In Episode 456, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger investigate the strangest haunting case they’ve ever explored. Two events happened on November 22, 1963, 1,700 miles apart, and suddenly intertwined into two tragedies that would lead to a haunting on Route 31 in Holden, Massachusetts.
BECOME A LEGENDARY PATRON:
https://www.patreon.com/NewEnglandLegends
CREDITS:
Produced and hosted by: Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger
Edited by: Ray Auger
Theme Music by: John Judd
SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST FOR FREE:
Apple Podcasts/iTunes | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Podcasts | TuneIn | iHeartRadio
JOIN OUR SUPER-SECRET:
New England Legends Facebook Group
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:
*A note on the text: Please forgive punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Like us, the transcripts ain’t perfect.
[DRIVING IN CAR]
RAY: We just passed Holden Center.
JEFF: Right, the town of Holden, in central Massachusetts.
RAY: Right. And we’re heading west on Route 31.
JEFF: We are.
RAY: Holden is a small town. Once you get out of the downtown, it gets a lot more rural pretty quickly.
JEFF: The houses begin to spread out. Okay, we’re coming up to the Kendall Reservoir.
RAY: Route 31 crosses the reservoir over a causeway. There’s water on both sides of the road up ahead.
JEFF: Slow down here, Ray. They say this strip of road is haunted.
RAY: So we’re looking for ghosts this week?
JEFF: We are, and not just one. This may be one of the strangest haunting stories we’ve ever covered. We’re at the site of a horrible tragedy… their ghosts still haunt this road… and here’s the strangest part of the story. They may have died because of Lee Harvey Oswald.
[INTRO]
JEFF: I’m Jeff Belanger, welcome to Episode 456 of the New England Legends podcast.
RAY: And I’m Ray Auger. Thanks for joining us on our mission to chronicle every strange legend in New England one story at a time. We’re always on the hunt for ghosts, monsters, roadside oddities, UFOs, and all of the other wicked strange things that make our region unique. Did you know most of our story leads come from you? This one did. Thanks to Joe Lindberg for sending it in through our website.
JEFF: You’re a legend, Joe. We’ll go searching for these ghosts of Holden, Mass, right after this quick word from our sponsor.
SPONSOR
[DRIVING IN CAR]
RAY: Okay, wait a minute. Lee Harvey Oswald is responsible for this haunting in Holden?
JEFF: Sort of.
RAY: The same Lee Harvey Oswald who assassinated President Kennedy in 1963?
JEFF: Yes, the same one. Let’s pull over up here out of the way.
RAY: Okay.
[CAR STOPS]
[DOORS OPEN/CLOSE]
RAY: We’re standing by the Kendall Reservoir here in Holden. The town was founded in 1741. In the 1820s, Caleb Kendall operated a saw and grist mill right in this vicinity. To operate the mill, he built a dam, which created the earliest version of the Kendall Reservoir. Over time, this reservoir transformed into the drinking water for the region. Route 31 cuts through the body of water on a strip of causeway. The reservoir is on the north side, and on the south side of the road is what is technically a pond today.
JEFF: Though it looks like one large body of water.
RAY: Right.
JEFF: It’s by this stretch of road that some have reported ghosts drifting along near the guardrail over the water.
RAY: That’s a pretty tight stretch of road. The causeway is about 650 feet long, it’s narrow with guardrails on either side. I have to imagine seeing anyone walking on that road—living or dead—would be a dangerous thing for everyone involved.
JEFF: No doubt. Ray, this one is going to get stranger than usual. Are you ready to go back in time?
RAY: Ready as I’ll ever be.
JEFF: Then let’s head back to November of 1963 and find out what happened.
[TRANSITION]
JEFF: It’s Friday, November 22, 1963 here in Holden, Massachusetts. John F. Kennedy, Jr. is president of the United States, Endicott Peabody is the governor of Massachusetts, and here in Holden, folks are looking forward to the Thanksgiving holiday which is coming up on Thursday of next week.
RAY: It’s a nice time of year. The holidays are getting close.
JEFF: Speaking of President Kennedy, today he’s in Dallas, Texas. He’s making a whirlwind trip through Texas to support his reelection campaign. Ray, we’re going to have to split up for this one. You head to Dallas, and I’ll head to Fitchburg, Mass.
RAY: You got it.
[JET TAKES OFF]
JEFF: I’m in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, just about 22 miles from Holden. Today in Fitchburg, Irisse [E-reese] LaFosse is celebrating her 88th birthday. To mark the occasion, three of her four daughters made the trip to have lunch with their mom. All four of Irisse’s daughters are Catholic nuns. There’s Marie, known as Sister Celine Marie; Eva who now goes by Sister Mary Martha; both of them are assigned to St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut. And then there’s Beatrice, or Sister Mary Ferdinand. The fourth daughter, Rose, known as Sister Mary Henry, is ill, and had to stay home at the Convent of Mary Immaculate in West Hartford, Connecticut, where she also lived with her sister, Beatrice. 69 year old Timothy Lahey also of Waterbury, Connecticut, is their driver for the day. It’s about 12:30 in the afternoon when the family sits down to lunch.
RAY: Meanwhile, back in Dallas, Texas…
[JET PLANE LANDS ON THE RUNWAY]
RAY: President Kennedy has just landed at Love Field in Dallas. Vice President Lindon Johnson landed a few minutes earlier aboard Air Force 2. There isn’t a lot of time for shaking hands and greeting everyone at the airport because there’s a motorcade that has to take President Kennedy and his wife Jacquline, through downtown to the Dallas Trade Mart for a luncheon where the president is going to make a speech.
[PLATES AND SILVERWARE]
JEFF: In Fitchburg, the LaFosse Family are celebrating their mother. It’s not often that all of them get to be together at once. The time passes quickly as the sisters… who are indeed also Sisters… talk about the work they’re doing back in Connecticut. Their mother listens intently. She’s so proud of all of them. It’s nice to shut out the rest of the world for a while and just be together.
[CROWD NOISE SLOWLY BUILDS REMAINS BEHIND NEXT LINE]
RAY: It’s just after noon central time in Dallas, when the president’s motorcade begins its ten-mile journey through downtown Dallas. The president and First Lady are riding in style in a 1961 Lincoln Continental, four-door convertible. The midnight-blue car is stylish, big, and powerful. (BEAT) The president is waving to his supporters. They wave and cheer back. It’s about 12:30 central time when the president’s car turns right onto Houston Street, and enters Dealey Plaza. And now the car is turning onto Elm Street.
[RIFLE SHOT]
RAY: What was that?! Oh my gosh! Something happened to the president!
[2 MORE RIFLE SHOTS]
RAY: It looks like someone else was just shot too!
[CAR SPEEDS OFF]
RAY: The president’s car is racing away!
[PLATES AND SILVERWARE]
JEFF: Here in Fitchburg, the La Fosse family are unaware of anything happening outside of their luncheon room. The family prays together, thankful for their good health and the long life of their mother. They glance at the clock. It’s about 2:30 PM. They realize they’ll have to leave in the next hour or so to make the drive back to Connecticut.
[CHAOTIC CROWD NOISE]
RAY: Here in Dallas, a crowd of us have gathered outside of Parkland Memorial Hospital. It’s a hectic scene. A Catholic priests has been brought in to attend to the president and give last rights. Clearly something bad has happened to the president. Everyone is eager for more news.
[CROWD NOISE GOES SILENT]
RAY: It’s 1:33 PM central time… White House Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff has just announced… president Kennedy is dead. (BEAT) Reporters gathered here race to telephones to get their stories on the wire services.
(PAUSE)
JEFF: It’s a little after 3:00 PM here in Fitchburg, when the LaFosse Family put down their dessert forks, say their goodbyes to mom, and get in the car…
[CAR DOORS OPEN/CLOSE]
[CAR DRIVING]
JEFF: And start heading south toward Connecticut. (PAUSE) At first, the sisters chat amongst themselves, but grow more quiet as the drive wears on. It’s just about 4PM, the car is heading into Holden on Route 31 approaching Kendall Reservoir. That’s when their driver Tim Lahey asks if he can turn on the radio and maybe hear a little music. The sisters have no objection.
[RADIO CLICKS AND TUNES IN]
[JFK-NEWSCLIP]
JEFF: The sisters and their driver are stunned. Shocked. They can’t believe their ears. The sister begin to pray. Tim Lahey’s eyes grow wide. Wait… He’s… he’s not breathing! He…
[CAR SCREECHES]
[CRASH]
[BIG SPLASH]
JEFF: The car has just crashed through the guardrails, and has flipped over into the reservoir! This is awful. The car has completely sunk. A woman walking down the road saw what happened. She’s frantically waving down cars to ask for help. One man stops. This woman lives nearby, she’s running home to call the police.
[SPLASH]
JEFF: The motorist just jumped into the water to see if he can help. The water is pretty cold, but not frozen over yet. Precious minutes have passed. There’s been no sign of anyone.
[OLD POLIC SIRENS FADING IN]
JEFF: By the time the police arrive, the motorist has pulled Tim Lahey’s body from the car. Lahey’s face is blue. He’s clearly dead. This is awful. It’s been too long in the water. There is no hope for the three sisters.
JEFF: By the time the three sisters are pulled from the car, they too are lost. But their skin isn’t blue like Lahey’s. The officers believe Lahey suffered a heart attack or stroke. They speculate that maybe he had just heard the news about President Kennedy on the radio, and it was more than his heart could take. He lost consciousness, the car crashed through the guardrail, and sank into about 15 feet of water. All four people in the car were lost. And that takes us back to today.
[TRANSITION]
RAY: What a tragic day on so many levels.
JEFF: Definitely.
RAY: Also, we obviously can’t know for sure if the breaking news on the radio triggered the driver’s stroke.
JEFF: No, we don’t know. But it’s worth reminding ourselves that in 1963, news didn’t travel as fast as it does now. There were no cell phones or text alerts. If you weren’t listening to the radio or watching television, you wouldn’t know until you turned them on or talked to someone who said: Did ya hear the news?!
RAY: Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the assassination of President Kennedy. Authorities also claimed Oswald was responsible for seriously wounding Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie Connally. As to how many bullets were fired and who shot them, we know the debate rages on. But that debate is for some other podcast.
JEFF: It’s incredible how these two events 1,700 miles apart from each other, could find a way to intertwine.
RAY: John F. Kennedy was America’s first Catholic president. I’m sure everyone in that car on that fateful day in Holden, felt a stronger connection with him compared to other presidents.
JEFF: It could have made the news even more shocking. There are still folks here in Holden who either remember this tragic event, or heard about it growing up to the point where you can’t help but look around when you approach Kendall Reservoir on Rt. 31. Three ghostly nuns are said to still haunt this stretch of road. Their black and white habits stick out. You glance over, and the apparitions are gone. An echo of a tragic event connected to a national tragedy that occurred the same afternoon 1700 miles away.
[OUTTRO]
RAY: And that takes us to After the Legend where we take a deeper dive into this week’s story and sometimes veer off course.
JEFF: After the Legend is brought to you by our patreon patrons! Thank you so much, patrons, for supporting us financially. You know we don’t have a big podcast network behind, but we’ve got something better than that. We’ve got you. For just $3 bucks per month you can join this group of insiders who get early ad-free access to new episodes, plus bonus episodes and content that no one else gets to hear, and access to our entire archive of shows. To help the cause please click over to patreon.com/newenglandlegends to sign up.
To see some pictures related to this week’s story, click on the link in our episode description, or go to our website and click on Episode 456.
Please hit that subscribe button wherever you get your podcasts, and we’ll send you a new episode each and every Thursday. Plus, it’s free to subscribe! And if you post a review for us, or share our episodes on your social media, or just tell a friend or two about us, that helps us grow, then even more story leads come in for all of us. We appreciate being part of this New England Legends community with you.
We’d like to thank or patreon patrons, thank you to our sponsors, and our theme music is by John Judd.
Until next time remember… the bizarre is closer than you think.