If you have not read my previous articles: Lester’s Despair – Part One and More Tragedy for Lester House, then I urge you to do that before continuing.
I learned more about Lester and Mary’s (Besser) son, Jarold, than I really cared to know. It was concerning why he was sent to the state mental hospital and to jail. The morals charges were of the worst kind – out of regard for his living descendents I will not post the details. I will, however, say that it is all spelled out in some newspaper accounts (so if they go looking, they will find the stories).
Jarold and his wife, Margaret, had four sons. I don’t believe they were very old before they were sent to live with foster families. Since some of the sons are still living I will call them Son One, Son Two, Son Three and Son Four (again some of the events of which I will write about are all available to be found in newspaper reports).
In the mid 1970s, Son Two and Son Three, along with at least one other young man, killed a man. Apparently there was kidnapping and mutilation involved. As I perused the newspaper articles, the nagging thought I had, was to wonder if the father’s actions towards his sons had any bearing on their emotional states as young men. At least their grandfather, Lester House, had already passed away. This new tragedy would have been more than enough for him after all that he had been through.
Son Two and Son Three were convicted of kidnapping and murder and sentenced to prison. Son Three was killed in prison and Son Two is still incarcerated. Son One passed away several years ago. I haven’t uncovered any information on Son Four – so it seems he has left his family and past behind – and really who could blame him?
Man, it’s tough to do this job sometimes, isn’t it? It’s never fun when you uncover stuff like that…especially when you can see the ripple effects on subsequent generations.