Two Charged With Murder of 5 Teens Missing Since '78

2 charged with murder of 5 teens missing since '78

March 23, 2010

NEWARK, N.J. – Two men have been charged with murder in the disappearance of five teenage boys who were last seen together on a busy street more than 30 years ago.

The men, whose names haven't been released, were also charged with arson, the Essex County prosecutor's office said Monday. The prosecutor's office did not immediately say how the case was solved.

The boys, Melvin Pittman and Ernest Taylor, who were both 17, and Alvin Turner, Randy Johnson, and Michael McDowell, who were all 16, were last seen on a busy street near a park where they had played basketball on Aug. 20, 1978. They were with a carpenter, Lee Evans, who routinely hired teens to help him with odd jobs, police have said.

Evans told police at the time that he dropped off the boys on a street corner near an ice cream parlor. Later that night, Michael McDowell returned home and changed clothes, then returned to a waiting pickup truck with at least one other boy inside. That was the last confirmed sighting of any of the teens.

Evans was repeatedly interviewed in the months after the disappearances but passed a polygraph examination and was cleared as a suspect.

Four of the boys were from Newark. McDowell had recently moved to East Orange.

McDowell's aunt, Helen Simmons, called the arrests "a bittersweet victory" on Monday and told the Star-Ledger newspaper that "finally someone will be accountable."

The boys were never heard from and left no trace of evidence.

Johnson's mother said 10 years after her son disappeared that she especially missed him around 9 p.m., "when I could always hear the basketball bouncing, bouncing, bouncing as he walked home from the park."

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100323/ap_on_re_us/us_five_missing_nj_teens;_ylt=AilXIPYMZF.ba2bOBdxzt8atQLN_;_ylu=X3oDMTNkYmw5NGtmBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzIzL3VzX2ZpdmVfbWlzc2luZ19ual90ZWVucwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawMyY2hhcmdlZHdpdGg-

This news was just released, it's pretty vague as to what happened to these 5 boys. So many years of waiting and wondering for these families.

Two men charged in 30-year-old Newark cold case

Updated at 11:25 AM today



NEWARK (WABC) -- Two men are charged with the murders of five teenage boys who disappeared more than three decades ago in Newark.

Investigators have called this the most baffling case in Newark's entire history.

Almost 32 years ago, Lee Evans was the prime suspect when the five teenagers, dubbed the Clinton Avenue Five, vanished in 1978.

They were with a carpenter, Evans, who routinely hired teens to help him with odd jobs, police have said.


Evans was repeatedly interviewed and passed a polygraph test, eventually cleared as a suspect, until now.

Evans and the other man arrested, Philander Hampton, were also charged with arson. Officials say they put the boys in a home and burned it to the ground.

Investigators say that on August 20, 1978, 16-year-old Randy Johnson, 16-year-old Michael McDowell, 17-year-old Melvin Pittman, 16-year-old Alvin Turner and 17-year-old Ernest Taylor vanished after playing basketball.

"With these arrests today, we hope to bring closure to a 31-year-old mystery involving five teenage boys who vanished from Newark on Aug. 20, 1978,'' said Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert Laurino. "For years their families wondered what happened on that August day. Today, we believe, that question has been answered.''

The Essex County prosecutor's office said Tuesday a tip from a witness 18 months ago led to the arrests.

Evans told police at the time that he dropped off the boys on a street corner near an ice cream parlor. Later that night, Michael McDowell returned home and changed clothes, then returned to a waiting pickup truck with at least one other boy inside. That was the last confirmed sighting of any of the teens.

Evans and a second suspect were tightlipped Monday night as they were led out of the Essex County courthouse in handcuffs.

The suspects are being held on $5 million bail each. A third man believed to have been involved died two years ago.

Police believe the boys had broken into one of the suspects' apartments and stole marijuana.

Newark Police Director Garry McCarthy expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the victims who have endured decades of immeasurable pain coping with the uncertainty surrounding the teens' disappearance.

"I hope that the relentless pursuit of justice demonstrated by the investigators on this case will bring some level of solace to the families,'' McCarthy said.

Acting Prosecutor Laurino praised the investigative team for its extraordinary detective work in bringing this investigation to a close.

"The arrest and charging of the two suspects in this case represents the beginning of the final chapter in the most heinous crime ever perpetrated not only in the city of Newark, but the state of New Jersey,'' said Col. Fuentes. "The investigative partnership between local, state, and county law enforcement was paramount in assuring that the victims and their families were never forgotten and this case was solved.''


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