PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Four local unsolved cases are being featured on a deck of cards created to generate leads.
The decks were published by the Massachusetts State Police, in partnership with the state Department of Correction and district attorney's offices. Each card in the deck features a photo of and information about a victim of homicide or a missing person.
The four Berkshire County cases appear in the diamond suite, with Anthony Colucci of Pittsfield, murdered at the age of 20 in 2005, and Lynn Burdick, who disappeared from a general store in the town of Florida in 1982 at age 18, as the ace and king, respectively.
Also in the deck are two Pittsfield residents murdered in 2016: Joseph Willie "Bizzy" Brown, shot to death in his Columbus Avenue driveway and James "Diddy" Dominguez, found with a gunshot wound to the head in the parking lot of the former Lach's Lounge on Fenn Street.
The playing cards are the work of the Unresolved Cases Unit, which hopes to elicit new information that will help close old cases. The victims were selected by the State Police detective units at each district attorney's office.
The Department of Correction, which funded the playing card decks, is distributing them to state prison inmates in the hope they may have and share information about the crimes. The images are also being being disseminated over social media.
Col. Christopher Mason, superintendent of the State Police, said the cards bring "a new focus on older, unresolved cases ... in hopes that the passage of time will unearth or unlock new evidence."
Speaking in YouTube video that features a slideshow of all 52 cards (below), Mason said Unresolved Cases Unit wanted to put the cases back before the eyes and ears of the public.
The oldest case in the deck is that of Angelo "Andy" Publisi, who went missing in Lawrence on Aug. 21, 1976, at the age of 10. Some are more well-known than others, such as the murder of 16-year-old Molly Bish of Warren, whose body was found in 2003 after she went missing three years earlier.
According to State Police, similar cards were distributed to jails in Polk County, Fla., and generated more than 60 tips and the resolution of four cases. They have been used in other states and countries.
Mason said the hope is that the faces and situations of the victims will spark memories, and that the passage of time will reduce the fears of coming forward or weigh more heavily on people's consciences.
"For each and everyone, there's someone who lives with a hole in their heart or their home that was once filled by one of these victims," he says in the video. "For each of these victims, regardless of their life story, there is a spouse, a child, a parent, a friend, someone who mourns for them and yearns for justice. ...
"We believe justice delayed does not need to be justice denied."
To submit information regarding these unresolved cases, call toll free 1-855-MA-SOLVE, email mspunresolved@pol.state.ma.us, or send a letter to the Unresolved Cases Unit at 470 Worcester Road, Framingham MA 01702.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Pittsfield Begins Educational Outreach on Toters
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Are you informed about the new trash system that will roll out this fall?
Mayor Peter Marchetti kicked off a series of four community meetings on Wednesday to educate the public. The city has approved a five-year contract with Casella Waste Management that moves from unlimited curbside collection to automated collection with 48-gallon toters for trash and recycling.
"We've made it this far. Right now, it's the rollout," Marchetti said to a crowd at the Ralph J. Froio Senior Center.
"So if we do a terrible job of the rollout and a terrible job of educating, it's going to be a terrible experience for everybody."
Recycling toters will be delivered to households starting Wednesday, Sept. 11, for Friday routes with automated pickup beginning two days later. For the next two months, weekday routes will receive trash and recycling bins and have their first pickup.
Marchetti held the first community meetings in the springtime before the new system was approved.
"I will admit that I was very nervous coming here to the senior center and proposing it but by the time we were done, I think we walked out, not everyone is completely happy but I think people understood and we were beginning to make progress," he said.
Officials say Pittsfield's nearly 17,400 households produce about 1,800 pounds of trash each annually, generating close to 20 tons as a community. The system aims to reduce each household's waste to 1,370 pounds annually.
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Councilor at Large Earl Persip III was the lone vote in opposition to a utility pole petition from Eversource and Verizon New England on Tuesday night. click for more
Last year, it was reported there were 48 fatal overdoses in Berkshire County in 2022 — 29 just in Pittsfield. Since 2012, there had been a staggering 418 deaths from overdose in the county.
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