On a summer day in August of 1970, the community of New Haven, Connecticut, was rocked by a brutal crime that would leave a lasting scar. Twenty-three-year-old Donna Schlitter, a female resident of the New Haven Regional Center for developmentally disabled individuals, was one of three people tragically killed on August 12th in what became known as the West Rock Park murders.
Donna, along with 15-year-old Sandra Hedler and 20-year-old William White, also residents of the center, were
attacked and bludgeoned to death with a boulder. The bodies of Donna and Sandra were discovered later that same day, hidden behind a ventilator shaft within a tunnel in the park. William White was found alive in the nearby woods but succumbed to his injuries seventeen days later in a hospital. The senseless violence of the act sent shockwaves through the local area, prompting an intensive investigation.
Witnesses at the park reported seeing a late-model blue car in the vicinity around the time of the murders, a crucial piece of information that would ultimately lead police to their primary suspect. In December of 1970, authorities arrested Harold W. Meade, a man with a varied employment history as a gas station attendant, truck driver, and even an ice cream vendor.
Initially, Meade denied his involvement in the horrific crime. However, he later changed his plea to guilty and in 1972 was sentenced for the murders. Beyond this case, law enforcement has long suspected Meade of being involved in a string of other killings in Southern Connecticut dating back to 1969, where young girls were the victims of similarly brutal attacks. Meade died in prison from an illness, taking with him any potential answers to those other unsolved cases.
