old mother of three children, who traveled from Washington, D. C., to Berrysburg, for her husband’s funeral after he took his life, learned during the service that her husband had another wife and eight children.
State Police reported Monday that the husband, John J. Riegel, who shot and killed his father, Charles A. Riegel near Loyalton last Tuesday, had a second wife who lives in Washington and has a $25 a week job.
The second wife told investigators that it wasn’t until the funeral Saturday that she learned her husband had another wife.
Riegel killed himself Friday as state police were about to arrest him.
State Police say the first Mrs. Riegel is formerly of Lykens and now resides in Wiconisco.
From the Sunbury Daily Item, January 30, 1962:
WOMAN AT FUNERAL LEARNS HUBBY HAD 2ND WIFE, FAMILY
A 40-year-old mother of three traveled from Washington to Berrysburg for her husband’s funeral, learned during the service, that her husband had another wife and eight children, State Police reported Monday.
The husband was John J. Riegel, late of Washington, who shot and killed his father, Charles A. Riegel, last Tuesday and then took his own life Friday when State Police were about to arrest him.
The second Mrs. Riegel, whose name was withheld, lives in Washington and has a $25-a-week job. The woman told investigators that it wasn’t until the funeral Saturday that she learned her husband had another wife.
State Police said the first Mrs. Riegel is formerly of Lykens and now lives in Wiconisco.
The woman from Washington said Riegel lost his job because of drunkenness and left for his father’s home a week ago Sunday in an effort to get some money. Riegel killed his 85-year-old father Tuesday in his home near Loyalton, police said, and Friday he took his own life in a nearby shed.
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