On a cold December day in 1975, the quiet suburban life of the Diggs family in Teaneck, New Jersey, was horrifically shattered. Jean Diggs, a 39-year-old African-American mother, and her four children were found murdered in their home on December 6th. The gruesome discovery was made by her husband and the children's father, Wesley Diggs, when he returned to the house.
Inside the family's Carlton Terrace residence, a scene of unimaginable violence awaited.
Jean and her children—Audrey, 17, Allison, 16, Wesley Jr., 12, and Roger, 5—had all been shot to death with a. 22-caliber weapon. The victims were found in different parts of the house: Jean was in the basement recreation room, two of the children were in their beds, and the other two were in another bedroom. There were no signs of a forced entry, suggesting the killer or killers were known to the family.
The investigation into the mass murder was extensive, yet it failed to yield any arrests or publicly identified suspects, leaving the case unsolved to this day. Wesley Diggs was questioned by police and, although he was initially considered a person of interest, he was ultimately cleared of any involvement in the murders of his wife and children. Authorities explored various theories, including a robbery gone wrong and the possibility of a murder-suicide, but the evidence did not conclusively support any single scenario. The lack of a murder weapon at the scene complicated the investigation and cast doubt on the murder-suicide theory.
The brutal and senseless killing of Jean Diggs and her four young children sent shockwaves through the Teaneck community. The family had moved to the predominantly white neighborhood from Harlem several years prior and were reportedly well-liked. Decades have passed, but the question of who committed this heinous act remains unanswered, leaving a lingering sense of sorrow and injustice over one of New Jersey's most tragic and perplexing cold cases.
