DASTARDLY DADS FROM THE ARCHIVES (Paterson, New Jersey - 1950)

This story does not sound like it's sixty years old. It sounds like it could have happened over the weekend--except for the fact that Dad FRANK GOODELL JR's factory job has probably been outsourced by now.

Other than that, we have a very typical tale: babysitting dad (mom was working) who bashed his 6-month-old daughter in the head for crying. The baby died, and Dad decided to hide her body on Garret Mountain, and pretend she had been "kidnapped." Nice scam, though it didn't work. A guy in Missouri tried the same thing just a few months ago (he threw the baby in the river), and it didn't work for him either.

From the New York Times, September 18, 1950

http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=FA091FF9395A1A7B93CAA81782D85F448585F9

FATHER HELD IN DEATH OF 'KIDNAPPED' BABY

PATERSON, N.J., Sept. 17--Frank Goodell Jr., a 22-year-old factory worker who refused yesterday to undergo a lie-detector test in connection with the disappearance of his 6-month-old daughter, Nancy, was arrested today on a charge of murder.

Police Chief James Walker said the father admitted that he struck the child on the head with a high-chair tray last Monday because she was crying. On Tuesday Goodell found the baby dead in her crib, placed her body in a shopping bag, and carried it to nearby Garret Mountain, where he placed it in a rock crevice, the police said he had admitted. He had reported the baby had vanished from her carriage near the Goodell home at 157 Marshall Street.

Searchers led by the father found the body early today, Chief Walker said.

Intensive questioning of the father followed his refusal to take the lie-detector test after his wife had readily done so. She was at work at the time of the disappearance. The father at first insisted that the baby had fallen from her high chair, but later admitted striking her, the police said.