Stanfordville, New York is located 92 miles North of New York City, it became an official town in 1793. James Husted Germond and Mabel Gregory were married and decided to settle in Stanford to run a dairy farm.
Stanford is a part of Stanfordville.
The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. James often went by Husted, it was said he never missed a milk delivery and worked through holidays.
The Germond family was held in high esteem by their peers. They were thought to be a hard-working family who were well-liked in their community.
On November 26th, 1930, the day before Thanksgiving, someone approached the Germond’s home. Mabel had been in the kitchen preparing food for the family. As the person knocked on the door, she peered out. It is believed she knew the individual as she stepped out onto her porch. As Mabel stepped out she was holding a knife, it seems that she raised the knife in some sort of self-defense, but the individual took the knife from her and was able to overpower her. This person stabbed Mabel with such great force it penetrated her sternum. Though she
had been stabbed in the chest, she still tried to turn away from this person and kick him, but he slashed at her leg.
Continuing to try and run away, she turned but immediately fell on the floor. Mabel most likely bled out in the minutes that followed.
During Mabel’s murder, her 10-year-old, Raymond, was sitting at the table in the kitchen. He witnessed the entire murder. Terrified, he ran out of another door and around the house to get his father. His father was in the barn working with the milking machines.
Husted ran to the house to figure out what’s happened. He heads to the kitchen door and the individual who had murdered his wife is able to get close enough to hit him in the head with the handle part of the knife.
As Husted begins to fall from his head injury, the individual continues to stab him, in his right armpit and right shoulder blade.
After Husted and Mabel are murdered this individual focuses on Raymond. He chases Raymond all around the property, and he eventually catches him and stabs him to death. Raymond’s body was under a small wagon.
The killer then moved the bodies of Husted and Raymond.
I know you’re probably wondering why. I was too. Until I remembered there was one last family member.
Bernice Germond was on her way home via bus. The killer knew she was coming home and if she were allowed to live she may discover what had happened and the identity of the killer.
Once stepping off the bus, the bus driver later testified that Bernice was startled to see the house dark, but assumed everyone was out since it was the night before Thanksgiving.
Bernice headed into the house, placed her coat on a hook, and walked in the darkness towards the kitchen, the killer emerged from the darkness and began his attack. Bernice crawled under a kitchen sink to escape her attacker.
When Bernice’s body is found… Her eyes were wide open. She had been murdered at 5:20 pm
A few days later, an employee at the creamery noticed that Mr. Germond had not delivered any milk. He believed this to be strange since he was always prompt and loyal.
The employee decided to go check on the Germond family and find them all deceased. In this small town in the 1930s, the police weren’t equipped to handle a murder scene such as this.
The coroner’s report indicated that the family had been stabbed 23 times.
And this is where the story stops.
The family is dead and once the murder weapon is found, the knife, it is handled by so many people that it’s no longer good evidence. James Husted’s wallet was found not far from the home where the murders occurred.
Police would follow leads in hopes of finding the killer. They even chased down a man who had recently purchased a knife of the same description.
The only other lead came from the ongoing feud that Husted had with his neighbor Arthur Curry. Some would say that Arthur had a tendency to have violent outbursts and he did not like the Germond family at all.
On the day of the murders, Arthur Curry left his farm at 4 pm, he lived very close to the Germond family. He told his wife he was going to collect annual rent from the Germonds. They rented some pastureland from Curry. Though Arthur left at 4, he did not arrive back home until 640 to 6:50 pm.
When investigations began, Arthur told his wife, he had seen James Husted but did not collect any rent. He stated the killer must have come right after he left. Investigators were very suspicious, especially since they found Husted’s wallet empty about a mile away.
Raymond Buys previously asked Arthur to cut his hair but when he arrived to the home, Arthur wasn’t home yet. He saw only Arthur’s wife and child sitting at a table. This would be about 10 minutes till 7 pm. Arthur’s wife let Raymond in and soon after, Arthur arrived, he was visibly shaken, and attempting to warm his hands over the stove.
By February 15th, 1933, the sheriff questioned Arthur, his wife, and their 9-year-old daughter. On February 18th, Arthur was arrested as a material witness, and by March 9th, 1933, he was charged with murder, but his defense filed an appeal to dismiss the case for lack of evidence.
The prosecution tried to get the judge to believe that the two men’s ongoing feud was what caused Arthur to kill. The judge did not agree with the prosecution and believed there was too much suspicion and not enough evidence. Arthur Curry was released and all charges were dismissed.
Arthur Curry died in 1955. If he committed these crimes or knew who did, we will never know…
Other theories include: Germond was selling moonshine and owed people money or another is that he had a scorned lover. You can check out the YouTube video by Dr. Vincent Cookingham. He is a descendant of the Dutches County Sheriff who had initially investigated the Germond Murders. He dissects the timeline and in my belief solves the crime…
This case is 93 years old… Will it ever be solved? Or is this one just left to the realms of the unexplained?
