Body found in Mass. could be suspect in 1980 killing
Saxonburg police chief was fatally shot
Federal and state authorities from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts converged Thursday on a small town in the Bay State and found what could be the body of the man suspected in the 1980 slaying of Saxonburg police Chief Gregory Adams.
Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger said the body had been buried in the North Dartmouth backyard of Lillian Webb, the former wife of fugitive Donald Eugene Webb.
“We don’t have confirmation that it’s Webb, but a body was found,” Mr. Goldinger said.
An autopsy will be conducted Friday to identify the remains, Bristol County (Mass.) District Attorney Tom Quinn said at a news conference Thursday night.
A source indicated that the search was sparked by information from Ms. Webb, who has been granted immunity from prosecution.
She owns the property with her son, Stanley, and authorities believe it could have been the hideout for her husband. Webb, a career criminal with ties to organized crime in Providence, R.I., has been a fugitive since the day Chief Adams was killed during what authorities believe started as a traffic stop
in Saxonburg on Dec. 4, 1980. If he were still alive, Webb would turn 86 years old Friday.
FBI spokeswoman Kristen Setera in Boston said the FBI and state police from Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, working under the direction of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, were “conducting court-authorized activity in connection with an ongoing investigation. As part of our ongoing efforts to locate longtime fugitive Donald Eugene Webb, an evidentiary search is currently underway.”
Jillian Fennmore, communications director for the attorney general, confirmed that Massachusetts state police assigned to the office obtained a warrant that led to Thursday’s search.
Earlier Thursday, reporters on the scene, about 58 miles south of Boston, said digging was ongoing in the backyard of the home, where FBI agents recently discovered a secret room off a being WBSM. closet. broadcastThe excavationradio live by stationMassachusetts was
Joe was SaxonburgBeachem interviewedwas police thereby Chief Dartmouthand Week reporters.
Although he wouldn’t comment on his role in the investigation, Chief Beachem said it was important for him to be part of the case involving his predecessor.
“I am here because obviously there’s some hope in the case and to support the efforts Stateof the FBI, Police Massachusettsand the Pennsylvania State Police,” he said. “I know that it’s been an open question for so long that it’s on a lot of people’s minds, including everybody in our department.” The FBI confirmed this month that there was a renewed effort to find Webb, a jewel thief who authorities believe was in Saxonburg to case a potential target in early December 1980. Investigators theorize that he encountered Chief Adams, they struggled, and the chief was shot twice.
An attorney for the chief’s widow, Mary Ann Jones of Butler County, has disclosed that Ms. Webb’s home was searched by federal officials more than once during the past year and that a secret room off a closet was discovered. Inside the room was a cane; authorities believe Chief Adams fired a bullet that struck Webb in the leg.
The discovery of the room — and the belief that Ms. Webb had hidden her husband — led Ms. Jones to file a lawsuit against Ms. Webb, her son, and Donald Eugene Webb, if he still is alive.
Her attorney, Thomas W. King III of Butler, said Thursday that he could not comment on the search in Massachusetts.