Introduction
EFFIE REED lived at 1726 Ferry Avenue, not far from the Triangle Tavern and Church of the Sacred Heart at Broadway and Ferry Avenue. Her husband, Charles Reed, worked as a janitor at Camden High School.
Mrs. Reed was killed in her home when a piano she was moving tipped over and fell on her. The first policemen on the scene were Sergeant John Garrity and Patrolman Louis Prucella. She had recently been in court, in front of Police Judge Gene R. Mariano.
Relatives Discover Victim on Floor; Probe Is Ordered
Camden Courier-Post —
Wife of School Janitor Failed in Suicide Try 2 Weeks Ago
Certificate Withheld
A South Camden woman who, police said, attempted suicide two weeks ago, was found crushed to death beneath a piano in her home shortly before noon yesterday.
She was Mrs. Effie Reed, 45, of 1726 Ferry avenue. Her husband, Charles Reed, is employed as a janitor at the Camden High School.
After questioning members of the family and examining the piano, which weighs more than 1500 pounds, Detectives Joseph Carpani and Harry Kyler said they were convinced the woman’s death was accidental.
A report to that effect, they said, will be made to Coroner Ernest Larossa, who withheld a death certificate until the accident theory was established.
Carpani said the piano was “extremely top-heavy” and that it could “easily be toppled over by the push of the hand.”
Moving of Piano Explained
It was the theory of the detectives, supported by questioning the family, that Mrs. Reed had moved the instrument from against its customary position so she could use a vacuum cleaner on the portion of a rug it covered.
After she had moved it about eight feet, it is believed it fell back and pinned her to the floor. She was killed instantly, in the opinion of Doctor Larossa.
She was found by her daughter, Regina, 18. The latter, who has been ill, said she heard a crash and coming down from her second floor bedroom, saw her mother pinned under the piano.
Screams of the daughter attracted a neighbor, William Hunter, of 1722 Ferry avenue, and his wife, Mary. They, with the aid of an unidentified milkman struggled for 15 minutes to lift the piano sufficiently for Mrs. Reed’s body to be extricated.
During the struggle, Mrs. Hunter lost her grip on the instrument and her hand was mangled so badly that part of a finger had to be amputated at West Jersey Hospital.
Police took the body of Mrs. Reed to the West Jersey Hospital morgue where Dr. Larossa said an autopsy would be made later today.
Accident, Family Says
Carpani said that when he and Kyler first went to the home they were told by Reed and his daughter, Regina, to “get out, it was all an accident.”
“We don’t want anything in the newspapers,” Reed was quoted as saying. “We have had enough notoriety.”
It was evident he referred to the alleged attempted suicide of his wife and daughter December 28 when they were found unconscious in the kitchen of the home and the jets of a gas stove open.
They were revived and on January 4, they were arraigned in police court on attempted suicide charges. The complaints were ordered filed by Police Judge Gene R. Mariano, however, after Mrs. Reed admitted she had written two suicide notes.
The first policemen to reach the Reed home today were Sgt. John Garrity and Patrolman Louis Prucella, sent there in a radio car after an unidentified man called headquarters and shouted: “Send a patrol wagon to 1726 Ferry avenue. There’s something wrong there,” and hung up.
— Harry Kyler – Joseph Carpani – Ernest Larossa – John Garrity – Louis Prucella – Gene R. Mariano – Charles Reed – William Hunter – Mary Hunter – Ferry Avenue
Death Beneath Piano Classed as Accident
Camden Courier-Post —
Detectives yesterday turned over to Coroner Ernest Larossa a report that the death of Mrs. Effie Reed, 45, of 1726 Ferry avenue, who was crushed beneath a piano Tuesday, was “entirely accidental.”
Coroner Larossa requested “a complete investigation” when the woman was taken to the West Jersey Hospital and found to have a crushed head. He said he ordered the probe when police told him that Mrs. Reed and her daughter, Regina, 24, attempted to commit suicide Dec. 1.
Detectives Harry Klyer and Joseph Carpani, who made the investigation, said the piano was “extremely top-heavy” and could “easily be toppled over by the push of a hand.” It was the theory of the detectives that Mrs. Reed had moved the piano from the wall so she could use a vacuum cleaner. They expressed the belief that the piano toppled over while she was pulling it back to its original position. Dr. Larossa conducted an autopsy Tuesday and issued a certificate of accidental death yesterday.