Mary Jane Young shot and killed her husband and then took her own life August 10th, 1986 in Hazleton, Luzerne County Pennsylvania. According to the one article I could find in library archives, Mary had been released from a psychiatric hospital the month before.
Was she abused? Was she going crazy? Was she framed? Was he a good husband, supportive - or bad? I don't know. I only know that they were here and through a tragic ending they are both gone.
No one should be forgotten.
[police officer involved domestic violence oidv intimate partner violence (IPV) abuse law enforcement public safety fatality fatalities lethal murder suicide female perp pennsylvania state]
This is a very tragic story. may I ask why you have blogged about it?
ReplyDeleteHoping to learn more because so little is written.
ReplyDeleteI was their neighbor. Three kids if I recall. Two twin baby girls.
ReplyDeleteI am their son. I remember going to the neighbors house after it happened. We shucked corn until my family could regroup. I have never gone back. My sisters and I survived the storm and are doing well with our own families. Wow.
ReplyDeleteIf you’re Michael, the first born, I use to babysit you and then the twins when they were born. Your Grandmom on your Mother’s side(Joanne) taught at IUP where I was a student. I knew your family well and often wondered about you all. You have an uncle on your dads side nick named Cornbread. I remember the tragic day. If you get this I would love to talk with you 804-386-5784
DeleteI'm so sorry you lost your parents, so glad you have each other, and that you all made it through.
ReplyDeleteMichael!!! I just came across this. I was your dad's best friend. He was my roommate in the academy and was stationed with me. The house you were living in was mine. Your dad was working out of Milton and then was granted a hardship transfer to Hazleton in order to take care of you kids and your mom.
ReplyDeletePlease get in touch with me. tom@susqu.edu
This article popped up during a Google search while I was doing a search for the Hazleton Standard Speaker for something completely unrelated.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why it popped up. The article is from 2010. Mike was killed in 1986. I am writing this on March 28th, 2019. He was my roommate in the Academy. He was my best friend. We were stationed together in Milton.
In the short time that we had together in the PSP, we did some really great work together. He was a young, black Trooper who was instrumental in infiltrating a group of really bad Troopers in western PA that were running a drug ring out of the State Police parking lot. I was a young Hawaiian kid trying to figure it all out. We were both completely out of our element, but we had each other as friends.
My parents and I had invested in a lot of real estate in Hazleton. Mike was living in one of our houses. He had just completed a midnight shift on the morning of August 10th. In addition to his wife and kids in the home, there were other family members visiting. They heard him come home in the morning from a midnight shift, heard him talking with his wife and then went to bed. Awhile later they heard him walking into the room where his infant twins were sleeping. They heard him say, "Mary Jane, what are you doing?" then two shots. He fell over the rails of the crib where he subsequently died. Mary Jane then went up to the third floor of the home, laid on a bed and took her own life.
I spent an entire career thinking about Mike...how things would have worked out for him on the job...in life....with his family. He really loved his kids, his wife, and his friends. Mary Jane was having significant mental issues, but he was always by her side. This wasn't the first attempt she had taken to harm Mike, but he never once walked away from her.
She had been undergoing in patient treatment for an attempt to harm Mike a few weeks earlier. When I learned that she was coming home, I shared my concerns with him about his safety. Mike always felt that he could handle any situation that arose with Mary Jane. He certainly was never going to walk away from his commitment to her and his family. He was loving, caring, gentle, and passionate about his family.
I retired in 2007. I haven't thought about him in quite awhile.
Today, I realize that still I miss my friend.
Tom thank you for sharing this. It's beautiful and sad both.
DeleteHey Tom, it’s Ken your classmate. How you doing my friend. Bizman4miego@icloud.com
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