Dale Richard Perelman - New Castles Kadunce Murders: Mystery and the Devil in Northwest Pennsylvania

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2019 by Dale Richard Perelman

All rights reserved

Front cover: Larry Kadunce on his way to court. Courtesy of the New Castle Police.

First published 2019

E-Book edition 2019

ISBN 978.1.43966.855.9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019948133

Print edition ISBN 978.1.46714.402.5

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

NOTE ON SOURCES

The events described in this book are sourced directly from court records, police files, trial transcripts or actual interviews by the author. The writer has taken minor poetic license in describing some physical movements and emotions, although these are justified based on actual records.

Preface

TOO NICE A DAY FOR A KILLING

Robins chirped at their brothers perched on neighboring limbs. Green leaves fluttered across the maple trees. Roses bloomed vivid reds and yellows. Nikki hydrangeas added a touch of purple and blue. A bed of Stella day lilies cascaded with orange and coral hues interspersed with a clump of nearby daisies. Although the early hours still retained a chill from the night air, the day promised perfect weather later in the afternoonideal for a picnic at New Castles Gaston Park, a stroll through Cascade Park or even a swim in Neshannock Creek by the Paper Mill Bridge.

The Kadunce house (to readers right). Authors collection.

The morning sun glided across the sky, brightening the little rental home at 708 Wilmington Avenue, located just blocks from downtown. Kathy Kadunce lay in bed and nursed her newborn infant, Robert, nicknamed Dino, at her breast. Daughter Dawn snuggled against her teddy bear as she slept quietly in the adjoining room. The early morning started so peacefully. The date was Tuesday, July 11, 1978, the heart of summerfar too nice a day for a murder.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book tells the story of a brutal murder of a mother and her four-year-old daughter in the hardscrabble town of New Castle, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1978. The saga intermingles a serial killer, a Satanist, multiple suicides, three courtroom trials and questions of innocence and guilt. All facts are true, taken from actual police documents, interviews and court records.

This book would not have been possible without the help of prothonotary Helen Morgan; District Attorney Josh Lamancusa; attorney Norman Levine; detectives Frank Gagliardo, Chuck Abraham, Matthew Vanasco and Vincent Martwinski; Police Chief Bobby Salem; Banks Smither and Abigail Fleming of The History Press; and Chris Fabian from the New Castle Public Library. My son, Sean Kanan, and my daughter, Robyn Bernstein, both highly skilled writers, along with Phil Gasiewicz, with whom I shared a summer writing class at Yale University, have provided emotional and editorial help. Lastly and most importantly, I wish to acknowledge my wife, Michele, my muse, my critic and my number-one reader.

Helen Morgan, prothonotary for thirty-eight years and sister of Frank Gagliardo. Authors collection.

Introduction

A TASTE OF THE TOWN

New Castle, Pennsylvania, a rustbelt town of slightly more than thirty thousand, stood fifty miles north of Pittsburgh. A hodgepodge of Italians, Poles, Syrians, Lebanese, Greeks and the occasional bearded Amish family from nearby New Wilmington driving a horse and black buggy populated the area. Many locals held blue-collar jobs in outmoded manufacturing plants like Rockwell Axle, Shenango Pottery, Pentax Foundry or Universal Rundle. Some workers traveled outside the county to nearby Sharon Steel in Mercer County or to the General Motors assembly division in Lordstown, Ohio.

Little of significance stirred up the community. Each day quietly folded into the next. Movies offered an avenue of escape. John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John rocked the Highlander Theater on the North Hill with Grease, bringing back the nostalgic 1950s. The Bad News Bears played downtown at the Cinema to younger audiences. On the South Side, X-rated movies scintillated voyeurs at the seedy State Theater.

To infuse new life into a sagging downtown, the Redevelopment Authority began to widen the sidewalks and remove the parking meters from the streets, generating temporary employment. The construction disrupted business, dampening hopes for a strong back-to-school season. The disappearance of several stately multistory buildings and their replacement single-floor utilitarian structures caused one astute merchant to compare the new construction to the exchange of fine leather for Naugahyde. The New Castle News urged the public to overlook this temporary inconvenience and patronize the citys shops, but sales slipped away to neighboring Youngstown, Sharon and Pittsburgh.

New Castle qualified as a sports-crazy town. During the fall season, Friday nights meant high school football. Everyone followed Coach Lindy Lauros Red Hurricanes, one of Pennsylvanias most successful football teams. Back in 1951, Lindy had become the National Football Leagues oldest rookie with the old Chicago Cardinals at age twenty-nine.

In the spring and summer, local baseball legend Chuck Tanner took center stage. As a rookie outfielder with the Milwaukee Braves in 1955, Tanner blasted a home run on the first pitch during his first at bat. From 1977 to 1985, he managed the Pittsburgh Pirates. On off nights, Tanner could be found talking baseball with his cronies at Egidios Restaurant on Wilmington Road. Tanners warmth and enthusiasm made him everybodys friend. While the newspaper debated whether the Pirates should trade star outfielder Dave Parker for someone less outspoken and controversial, the people on the streets argued the players pros and cons. Residents felt a proprietary interest in such a decision due to their kinship with Tanner and the Pirates.

New Castles citizens enjoyed ethnic foods almost as much as sports. The citys restaurants offered a mouthwatering mishmash of sights, tastes and smellsthe greasy aroma of fresh sausage pizza, deep-fried smelts, wedding soup thick with meatballs and escarole, the sizzle of lamb on the rod and the lure of steaming hot dogs on the grill, loaded with onions, mustard and chili. The cry of two with everything and a side of fries echoed through the Hudson Lunch, the Coney Island Grill and the Post Office Lunch, all owned by Greek Americans.

Large families routinely gathered together on Sundays following church in New Castle. After a late lunch or early dinner, the women washed dishes and hashed out gossip while the men argued politics or sports to the din of the television.