Hi, nicki52!
I apologize for the delay. After being out-of-state for a week, I
returned to start college again, more than 15 years after receiving my
Bachelor's Degree. Needless to say, the last week has been a real...
uh, adventure. :)
I was not able to find a huge amount of material at the Reading
Library. As you discovered, their archive of the Reading Eagle is
microfiche-only and is not indexed (electronically or otherwise).
Here's what I did find:
On Saturday, July 12, 1997, an entry in the "Police Log" of the
Reading Eagle states:
"John Leidy Jr., 46, of the 900 block of North Front Street was
committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail after
arraignment on charges of indecent exposure, indecent assault, and
related morals offenses. City juvenile investigators said he assaulted
two 9-year-old girls in his residence Wednesday [July 9, 1997]."
On Tuesday, July 15, 1997, an article appeared in the Reading Eagle
entitled "Inmate's death is investigated":
"from our news staff:
State police and the Berks County coroner's office are investigating
after a 46-year-old city man was found dead Monday morning in his
county prison cell."
The article adds some more details, then ends by saying,
"...Prison officials said Leidy was transferred from the quarantine /
classification housing unit to the medical unit two days after his
incarceration. Officials wouldn't comment on the reason for the
transfer.
An autopsy was scheduled for today in Reading Hospital by forensic
pathologist Dr. Neil A. Hoffman."
Although I checked every issue of the Reading Eagle from July 9, 1997,
through July 31, 1997, I did not find any other information. I did
notice a couple of other, more lengthy articles concerning two other
people facing similar accusations. However, these people were in the
trial phase of their legal proceedings. It is possible that no more
was reported at this time for Mr. Leidy simply because it was so early
in the legal process. Since newspapers try to protect the identity and
privacy of the alleged minor victims, it is also possible that the
decision was made to not to dig into the issue any deeper, since
prosecution was no longer possible.
In addition, there was no obituary published in this paper. The
librarian at the Reference desk told me that Obituaries are only
published in the Eagle if the family requests it. It is likely that
the family chose not to do so, to try to maintain some privacy under
the circumstances.
A very short article was published in the Allentown Morning Call on
Wednesday, July 16, 1997. This article was on Lexis-Nexis, and I
purchased the right to view it using part of your fee. I have
attempted to save the link for you; I do not know if it will work for
you, or if you would have to be logged on with my username to view it.
http://makeashorterlink.com/?H21556043
The interesting thing about this article is that it says "John P.
Leidy Jr. died of natural causes". Unless Mr. Leidy had a heart or
other serious health condition which was exacerbated by the stress of
his situation, I am somewhat skeptical about the truth of this
statement.
Finally, I found a fairly substantial obituary for Mr. Leidy published
in Princeton University's Alumni magazine, the "Princeton Alumni
Weekly":
"John Philip Leidy Jr. '72
John died July 14, 1997. He was born in Reading, Pa., Nov. 29, 1950...
John entered Princeton in 1968... John worked in the international
banking department of Midlantic Bank. After several years John
returned to school and earned an MBA in finance and marketing from
Columbia U. John then worked in the corporate finance department of
CBS in NYC. Several years later John was recruited by General
Motors... John was also a member of the Coast Guard Reserve Auxiliary.
While he retired, John worked as a volunteer disaster relief for the
Red Cross."
http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/memorials/memorials_1970s/memorials_1972.html
I have packaged hardcopies of all this information into an envelope to
be mailed to the Editors at Google Answers in Mountain View, CA, with
the request that they forward it to you, since it would be a copyright
violation for me to publish everything here in its entirety.
While I am not able to request a copy of the autopsy or the death
certificate, John's sister would be able to do so if she wishes; proof
of her identity would be required.
The death certificate can be obtained by sending $3.00 to:
State of Pennsylvania
Division of Vital Records
101 South Mercer Street, Room 401
PO Box 1528
New Castle, PA 16101
Or it can be ordered online or by fax, for $10.00.
See this page for ordering instructions:
http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/cwp/view.asp?a=168&Q=202275
The autopsy report (written by Dr. Neil A. Hoffman) can be obtained
from:
Reading Hospital and Medical Center
Sixth Avenue and Spruce Street
West Reading, PA 19611
ph: 610-988-4357
http://www.readinghospital.org/
Thank you to Researchers luciaphile and answerguru for their kind
assistance on this Answer.
Search Strategy
"John P Leidy"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22John+P+Leidy%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=0
"John Leidy Jr"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22John+Leidy+Jr%22&btnG=Google+Search
Death Certificates Reading, PA
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Death+Certificates+Reading%2C+PA&btnG=Google+Search
Reading Hospital, Reading, PA
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Reading+Hospital%2C+Reading%2C+PA&btnG=Google+Search
Before Rating my Answer, please wait to receive your hardcopies. If
you do not receive them within 2 weeks, or if you have any questions
about this information, please notify me with a Request for
Clarification here, and allow me to respond before Rating my Answer.
I hope that this Answer provides you with the information that you
needed.
Regards,
aceresearcher |
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