| some background behind ... |
|
| The imputus behind this work was a murder that occurred during the winter of 1982, in the town of
Cohasset, MA. At the time, I was working at a printing facility about a mile
or so from the crime scene. I remember not only being particularly struck by such a
brazen act in an otherwise quiet town, but also by the absurd symbolic
irony of placing a rose next to the deceased by the perpetrator.
|
| From
the Boston Globe (12/28/82)...
"MISSING MAN INDICTED IN COHASSET MURDER A Norfolk County Grand Jury
yesterday handed down a first-degree murder indictment against a Boston
man charged in the death of a 20-year-old Cohasset woman whom he had
reportedly dated. -----------, 21, from the North End
- who so far has eluded police - was also indicted on a charge of
unlawfully carrying a firearm. Law enforcement officials throughout the
country will be notified of the indictments as the search continues,
Robert W. Banks, the first assistant district attorney in charge of the
case, said. ---------- is charged with killing Lesley Ann Haynes, who was
found early last Sunday morning slumped in the driver's seat of her
family's Volkswagen Dasher at a gas station. She had been shot five times
in the head. A red American Beauty rose lay on the front passenger seat
beside her. Haynes, a junior at Denver University in Colorado, became
involved with ---------- while she was in Cohasset during the summer, but
recently had tried to end the relationship, according to authorities.
Banks said the indictment places the murder case under the jurisdiction of
the Norfolk Superior Court. Previously it had been on the Quincy District
Court level..."
(In Oct. 1983, ---------- was found guilty of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to life. He would have been eligible for parole in 1998.) |
| Here's a twist though... Some time after the event, I had written 'Lesley Ann Haynes' on the back of a small card, of which had attached an embroidered lapel emblem of a rose. This was a handout issued by the Knights of Columbus to remind folks of the Church's pro-life position. I wrote the name down so that it would not be forgotten who and what the subject of this ominous work was. It was my own ironic memento to the tragic event. Thanks to the long reach of today's Internet, I was able to track down several Boston Globe articles 24 years later to refresh a long since blurred memory. Sadly, there were no direct references on any of the major search engines to the whole troubling affair. |