Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal.
On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasch and Viola Bauder - previously.
The people of Coatesville and Modena were outraged. Law officials, even the Governor of Pennsylvania, was concerned about the crowds. They all well remembered, according to Mal, the lynching of Zachariah Walker in 1911. Walker killed Edgar Rice, a policeman at the steel mill.
On 12 April 1937, Meyer was sentenced to death in the electric chair. He was taken to Rockview Penitentiary in Bellfonte, Pennsylvania. Over 8,000 people, according to Mal, requested to drive up to Bellfonte to watch as Meyer's execution, which was set for 12 July 1937.
Alexander had been born in Germantown near Philadelphia on 2 August 1917. He was the son of Oscar Jackson Meyer, a wealthy farmer in nearby Wallace Township on Milford Road. His mother was Louise Peterson. He had a brother Jackson, who was four years older than him, and a younger sister Nancy, according to the 1930 Census.
Alexander was electrocuted on 12 July 1937. He was cremated just two days later.Mal states, in her book, that the Meyer family never revealed the final resting place of Alex's remains. His death certificate, as seen above, indicates his remains are in the Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Glenmoore.
Helen Moyer was buried on 23 February 1937, at the Hepzibah Baptist Church on Strasburg Road. Ironically, Edgar Rice, victim of another horrible crime, is also buried at Hepzibah.
© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2019
On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasch and Viola Bauder - previously.
The people of Coatesville and Modena were outraged. Law officials, even the Governor of Pennsylvania, was concerned about the crowds. They all well remembered, according to Mal, the lynching of Zachariah Walker in 1911. Walker killed Edgar Rice, a policeman at the steel mill.
On 12 April 1937, Meyer was sentenced to death in the electric chair. He was taken to Rockview Penitentiary in Bellfonte, Pennsylvania. Over 8,000 people, according to Mal, requested to drive up to Bellfonte to watch as Meyer's execution, which was set for 12 July 1937.
Alexander had been born in Germantown near Philadelphia on 2 August 1917. He was the son of Oscar Jackson Meyer, a wealthy farmer in nearby Wallace Township on Milford Road. His mother was Louise Peterson. He had a brother Jackson, who was four years older than him, and a younger sister Nancy, according to the 1930 Census.
Alexander was electrocuted on 12 July 1937. He was cremated just two days later.Mal states, in her book, that the Meyer family never revealed the final resting place of Alex's remains. His death certificate, as seen above, indicates his remains are in the Fairview Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Glenmoore.
Helen Moyer was buried on 23 February 1937, at the Hepzibah Baptist Church on Strasburg Road. Ironically, Edgar Rice, victim of another horrible crime, is also buried at Hepzibah.
© Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2019
Anna Blasch and Viola Bauder did not die from gunshot wounds to their heads thankfully. I don’t understand why Meyer was released so soon. Such a sad case especially living in Coatesville and being familiar with the places related to this tragedy.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandfather Lawrence (Larry) Urbine was one of the seven members of the Coroner's jury in this heinous crime, as reported in the "Official Detective Stories", April 1, 1937, page 46.
ReplyDeleteYou have some major inaccuracies in your blog post, such as what CNieves writes, that the 2 other girls didn't die. So this isn't a "serial killer." You may want to revise your article due to the inaccuracies. (Also, you missed an "e" in Bellefonte.) Here's an article from the NY Daily News that lays out the facts that you missed. https://www.nydailynews.com/true-crime-justice-story/ny-wealthy-felon-freed-to-kill-20220528-534xypa7nvagzgjietmbqvzhri-story.html
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Glen Moore PA. My mother told me the story of Alexander Meyer who killed a teenage girl. She told us that sometime after he killed the girl, he went to a picnic at Hibernia Park in Coatesville where my mom and his sister Nancy and others were having a picnic. She said police cars came into the picnic grounds and arrested Alexander. She told us that he was cremated, and his ashes are buried at his father's grave in the Fairview Cemetery in Glen Moore. The family kept his ashes until his father died, then they buried his ashes with his father.
Delete