June 18, 1974: Family of five found slain in Chicago suburb housefire
June 18, 1974: Family of five found slain in Chicago suburb housefire
On Tuesday, June 18, 1974, the Decatur Daily Review and other outlets reported on the discovery of five bodies found in a burning home in Park Ridge, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago.
According to the AP report:
Two members of a family found slain in their neat suburban home were shot in the head and two other family members were strangled, authorities said today.
A fifth body found badly burned in the kitchen was identified as the eldest son of the Raymond A. Fuchs family.
Authorities said the cause of his death was not immediately determined. A blaze which summoned firemen to the home Monday and led to the discovery of the five bodies was deliberately set with the aid of a homemade time device, said Park Ridge police.
Rags soaked in a fuel and wrapped around the bottom of two large candles were apparently used as fuses to ignite the blaze. One candle burned out; the other burned to the bottom and caused the fire which was apparently a coverup for the slayings which occurred earlier, said Anthony Sciaraffa, deputy coroner of Cook County.
Fuchs, 49, a purchasing agent for a small electronics firm; his wife, Ruth, 48; their daughter, Linda, 14, and son Scott, 16, were found slain in the basement of their brick ranch-style house in this well-do-do suburb northwest of Chicago.
The fifth body found burned in the kitchen was identified as the eldest son, Jeffrey, 17.
Fuchs was shot three times in the head and Linda was shot twice in the head, said police. Scott and Mrs. Fuchs were strangled, they said.
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By July, investigators received autopsy results that proved Jeffrey had died of an overdose—aspirin, sleeping pills, and alcohol—and had reason to believe he was responsible for the murders.
In August 1974, a coroner’s jury officially declared Jeffrey responsible for the murders and believed the incident may have started as a “quarrel between Jeffrey and his brother, Scott.”
