November 14, 1928 was the sorry day Joseph Pierre Richard was born in Tracadie, N.B. At the age of 20 he married Eva Furlong and had a few children with her. It seems he was a sick man but no one paid attention in our legal system. People knew he was sick, they complained but nothing was done. He had been given a 6 month suspended sentence for upsetting tombstones in a graveyard, fined $50.00 for tying a dog to a railroad track. He shot a cab driver in Campbellton but did not kill him. He engaged in a variety of other crimes, but somehow was still free to kill.
So on Saturday, February 9, 1957, Kay de la Perelle, who was about to turn 14, went to a friend's house in Charlo Station to help make a Valentine Box. At 10;30 pm., she left her friend's house, which was near her home, never to be seen alive again. She did stop by a convenience store to buy some candy on the way home.
The little girl had been brutally beaten, gagged and raped.
Joseph Pierre Richard was hung on Wednesday, December 11, 1957 at 12;05 a.m. for her murder.
His last words as the hangman's black hood was placed over his head were "I hope God will forgive me". He was hung for a total of 13 minutes when Dr. Benedict Pothier gave the order to cut him down.
This was the last hanging to take place in New Brunswick.
This additional information was sent to me by the little girl's cousin Patricia-Reid Palmer
RICHARD,Joseph Pierre, male, 29, married;
Crime: murder;
Victim: De LaPerelle, Mary Katherine 1957/02/09;
Charlo Station, N.B.;
Method: strangulation/sexual assault (victim was 13 years old );
Hanging: 1957/12/11;
Dalhousie, N.B. LAST HANGING IN NEW BRUNSWICK.
Comments by Patricia Reid-Palmer:
Do I ever remember that day, I was living in Kitchener Ontario, and knew
the man (Joe Richard) very well. Dad (James Cluney Reid) use to hire him
every summer at the lobster factory, he would crack open my lobsters for
me. That cab driver that was shot was shot at the lobster factory. (The
Reid family owned the lobster factory) While he was in jail on a previous
conviction his wife took a cab to do her shopping, when he got out he
thought his wife was running around on the cab driver. It turns out the
driver was her brother. Anyway Joe hired the cab, said he would get the
cabbie some lobster. Joe had the gun hidden in the bushes at the factory
and shot the cabbie.
This all preceded Kay's murder. Sadly, he never went to jail for the
shooting? If he had, Kay might still be with us?