The coward gamble would take his life in Arizona when tracked down and confronted by Law enforcement after making Baglier change into his clothes and stealing his identity and credit cards .
johns Body would be found in Armstrong county several weeks later in a culvert along a county road about a mile from where Gamble grew up.
http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20010604newsmakerreg4.asp
Unfortunately we will never know unless some one comes forward with further information.
But why Would gamble from Armstrong County travel all the way to Butler County to that particular mall
and choose that particular victim.
Ford City and City of Butler are 2 worlds apart I have worked and traveled both areas and done work in the mall itself and kids from Ford City do sometimes make the 45 minute drive down US 422 to the mall to hang out so did Gamble track and watch his prey before pouncing or was it strictly an impulse crime grab first affluent kid you see and think will not fight back and take from him
out of jealousy because they have it all and you have nothing seems to be the case but to then take off on what plan and think your going to get away with it that's a whole different story.
But then again Gamble was nothing more than a loser.
He had no idea what his actions have done to Johns family and those who knew and loved him other than his own pathetic cowardly wants.
If others where involved I hope it is discovered and they get there due punishment.
hello, thanks for this blog. indeed, there are still some unanswered questions. one that I have is John was supposedly seen at the mall at 8:45 without the ski jacket he had worn to the mall. this does not make sense. he sounds like he willingly gave up his jacket, almost trusting the gamble, because he could have easily gone to the cops at that point. was this what transpired as of 8:45. maybe I have it wrong. either way, senseless killing. gamble had to meet his maker
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up in the Kittanning/Ford City Area (attended Ford City High School) & living extremely close to Clearview Mall I must correct your quoted distancing & drive from FC to Butler. In reality, it's only a 20 minute drive. Always has been. Hop on 422W & you're at the mall in 20 minutes. Back in '97 Clearview Mall was THE mall that most people who lived in my area frequented. My family & I went almost every weekend. It would be perfectly normal for Gamble to go to that mall & also it would've been the closest shopping mall to us at that time. I did not know Gamble but knew & graduated with his younger brother. They were very poor & their ramshackle house sat off of the road my best friend lived on. He & his family were one of my best friends neighbors & what she knew of them was that the Mom had some issues (drinking I believe) & that they were just really strange & weird. Gamble was using alcohol & drugs pretty heavily at the time & Butler has not only been a shopping destination but a place for the dope fiends in our area to score some dope. He could've been at the mall to meet up with his dealer or maybe needing money to buy his vices, he just went there to scope out a perfect victim to rob & came across the perfect opportunity. I honestly don't think he set out to kill that night but it happened. I believe paranoia & being strung out played a large part in him killing Baglier. He needed baglier's vehicle to flee so he knew if he let him live & released him, the police would have an APB out on the vehicle in a matter of hours. Killing Baglier was essential in him getting far away. Baglier DID remind him of everything he was NOT, appeared wealthy, & was much smaller in stature than Gamble (easy to overcome) so he was a no-brainer target. I also believe that it could've been possible that Gamble just went for the very first easy target he came across that night & Baglier was that unlucky person, in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it would've been a petite middle class or up female that Gamble came across first that night then Baglier would've lived to see another day. I graduated a year after this happened (in '98) & when it happened it was ALL everyone was talking about (especially for my classmates & I, since the younger Gamble brother was in our grade). For awhile, everyone was wondering where the two (Gamble & Baglier) were & if Gamble was holding Baglier hostage or if he killed him. Meanwhile, during all this confusion & uncertainty over the well being of Baglier, a good friend of mine lived on the road that Gamble hid Bagliers body on. He crossed over that culvert every day walking to & from the bus & even smelled the decay but didn't think anything more than a dead deer or animal. This case will always remain with me & it caused me to be vigilent of my surroundings & not have a false sense of security; even the most public of places because you never know when another Gamble is lurking in the dark shadows.
ReplyDelete