Whodunnit? Mccabe Talks Murder at the Athenaeum
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TONIgHT: Clear. Low of 56. Search for The Westfield News The WestfieldNews Search for The Westfield“BE NewsYOURSELF. Westfield350.com The WestfieldNews THE WORLD Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIME IS THE ONLYWORSHIPS WEATHER CRITIC WITHOUTTHE ORIGINAL .” TONIGHT AMBITION — INgr.”Id BergmaN Partly Cloudy. JOHNSearch STEINBECK for The Westfield News Westfield350.comWestfield350.orgLow of 55. Thewww.thewestfieldnews.com WestfieldNews Serving Westfield, Southwick, and surrounding Hilltowns “TIME IS THE ONLY WEATHERVOL. 86 NO. 151 TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017 75 centsCRITIC WITHOUT VOL.TONIGHT 88 NO. 204 THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2019 75AMBITION Cents .” Partly Cloudy. JOHN STEINBECK Low of 55. www.thewestfieldnews.com VOL.Whodunnit? 86 NO. 151 McCabe talksTUESDAY, JUNE murder 27, 2017 at the Athenaeum 75 cents By PETER CURRIER chances at getting the formula. Staff Writer In 2005, McCabe was again the WESTFIELD- Lewis B. Allyn recipient of sudden new evidence in was a professor of chemistry at what the case. A state trooper approached is now Westfield State University in him with a box containing the full the early years of the 20th century. outfit of Lewis B. Allyn when he He primarily worked within the food was shot, as well as eight individual industry and had a focus on ‘purely’ vials of blood. made foods in the same vain as The clothes, as one can imagine, Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’. were covered in stained blood. On May 7, 1940, at 69 Western McCabe’s belief is that the blood Ave. in the late evening, Allyn was may not all be Allyn’s. Photos from shot five times in the chest and head the scene revealed kicked up rugs, with a high standard .22 caliber moved around furniture, and a blood automatic pistol in his own home. trail. Allyn’s shoes were removed His killer was able to flee the scene and in odd places on the floor. before Allyn’s wife came downstairs McCabe thinks there was a struggle to investigate the commotion. Allyn before the assailant was able to get was still alive, but succumbed to his the five shots off. wounds before police arrived and he “When we say this was an all-out could give the name of his killer. fight, this is clearly an all-out fight.” Allyn’s murder was committed The Athenaeum’s Lang Auditorium was filled to capacity for Captain McCabe’s discussion on the Allyn murder. Said McCabe. under the perfect set of circumstanc- (Photo by Peter Currier) McCabe believes that advances in es to spawn many conspiracy theo- looking at this case, McCabe found tives and McCabe confirmed they had Allyn killed. Allyn was develop- DNA testing and preservation may ries surrounding it. To date, 79 years that just about every single major were from the Allyn murder. ing an alternative to saccharin, a lead to the blood on the clothes and later, Allyn’s murder has not been conspiracy theory surrounding the This debunks the theories that it sugar substitute that was found to be in the vials being usable for testing. solved. It remains the only unsolved case had at least some evidence was a police department sanctioned harmful to one’s health following He closed out the lecture with a murder in the city’s history. It was lending credence to it. One promi- murder in the eyes of McCabe. He the passage of the Pure Food and request of the audience. dubbed “The Pure Foods Murder.” nent theory was that the police chief said that, if he were covering up a Drug Act of 1907. “Now with a couple of these extra Westfield Police Capt. Michael at the time, Allen H. Smith, had him murder, those pictures would have The belief is that he successfully pieces of evidence that we have, and McCabe became a detective within killed. It is almost certain that Smith been the first things to have been made the formula, and that both the with the advent of ancestry.com and the department in 1989, early on in and Allyn were both having an affair destroyed. Russian Red Army and the Nazis 23andme.com, I believe that if we his career. He picked up the case in with the same woman. McCabe was able to show many approached him about using the for- can get District Attorney Anthony part due to personal interest. The theory is that Smith had Allyn of those photos during Wednesday’s mula as a vitamin supplement for Gulluni of Hampden County to do McCabe lives just around the corner killed to keep his own affair from lecture. their troops. In 1940, the U.S. had DNA profiles on the clothing, not from where Allyn lived and died. being made public. McCabe’s first McCabe also discussed the theory not yet entered the war, but it was only do I think we can identify On Wednesday evening, McCabe dive into the case in 1989 revealed of the 14th grocer’s involvement in close. The belief is that either party Allyn’s profile through his own fam- spoke in front of a packed crowd at that the entire case file was missing, the murder. Towards the end of his killed Allyn either for his refusal to ily who still live in Westfield, but the Westfield Athenaeum about the which would be very convenient for life, Allyn was working with 14 gro- give up the formula or because he I’m pretty sure we can come up with murder, and his belief that it can be Chief Smith if he was trying to cery stores in the city to get them to was going to give it to the other a suspect profile too,” said McCabe. solved soon due to advances in tech- cover something up. only sell “pure foods.” party. He then asked members of the nology. He went through most of the Of course, if one knows Westfield Thirteen of those grocers signed McCabe said in the lecture that he audience to reach out to Gulluni and prevailing theories and debunked history, one knows that the former on to the pact. The 14th grocer did does not believe this one because he tell him that they would love for his the ones that could be debunked. police headquarters was located in not and was rather unhappy that figures the Russians and Nazis knew office to use their resources to solve “I keep telling people over and the basement of city hall. One who such a thing was even asked of that killing him also killed their own the case. over again that the reason why I do knows the city’s history would also them. As one can probably guess, this is because I really do believe know that Westfield was subjected another prevailing theory was that that this can be solved,” said to an infamous flood in 1955. As it this 14th grocer was responsible for McCabe. turns out, a flood damaged many of Allyn’s death. Over the course of his 30 years the records sitting in the city hall McCabe said that he received an basement. The police at the time interesting phone call in 2007. The tried to keep the Allyn file, but it caller said that he had discovered a became too moldy and had to be gun buried on his property and asked thrown away. if the police would be interested in That would be, of course, if the it. After being pressed by McCabe, custodian of the building at the time the caller revealed that he lived just didn’t reach into the trash and take down the street from Allyn’s home, the file himself as a keepsake. It sat in the house formerly occupied by in the custodian’s house for 40 years the 14th grocer. The gun he found before it was brought to McCabe. was a .22 pistol. McCabe thought it While the police headquarters was was case closed. in the basement, the photography Of course, it was not closed. The lab for the police was located further gun was a .22, but the serial number up in the building, sparing it from revealed that it was not manufac- flood damage. tured until a year after the murder. When McCabe was going through Of course, this begs the question of former Chief John Camerota’s office why the 14th grocer had a gun bur- to find literally anything on the case, ied in his yard after a murder took he stumbled upon some photos of place nearby, but that’s for another the scene in the form of negatives. day. Westfield Police Capt. Michael Westfield State University’s Mark McCabe also briefly went into the Professor Lewis B. Allyn was considered one of the leading experts of McCabe. St. Jean was able to restore the nega- theory that the Russians or the Nazis Pure Foods in the early 20th century. (Photo from the Westfield Athenaeum) Westfield State committed to community, lifelong learning By DR. RAMON S. TORRECILHA itself to remain competitive in today’s knowl- and statewide partners to further grow cultural President, Westfield State University edge-based economy. and economic capital. WESTFIELD – Westfield State University’s It is true that the conventional model of a Westfield State University is sought after to strongest points of pride – our 42,000 alumni four-year education is outdated. We must engi- help define what our community should – speak volumes about Westfield State’s neer a new approach that defines our role and become. We proudly answer that call, whether impact and relevance as they enrich communi- relevance through a lifelong model, a continu- serving as the lead institution in the Pioneer ties and strengthen the workforce and econo- um of learning throughout our graduates’ pro- Valley STEM Network, a contributing partner my across Massachusetts.