By Florence Goodman

Growing up in Wolcott in the 1950s was wonderful except for the scary stories my older brother would tell my sister and me. To this day the one that is still quite vivid in my mind is that of John Crowe who "might be hiding in the woods and jump out to kill us." If you have lived in the town for over fifty years you might remember the story of the John Crowe murders. If not, let me share the story with you.

The year was 1934 and the place was Wolcott Road in those days referred to as Wolcott Street. The Yuskis family lived in a bungalow type house neatly painted white with as many modern conveniences as country life would allow. It was located where the present day Rite Aid store used to be. Their property crossed Wolcott Road where a barn, garage, some small shacks, and farmland were sandwiched between Potuccos Ring and Beach Roads. A good number of livestock including milking cows were housed in the barn and the farmland produced flowers and the necessary vegetables for the family. There were five members in the household: George, age 55, his wife, Lucy, age 46, Clarence, age 22, Mildred, age 23, and Violet, age 19. Mr. Yuskis had a hired farmhand, Mr. Julius Karbauskas, who lived in a small shack across Wolcott Road. The Yuskis family and Mr. Karbauskas were of Lithuanian descent.

At that time most of the land in Wolcott was still farmland or thick brush, the roads were limited, and many of them were dirt. Wolcott Road ended at Center Street just past the Yuskis home; in fact, the State Highway Department had just purchased land from Mr. Yuskis to improve Wolcott Road. The population of the town was approximately 800 residents, and our police department was small so when an incident such as this murder took place, the State Police were called in to help. Henry Norton was the Deputy Sheriff and Bill Klitka was the Constable in Wolcott when this tragedy occurred.

John Crowe owned seventy-five acres of land adjoining the Yuskis property on Beach Road up to Spindle Hill Road. He had a small shack on his property that he stayed in on weekends, but he lived in Waterbury during the week. When he left work each day in Waterbury he made a daily trip to his Wolcott property. Neighbors described him as a fanatic who seldom spoke to anyone as he drove slowly by their homes in his Ford Roadster. He was always well dressed and wore a Panama hat. Mr. Crowe was of Irish descent and had come to this country in 1926. It was guessed that he was about 55 to 60 years old.

It was Sunday, June 24, 1934, at about 12:30 P.M. and the Yuskis family and Mr. Karbauskas had finished their noon meal. Mr. Yuskis had crossed the street to go up in his lot to feed the pigs while Mr. Karbauskas went to his shack to get ready for a picnic in Waterbury. Their son, Clarence changed into his bathing suit and waited for Mildred to get changed so they could go swimming at Scovill Reservoir. As Clarence sat in his parked car waiting for his sister, Mr. Crowe drove past. Crowe stopped his car just north of the driveway, got out of the vehicle with a revolver in his hand, and ran towards Clarence and shot him several times. Mrs. Yuskis was in the backyard getting water from the Mad River when Mr. Crowe ran toward Clarence with the gun. When she realized what was happening, she ran toward Crowe, grabbed him, and hit him in the head with the pail. Crowe shoved her away and shot at her grazing her head; Mrs. Yuskis fell to the ground as Crowe ran for his car. When she came to her senses, she got up, started yelling, and ran to help Clarence who had gotten out of his car. As they were standing there Crowe came back towards them with a rifle in his hand. Clarence turned to face Crowe, but he shot him with the rifle and Clarence fell to the ground. Next Crowe aimed at Mrs. Yuskis, but she hid behind the car and then ran behind a tree in the front yard. As Crowe started back toward his car, Mr. Karbauskas came out of the barn from across the street and yelled something to Crowe who then aimed his rifle and shot him as well. He also shot at one of the sisters as she ran out on the front porch but missed her when she ran back into the house. Crowe then went to his car and drove off towards Beach Road.

While all of this was happening, several people had driven by and witnessed the shooting but did not stop. Instead, they drove to MacCormack's Gas Station, about five hundred feet south of the Yuskis house, (where Bill & Sam's is) to call the police. Shortly after the shootings, one witness, William McCasland, who had been berry picking on Fred Andrews's property on Spindle Hill Road said he saw John Crowe get out of his car and start walking up the road. He said he crossed the fence and went into the brush in the opposite direction of his shack and had a gun in his hand. This witness also said that he said "hello" and Crowe nodded. He didn't think anything about the gun or gun shots because he heard there was a pheasant in that woods and maybe John had shot it and was going to get him. Crowe's car was parked about twenty feet from Wolcott Road and about 1500 feet away from his shack. When the police examined Crowe's car, they found two wooden boxes each wrapped in wire and containing fourteen to twenty sticks of dynamite with a time fuse attached. Witnesses stated that Crowe was always blasting on his property and had an underground cave somewhere on the land.

State police records indicate that search parties were set up in and around the woods in Wolcott, Waterbury and Bristol. They even brought in blood hounds to aid in the search which continued for months, but John Crowe was never found. For many years, on the anniversary of the shootings various newspapers would run an article rehashing the story and showing a picture of John Crowe in hopes that someone might provide a new lead. The murders and these repeated articles saddened the few Crowe family members that lived in Waterbury. They always felt that the Yuskis family had harassed Crowe over the years and that was why he committed such a horrible act. Fred Waldron of Allingtown noted similar information in the State Police files. He stated that Mr. Crowe made cider brandy in his shack and that the men in the Yuskis family were always bothering him in any way they could. A short time before the murders they talked about emptying the cider barrel. Crowe said if the cider barrel was spilled out, he would spill their blood on the ground. From 1934 until 1956 police records indicate that many leads were followed and people were questioned pertaining to these shooting, but each lead to a dead end. It was believed that some of Crowe's neighbors hid him from the authorities and then helped him to escape to Canada. Police records also indicate that many of the leads were out of state and even out of the country, but they never were able to solve this case. As of May 1956, no new evidence was added to the Crowe file.

Clarence Yuskis died at the scene of the crime. Mrs. Yuskis and Julius Karbauskas were taken to the hospital in Waterbury where Mr. Karbauskas was pronounced dead. Mrs. Yuskis's head wound was cleaned and bandaged, and she was released from the hospital. Things were never the same for the family, but they lived on the farm for many more years and in 1989 when the property was sold for commercial development. The Waterbury American ran an article interviewing Sandy Marino, senior about the property where the murder had taken place when Sandy was twelve years old. Sandy said the police came to their house looking for Jack's Cave and he led them to it. Sandy stated, "No one was found in the cave or anywhere else. It was the perfect crime. They never found the man. They never knew anything about what happened to him."

In 1949 when my family moved to Wolcott the story was still being told. My brother loved every minute as he retold the story to my sister and me and scared us out of our wits!!

(Information for this article was taken from the complete case file provided by the State Police; discussion with a relative of John Crowe; 2008 and 2020 articles by F. Goodman in the Wolcott Community News; The Waterbury Democrat, Tuesday, June 26, 1934; and "The Waterbury American, Friday, April 26, 1989)

Early photo of John Crowe.

Police sketch of Crowe with no mustache.

The Yuskis house on Wolcott Road and their car where Clarence Yuskis was murdered.

Yuskis barn and garage. Today this is Sebastian Plaza where New Haven Pizza is located.

Looking north on Wolcott Road. Yuskis house on the right and the farm on the left. Notice the curve in the road as you head toward Beach Road.

Crowe's car in the forefront and dirt road leading to the driveway to the Crowe house.

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