Darlings, For Me This Was The Original Unsolved Mystery!!!!!!!!

Girls, let me tell you, today is an anniversary--46 years, to be exact, of a childhood event I still cannot shake. Even more, because, at this late date, I have no answer as to whom it was committed by. Let me tell you how things went down, dolls!!!!!!

It was Sunday morning, February 14, 1965. Valentine's Day, to be exact. I had just come downstairs--it was 8am, and was thinking about going to the front porch to retrieve the Sunday paper, when the phone rang. I answered, and the voice of maniacal laughter stated, "This is a murderer!" Scared, but confrontational, darlings, like the bitch I was destined to become, I faced this creep down, until I realized it was my Uncle Tom playing a joke. He asked to speak with my father. About ten minutes later, my father came down the stairs, went to the porch, and retrieved the paper. There, on its front page, was a headline about our sleepy little town I never expected to see, "Mother And Daughter Slain In Highland Park."

On this day that I write to my girls, 46 years ago, the Reubenstein murder was committed. The bare facts were minimal. On Saturday afternoon, the 13th, Mrs. Reubenstein had gone food shopping into town. Her 12-year-old daughter was home doing what most girls her age would do--chat it up on the phone with friends. At some point therein, she told a friend, "I have to go; I hear my mother coming; I have to help with the groceries." They lived in a two family apartment house, with a lobby outside their door. The girl opened the apartment door--but whomever was there was not her mother!!!!! Said individual forced himself into the house, confronted and overpowered the girl, stabbing her with a knife thirteen times!!!!! Knowing somehow that the mother would return home, the perp hid, and when Mother did return, faced her, to stab her fifteen times, then fleeing off into the Land of Unsolved Mystery!!!!!!!

But wait--things get more interesting. From the early reports of the event, we always heard the story of a boy, about my age, who was playing, and went to the house to get a drink of water. He was kin to the Reubensteins, and the victims were his cousin and aunt. Only years later, when I was adult, did I discover this boy had been my high school classmate, Maurice!!!!!!!!

The story went he walked in, saw the aunt on the floor, and either did not understand what had taken place, or was in too great a state of shock. He went upstairs to get help from the neighbor, saying something like, "My aunt has fallen down." She came down with Maurice, took in the scene at once, and called the police, which set things in motion.

This event was nerve shattering at the time. Murders happened in large urban centers, not sleepy little places like Highland Park. All of a sudden the world seemed a rather unsafe place. The next day, the teacher in school discussed this with us extensively, reminding us the importance of knowing who is on the other side of the door before opening it.

To this day, as far as I know, it remains unsolved. But over the years, as long ago as when I still lived there, you heard things. One was that the perp had been a man with mental problems, who was caught and then incarcerated. The other was that it was some kind of hit job, but the wrong house was targeted. There was another Reubenstein family then, living on North Fourth Avenue, and they supposedly were the intended targets.

Maurice years later confirmed to me his part in the story. I could never bring myself to ask him if he ever found out the outcome, especially since Maurice grew up to be a lawyer!!!!!!

One of my childhood friends, Bill Ducca (Billy then) became a cop and is now a detective. Undoubtedly, with the access he has to materials now, I would guess he knows something. But when I paid a visit to HP six years ago, and wrote him a note, in true Highland Park fashion, he chose to ignore all us gay or unpopular sorts who realized what a crock of shit the town was, and left. Maybe he was jealous of me for doing that! Or maybe he just did not care. For me, this hurt, as we were close, his siblings and parents, too, all during my childhood and adolescence.

So, girls, I pause on this day, to recall a momentous event from my past, one I would still love the answer to. The senseless savagery of two such innocent victims makes the whole thing even more mysterious. We may love "The Bad Seed," darlings, but when it invades your personal space, let me tell you, it is quite a different matter!!!!!!!

Which begs the question--you never know when your number is going to be up!!!!
So wear your best at all times!!!!! Especially clean panties, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!