1998 Annual Report

Murder

 

Murder and non-negligent manslaughter is the willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another. The classification of this offense, as for all crime index offenses, is based solely on police investigation, as opposed to the determination of a court, medical examiner, coroner, jury, or other judicial body. Not included in the count for this offense classification are deaths caused by negligence, suicide, or accident; justifiable homicides; and attempts to murder or assaults with the intent to murder, which are scored as aggravated assaults.

The two murders reported in 1998 were the product of a single incident:

At 10:56 a.m. on Saturday, October 16, 1998, John J. Hinds, 56, of 207 Charles Street, shot his half-brother, sister, and sister-in-law outside 1571/2 Fifth Street in East Cambridge.

Hinds and his half-brother, Joseph Warren Beranger, 64, of Camarillo, California, were involved in an ongoing dispute over their mother and their mother's residence at 1571/2 Fifth Street. On October 4, 1998, Hinds accused Beranger of trying to break into this residence, and Hinds used this information to obtain a restraining order against his brother.

The restraining order expired on October 16. That morning, a Middlesex County judge refused Hinds' request to extend the order because, by his own admission, Hinds was not afraid of Beranger. Beranger then went to 1571/2 Fifth Street to visit his mother. Accompanying Beranger was his wife, Mary Beranger, 64.

Hinds got to the residence first. Inside, he argued with his sister, produced a handgun, and shot her in the head. Hinds exited the residence, encountered Joseph and Mary Beranger on the corner, and fired four or five shots, striking them both.

Cambridge Police responded to the report of gunshots at 10:56 a.m., finding Mary Beranger dead on the street, Joseph Beranger severely wounded on the sidewalk, and Hinds' sister severely wounded inside the house. Mary Beranger was pronounced deceased upon arrival at Massachusetts General Hospital. Joseph Beranger died several days later at Beth Israel Hospital. Hinds' sister was treated for a gunshot wound to the head at Massachusetts General Hospital and was eventually released.

John Hinds surrendered to Cambridge Police at the scene without a struggle. He currently awaits trial.

 

Murder Across the State & Nation

In 1997*, the United States reported 18,209 homicides, a decrease of 7.3% from the 19,645 reported in 1996. This was the lowest national murder rate since 1967. Many of the nation's large cities are enjoying a golden age: New York City's murder total, for instance, has been cut more than half since 1994 (1,561 vs. 770).

Across the nation, murder victims were 77% male and 23% female. Cambridge has a much higher percentage of female murders, probably because of our relatively low number of gang-related homicides, in which the victims are usually male. The nation's murder victims' ages mirror those of Cambridge, with the average male in his mid-20s and the average female around 40.

Massachusetts did even better than the national average, with a statewide decrease of 24% (from 157 in 1996 to 119 in 1997). Boston's murder total dropped 27% from 59 to 43-a record low. Of the other towns surrounding Cambridge (Watertown, Belmont, Arlington, and Somerville), only Somerville reported any murders in 1997, registering one.

*Statistics for 1998 are not yet available for other cities and towns.

Characteristics of Murder in Cambridge

For the thirty-year period between 1960 and 1989, the city averaged four and a half murders each year. The annual average for the 1990s has fallen to just under two and a half per year. (Nationally, cities of around 100,000 residents average six murders per year.) Trend analysis over the past decades points to three recurring murder scenarios in Cambridge:

Domestic murder, in which an elderly female is brutally killed by her husband in a homicidal rage;

Arguments among the homeless that, often fueled by drugs or alcohol, escalate into deadly violence; and

The murder of young men by handguns or knives in street robberies or drug deals gone awry.

Since 1990, there have been 21 murders in the city of Cambridge. 11 of the victims were male (average age of 27), and 10 were female (average age of 46). A handgun was the murder weapon in seven of the incidents, and a knife was used in eight. Seven of the 21 murders reported since 1990 are still under investigation. A map showing all of the murder dates and locations since 1991 can be found on the following page.

A Year of Convictions

Four convictions this year for various Cambridge-related murders

On June 30, 1998, Richard Kachadorian, 53, formerly of River Street, was convicted of second degree murder in the slaying of a homeless man in Cambridge's only 1996 murder.

On October 1, 1998, Anthony Cole was convicted of second degree murder stemming from a Hoyt Field shooting on August 19, 1997 that took the life of a 19-year-old North Cambridge man.

On November 12, 1998, Salvatore Sicari, 22, of Market Street, was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley on October 1, 1997*.

On December 11, 1998, Charles Jaynes, 23, of Brockton, was convicted of second degree murder in the killing of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley on October 1, 1997*.

*Though the initial abduction took place in Cambridge, the murder of Jeffrey Curley occurred in Newton and was not counted in Cambridge murder statistics for 1997.

Three Recent Unsolved Murders

Please call Sergeant Patrick Nagle at 617-349-3370 if you have any information.

1. August 9, 1995 at 304 Prospect Street. At 3:30 p.m. on this date, Azores Market owner Lilia Fagundes was shot in her store in a possible robbery gone awry. Witnesses reported seeing a Black male, 5'8" tall, about 15-16 years old, with dark skin, short hair, and a thin build.

2. September 22, 1993 at 324 Rindge Avenue. At 9:30 p.m., 23-year-old Michael Garner was walking home when, as witnesses report, three young Black males confronted him and tried to rob him of his gold chains. The robbery went astray, and Garner was shot twice and killed.

3. April 4, 1991 at Sparks & Brewster Streets. At 8:58 p.m., law professor Mary Jo Frug, 49 years old, was stabbed multiple times for no apparent reason. A witness saw a White male suspect in his 20s, wearing a black leather jacket, running down Brewster Street.

 

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