In early July 1993, the body of James J. Buglia was found on a dirt road near a former open-mine site in Schuylkill County. Despite a number of active clues, it took more than ten years to find and charge the killer.
This post presents newspaper articles that appeared in the Pottsville Republican from the time of the discovery of the body through about five years.
The photo appearing at the top of this post is of Cecelia A. Buglia, mother of James J. Buglia, the victim. It appeared in the Pottsville Republican on 15 December 1995 with the following caption:
Cecelia A. Buglia of Llewellyn holds her favorite picture of her son, James, who was found slain in Frailey Township two years ago. He would have been 50 on Christmas Eve.
The solving of this crime, which did not occur for more than 10 years, will be reported in a post tomorrow.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 9 July 1993:
Branch man beaten, stabbed to death
Body found on dirt road near Tremont, police say
By Chris Brennan
The REPUBLICAN
Tremont – A Phoenix Park man was found beaten and stabbed to death on a dirt road in Frailey Township at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, and state police are still looking for his killer.
A state Department of Environmental Resources (DER) employee found the body of James J. Buglia, 47, of Branch Township about a quarter mile off Route 209 and a half mile south of Interstate 81.
Buglia had disappeared after attending a friend’s birthday party in Pottsville Tuesday night, according to state police at Schuylkill Haven.
This morning, Distirct Attorney Claude A. L. Shields said Buglia’s body appeared to have been left on the dirt road, near the Westwood Generating Station, for about two days.
Dr. Richard P. Bindle, Schuylkill County pathologist, was performing an autopsy at press time.
Shields said Buglia’s body appeared to be bruised and stabbed but had decomposed from being in the wooded area since Tuesday.
“He was beaten about the face and stabbed in the chest,” Shields said.
The DER employee from the Pottsville office was checking on a piece of land that had been mined by the U. S. Solid Fuel Company and recently reclaimed, according to Daniel Corey, a DER forester.
Buglia’s pickup truck was parked nearby, according to state police.
Buglia was certified dead at 3:45 p.m. by Schuylkill County Deputy Coroner Robert Berger, Tremont.
Cpl. Arthur D. Zeplin said investigators are still interviewing people who attended the party with Buglia.
“We’ve done some of that, and there are more people to interview,” Zeplin said, “Nothing is gelling at this point.”
Investigators will probably return to the dirt road later today to take a second look, according to Zeplin. For now, the investigators are keeping most of the details of the case “generic” until they know more, he said.
Shields said detectives from his office were following up some possibilities this morning, but have no suspects yet.
Buglia’s mother, Cecelia Buglia, also of Phoenix Park, refused to comment about the case this morning.
Dwayne Meyers, a cousin from Philadelphia, said Buglia was single and lived with his mother. The family raised Christmas trees on their property, he said.
“He kept to himself,” Meyers said about his cousin.
This morning, people streaming in and out of Reedy’s Service Station on Route 209 in Llewellyn near Buglia’s home were talking about the death. Robert E. Reedy, gas station owner, said Buglia was a quiet man who stopped in from time to time to fill up his gas tank.
“He was a nice guy,” Reedy said.
Buglia last worked at Quaker Maid Kitchens in Leesport, but an International Teamster strike stopped work at that factory on June 4.
He was born in Pottsville and is also survived by a sister, Beverly Ann Whetstone, Schuylkill Haven, two brothers, Robert Buglia of Jonestown and Michael Buglia of Newport.
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From the Pottsville Republican 9 July 1993:
James J. Buglia
James J. Buglia, 47, of Phoenix Park, R.D. 1, Pottsville, was found dead Thursday in Frailey Township.
Born in Pottsville, he was a son of Cecelia [Steffanic] Buglia, Phoenix Park, and the late Chester Buglia.
He was last employed by Quaker Maid Kitchens.
He was a member of St. Barbara’s Church, Minersville.
Surviving, in addition to his mother, are a sister, Beverly Ann Whetstone, Schuylkill Haven; two brothers, Robert Buglia, Jonestown, and Michael Buglia, Newport; nieces and nephews.
Mahal-Ritzel Funeral Home, Minersville, is in charge of arrangements.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 10 July 1993:
Services for James J. Buglia, 47, of Phoenix Park, R.D. 1, Pottsville, who was found dead Thursday in Frailey Township, will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday from Mahal-Ritzel Funeral Home, Minersville. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. in St. Barbara’s Church, Minersville, by the Rev. Daniel Yenushosky. Interment will be in St. Barbara’s Cemetery, Branch Township.
A brother, Chester Buglia, died in 1987.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 10 July 1993:
Autopsy shows man died of stab wounds
TREMONT – The Phoenix Park man found murdered on a dirt road in Tremont Township died from several stab wounds to the chest, according to Dr. Richard P. Bindle, pathologist at Pottsville Hospital and Warne Clinic.
Bindle performed an autopsy Friday on the body of James J. Buglia, 47, of Branch Township. Buglia was found on the dirt road near Route 209 and Interstate 81 at 1:45 p.m. Thursday.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 17 July 1993:
Police seek evidence in Branch man’s slaying
TREMONT – Investigators re-examined the scene Friday for additional evidence in the murder of James Buglia, 47, of Branch Township, state police at Schuylkill Haven said.
Buglia’s body was discovered on a dirt road southeast of the intersection of Route 209 and Interstate 81 on July 8.
Anyone with information about Buglia’s whereabouts on July 6 or July 7, is asked to call state police at 739-2900.
Information can also be furnished to Schuylkill County Crime Stoppers at (800) 582-8877. All calls will be kept confidential and a $1,000 reward is offered for information leading to the arrest for this crime or any other unsolved crime.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 20 August 1993:
CRIME STOPPERS
Police seek information on unsolved slaying
Schuylkill County Crime Stoppers is seeking information on the unsolved murder of James Joseph Buglia, 48, of Branch Township.
Buglia’s body was found July 8 near the intersection of Interstate 81 and Route 209 in Tremont Township.
He was last seen alive on July 6 after attending a birthday party for a friend in Pottsville.
Buglia’s family is offering a $2,000 reward along with the Crime Stoppers reward up to #1,000 for information that leads to an arrest in this case.
Call the Crime Stoppers toll free at (800) 582-8877. All calls are confidential and callers do not have to identify themselves to collect a cash reward.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 30 August 1993:
The Family of the Late JAMES BUGLIA…
Who passed away on July 8, 1993 wishes to express their sincere and heartfelt thanks to all relatives, neighbors and friends for the kindness extended to them in their recent bereavement. Also those who sent cards, flowers, food, memorials and served as pallbearers.
A special thanks to the Reverend Daniel Yenushosky and Father James Thomas. Your kindness is deeply appreciated.
Mother and Family
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From the Pottsville Republican, 8 October 1993:
CRIME STOPPERS
Police seek murder suspect
Schuylkill County Crime Stoppers is seeking information that will lead to an arrest in an unsolved homicide between July 6-8.
James Buglia, 47, of Branch Township, was last seen at 9:30 p.m. July 6 when he left a birthday party in Pottsville. His body was found July 8 in Tremont Township, near Route 209 and Interstate 81.
Anyone with information about this crime, or any other unsolved county crime can call Schuylkill County Crime Stoppers toll-free at (800) 582-8877.
County crime stoppers will pay up to $1,000 cash reward for information that leads to an arrest in the Buglia case.
His family will pay an additional $7,000 reward.
All calls are confidential and callers do not have to identify themselves to collect the cash reward.
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From the Pottsville Republican, 15 December 1995:
Slaying remains unsolved
Police seek clues in 1993 stabbing
By Ruth E. Igoe
Staff Writer
During the holidays, his mother remembers how he loved trimming the blue spruce and Douglas fir trees in his backyard.
This Christmas Eve, James J. Buglia would have turned 50.
But on July 8, 1993, the Phoenix Park man was found beaten and stabbed to death in the wild grasses of a Frailey Township mine reclamation site near the Interstate 81 and Rout 209 intersection.
Ever since, his mother, Cecelia Buglia has tried to forget about Christmas. In December 1993, only after her granddaughter implored her, did she reluctantly get a tree – a $7.63 plastic fir from a discount store.
“It will all be fake Christmases from now on,” she said Wednesday, while staring through the living room window at the birds that still flock to her son’s colorful bird feeders.
This year, state police at Schuylkill Haven are hoping to ease what has become a mournful time of the years for Mrs. Buglia.
They believe they are close to finding her son’s killer.
“It’s like pieces of a puzzle,” said Sgt. Martin J. Heckman, the crime section supervisor. “We have 89 pieces and there are 11 out there missing.”
To get those pieces, an $8,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Crime Stoppers, a private citizens’ organization, will give $1,000 for an arrest and Buglia’s family will reward $7,000 for an arrest and conviction.
Police said all information will be kept confidential.
Buglia was last seen about 9:30 p.m. leaving a friend’s birthday party on Pottsville’s South Centre Street on Tuesday, July 7. Buglia’s body was found by a mine inspector on Thursday, July 8, at 1:45 p.m., 200 feet from his truck in Frailey Township.
A four-to-six-inch long knife was used to stab Buglia, numerous times on his upper body, police said, and he was beaten abound the head.
“It was a brutal type of crime,” said Trooper Joseph E. Lipsett, the lead investigator on the case. “It wasn’t like they stabbed him once and left him there; they stayed there and kept stabbing him.”
No clear motive has been determined he said, although police say it was not a robbery.
Investigators believe Buglia was killed at another location and then moved to the mine site because of the minute amounts of blood at the scene, said Cpl. Leonard J. Nebistinsky, the crime unit supervisor.
Several people were involved in either the slaying or relocating the body, he said. They probably knew Buglia, and lured him to a different Minersville area site.
Mrs. Buglia, 69, said her son probably never had a chance to fight back.
Congenital heart problems and several open heart surgeries had left her 5-foot 8-inch son extremely weak and weighing only 129 pounds when he died. Buglia’s unsuccessful attempts at returning to work after the first operation in 1989 usually landed him in the hospital. In 1991, his doctor finally ordered him to go on disability.
These were the same problems that had plagued other family members: his father, Chester A. Buglia died July 4, 1970, with a heart tumor, and Buglia’s older brother, Chester J. Buglia had died suddenly in 1986, at age 42, from a massive heart attack while working as a Broom Community College professor in New York.
Mrs. Buglia recalled how sometimes her son could barely hobble out to his backyard grove nestled in the Phoenix Park hillside.
“He had no strength to fight back,” she said.
The suspects are probably from the Minersville area or lived there before the slaying, Nebistinsky said. He also said they have reason to believe one of them may now be living in New Jersey.
Police are looking for a man they believe might help the, in the case. A passing motorist saw him in the morning of July 7 on Interstate 81 near where the body was found.
He was described to police as 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 10 inches tall, between 25 or 30 years old and weighing between 150 to 160 pounds and wearing brown pants and shirt outfit.
Thousands of work hours have been logged in on the case, said Nebistinsky, with people working from the Reading barracks and county detectives from the district attorney’s office.
“We are close to where we want to be, but not close enough,” Nebistinsky said.
Although it has been 2 ½ years, Heckman said the police will not let up in their investigation.
“We don’t close out homicide investigations until they are solved,” he said. “We never give up. People should care about this because if he killed once, who’s to say he won’t kill again?”
Through her strong Roman Catholic faith, Mrs. Buglia said she has forgiven the killer of killers.
“I forgave them the day it happened,” she said. When she was at the funeral home, she told her priest to say a Mass for the people who killed her son.
But there is not a moment that it goes by when she doesn’t miss her son.
She remembers how he built her a brick Virgin Mary grotto in the yard’s corner, the long hours he spent harvesting his 350-bush blueberry patch, how he would read her Robert Frost and Edgar Allen Poe poems, how he surprised her in the spring of 1993 by planting bright flowered rhododendrons – and didn’t live to see them bloom that summer.
Mrs. Buglia said she has stopped doing many of the things she and her son did together. She no longer picks the blueberries, her other three children harvest them.
She doesn’t like to go outside much anymore and locks her doors as soon as visitors leave.
Instead, Mrs. Buglia stays inside and fosters her new hobby: layering, brilliant plastic flowers with liquid porcelain.
The porcelain-lacquered flowers make her happy, she said, because they remind her of her son.
Everyday, however, Mrs. Buglia said she visits “Jimmy’s” gravesite. There on his tombstone, she had inscribed “Escape,” a poem her son wrote while a Minersville Area High School student:
Let me escape this place
Place of power that all men want
Let me escape this place before the final cry to arms!
For there shall be on man
No man to close the Final curtain.
Let nature put me in my Sepulcher,
Not the Foolishness of man.
“I hope they found out who killed him and why,” she said. “Mostly why. Why did they do it? Someone who couldn’t even take care of themselves, couldn’t even walk, Why?”
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