A Horrific Crime on Pittsburghs North Side 11 yr old Scott C. Drake molested murdered and mutilated They got his suposed Killer . But did they get everyone involved ?

While working in the North Side of Pittsburgh in late 90's involved with turning some old buildings into a Photography Museum You often would encounter the homeless who walked the streets  at all hours of the day and night. 2 older guys in particular you would see all the time begging for money often at the corner of Madison and East Ohio Street. They where a fixture for several months and you never saw one with out the other. We would later learn one of them was named Cornelius when we saw what had happened

http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/20001022cornelius2.asp

It was kind of comical these 2 guys as they would wonder around the north side everybody liked them and would give them change  . They often hung out at intersection of Madison and East Ohio where the Arc house Alcohol Recovery Center operated  across from the scene  where the crime happened . But then there was a 3rd guy who showed up on the North side and he looked a lot like  the bigger of the homeless pair and dressed the same who wondered around the north side. Many times when we had a crew of guys on a project we would have extra pizza left over from lunch and offer it to them  But the 3rd guy who looked like Corneluis  was not very sociable and kept to him self.

But then one evening on the news there was a horrifying crime. A young boy 11yr old Scott C. Drake had been raped mutilated and murdered and by that morning they had a suspect Mr. Cornelius?

 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20000929&id=z3ZLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3n0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7323,6221831

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20001002&id=iRBZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=028DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6111,2997793

We where all shocked how could this be you never saw Mr Cornelius with out his partner and what about the guy who looked just like him. Needless to say we contacted the detectives Did they have the right guy?  because we all knew about the other guy who looked a lot like him  and besides no one ever saw Cornelius around any one other than his partner .

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20001004&id=ixBZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=028DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3032,3511917

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20001005&id=jBBZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=028DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6767,4161082

Scene of the crime  now all changed since reconstruction this empty lot was once all heavily wooded

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=20000929&id=z3ZLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3n0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4819,6149954

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2202&dat=20000928&id=a5wyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=COkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6852,3254855

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=20001003&id=I6AvAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K6MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3897,3154855

Of course we where ignored  including us asking abut where the guys smaller partner was ?

As soon as the arrest went down the guy who looked like Cornelius was no where to be seen and neither was his partner had they fled out of fear?  Where they possibly involved in the crime ?  or where they victim's of foul play as well ? What about the ARC House all those possible suspects right there who could have been involved right across the street ?
We will never know because our concerns where dismissed. Concerns Mr Cornelius attorney  John Elash should have known about .

Even Mr. Cornelius attorney John Elash did not think Cornelius could have done it just did not seem to fit his profile
But he was convicted and confessed but was it cohearsed   was blood evidence ,finger prints etc presented during the trail ? DNA was just starting to be developed so I do not know if that was used during the trail the jury came to the scene but where never told about the partner or the 3rd look a like man .
 To my knowledge no appeal has ever been filed. As far as the courts are concerned justice was done but was it?  I do not think we have heard the last of this case at some point some group may go back and look at it and take a second look and a harder look at the guy who looked and dressed like Cornelius and his partner .

A small tree  was planted near the intersection in memory of Scott Drake  which was later torn out by mistake by Penn Dot when they rebuilt the interchange for I-279 and route 28 and Penn Dot has since installed a new tree and small marker in his memory.

Memorial to Drake  small tree and marker

30 years later still no answers Who Killed Billy G?

Billy  G.was a kind hearted soul he lived in an old van  along Old Leechburg Road in semi rural  Plum Boro  at Paglianos Auto Body which has since changed names and owners  .He would  Always come out and great you with a cheerful smile when you brought him a carrot or apple  .
But you see Billy G. was not a person he was in fact a Billy Goat a very large blond one at that who kept the grass neat and trim in front of the business and he was kept on a long chain

and walked among the many old vehicles that sat in the front yard which as you can see by the current picture have all been removed. It was a cold winter night when Billy G. Was attacked and killed the apparent victim of a hit and run even thou his chain would not allow him to get that far down on the road. The plum police  took a report and there was a big splash in the local paper including in big letters spray painted on billy G.'s Van he called  home  " Who Killed Billy G. " but know one ever came forward and a deliberate case of animal cruelty never went any where else.
Yet all these years later it seems those involved might still be hurting animals as there have been consistent reports over the years of horses ,donkeys etc being hurt by being deliberately run over or shot in the eastern section of Allegheny County and Westmoreland and Indiana county's.

We can only hope there is a special place in Hell for people who hurt gods creatures  be it 2 footed human or 4 footed with fur.

A Mysterious Grotto on a hill side in Bellevue Pa. always locked but carefully attended

The first time I saw the Franciscan Grotto  on the hillside along Oak Street in Bellevue Pa. was when I was a young child in 1960's  my father had stopped with my mom and brothers to see his good friend while he was hospitalized at Suburban General Hospital . It was just getting dark when we noticed the faint light of  devotional candles coming from the hill side .

What was this mysterious place on a hill surrounded by a a locked wrought iron gate ?

Well it turns out it once  belonged to a group of Franciscan 's  whose Holy Family  Friary is located on the other side of the grotto and it was built during the depression era in the form of the famous grotto at Lourdes France.
Where the apparition of the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to 3 children.

http://old.post-gazette.com/neigh_north/20010704nshrine4.asp

 I remember the story well having attended St Basil's Grade School and seeing a  B&W  movie about the event  in the church basement one time while attending the school.

 While at one time the grotto was used for services it has been  closed to the public for over 30 years 

 and is now maintained by community volunteers and employees of the former Suburban general which is no longer a emergency room type hospital but rehab and skilled nursing center. which now owns the property  But you can still see the faint glow of devotional candles as you pass in the evenings.

Conspiracy or Coincidence a new Masonic Lodge built across from grave of man who greatly resented them John Taze Russel ?

If you ride down Cemetery Lane in Ross Twp. Pa. you will see a most unusual grave stone in the shape of a  Egyptian Pyramid .
it is the final resting place of  Charles Taze Russel  who founded the Jehovah's Witness Religion. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taze_Russell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses

Now ironically Mr. Russel who did not care for the Free Masons and forbid his religious members from joining the group as he saw it as incompatible  and  the masons which has its own controversy because it is a group which keeps secrets and brings all the conspiracy kooks out . Now has a magnificent  view of a new Masonic hall from his grave

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry

 About 20 years ago  The Free Masons decided that there long maintained headquarters in the Oakland Section of Pittsburgh had out run its use fullness and it was sold to University of Pittsburgh and they came out to Ross Twp to build a new hall on a magnificent site on top of a hill . I have been in the hall which is just as fantastic looking inside as it is outside .

 So is there a conspiracy was this a deliberate slap in the face of the man who opposed them ? I really doubt it. in fact I would bet you if you took a poll most masons attending meetings at there facility do not even know who Mr. Russel is let alone would be involved in such an unkind slap. In fact the building does not even face toward his grave . It is not in the nature of Masons to take vengeance against those who oppose there views.

The masons I know and they are many  are honest hard working god fearing individuals who raise millions of dollars every year to help there community's and thru the shiners organization which helps children who have received severe burns.   If its anything its a coincidence.
But Americans love a good conspiracy and there are those who are convinced otherwise.

Yes belive it or not it was the Law in Carrick a Trolley stop for a Firefighter and take him to call box

Back in the heyday of trolleys believe it or not in the community of Carrick Pa. which became part of the city of Pittsburgh and is now its 29th ward and where I grew up before moving out of the city . It was the law for trolley operators to stop and pick up a fireman along his route if he was standing there in his fire gear and take him intermediately to the closet stop where the fire was located.
Now remember this was back in the early 1900's not everyone had a vehicle and in fact horses where still being used for delivering milk etc.
So it only made sense that this was and back then trolleys went everywhere . You could board a trolley in Pittsburgh and by switching to various trolly lines at one time be able to go all the way to Cleveland , Detroit even Chicago by trolley and rail line. Some trolley lines even carried freight and even had special ambulance cars which got people to hospitals.
Several other community's which had trolleys also are suppose to have had this law on there books as well.
You can view more carrick trolley pictures and even read articles I wrote on them as part of my Eagle scout project on history of carrick at following link.

http://wiki.carrick-overbrook.org/Trolleys_in_Carrick

Because this was the fastest way to get to a fire scene it was also the fastest way to get away from a crime as well. and in City of Pittsburgh in 1960's an individual became famously known as the Commuter Bandit as he would rob a bank then hop on a trolley to make his escape even back then trolleys often had there own rights of way to get thru areas fast. He was even charged with Robbing a bank in Carrick as well. Ironically a friend of ,my dads who he worked with at J&L steel. His wife Deloris worked at the grocery store where the commuter bandit was the owner it turned out.

http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/470/717/110903/

This was a fascinating era now gone and only a hand full of towns still have trolleys or street cars in use. most modernized and there are a handful of museums like near Washington Pa. where you can still ride one of these great old relics.

http://www.pa-trolley.org/

But Pittsburgh Railways which ran the big net work of trolleys before it was taken over by Allegheny county Transit authority known as PAT Port authority transit. Still exists and was a one time big player in the Alarm Business . They are still known today as Pittway that's right the people who bought and expanded ADEMCO Alarm systems till they sold out to Honeywell.

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Pittway-Corporation-company-History.h