Lost Valley Article Number 50 - a Main Street murder in 1938 still haunts a B.C. family

I had an interesting challenge presented to me last evening. Could I help with researching the murder of a young woman killed on Main Street in 1938? The query came from a B.C. resident who had done some family genealogy and had acquired a Death Certificate which verified his Mom's recollection of a horrible tragedy which shook her family when she was a school girl.
As Frank Osborne told it, his aunt was murdered on the sidewalk in front of her apartment, "in broad daylight" in the summer of 1938. He knew that time had dimmed his Mom's memory a bit, because she recalled that her older sister Bessie had been struck by "a hatchet" wielded by a jealous boyfriend. The N.B. Death Certificate records that the murder weapon was a hammer. Frank added that his mother was a witness to the killing of her sister, so there must have been some commotion which drew the family down to the sidewalk entrance.

That was enough information to fire my interest, and this afternoon I decided to learn more. The first order of business was to prepare a photograph of the scene. This image is from the 1970s, but with the exception of the store name "Fransblow's", this is the scene of the 1938 murder. It was on Main Street, on the Fort Howe (North) side of the street.

Bessie was slain on the sidewalk in 1938, at the spot indicated. The stair entrance up to her family's apartment at 683 Main Street was between two stores. The building, 681 - 689 Main Street, was demolished during the Urban Renewal phase of city history.

I am fortunate to have information on a few dozen Saint John murders, although in this case not as detailed as Frank might like.

Bessie Alexandra CURTIS, just 21 years old, was slain on Tuesday, July 17, 1938. She had been living in a Common Law marriage, and when it failed she separated. Her estranged husband, John NETCOFF, was an older man of 43 years who had immigrated to Canada from Bulgaria. Hot tempered, he made it clear that he was unwilling to accept her decision.

When Netcoff turned up at 683 Main Street he was armed with a hammer to batter Bessie Curtis with. John picks up the story: "My Mother said that Bessie broke off with the boy because he was so possessive. She always said he struck her repeatedly with a hatchet; but the death certificate says it was a hammer. She said he was yelling over and over again, while he was striking Bessie's head: " If I can't have you---nobody else will ever have you! " John added, "My Mother used to have nightmares about it years afterward."

Netcoff's murder trial spanned four days in September 1938. He was tried in the New Brunswick Supreme Court, before Mr. Justice J.H. Fairweather. The murder was clearly premeditated and the motive was established as "jealousy". Netcoff was found guilty and sentenced to die on December 14, 1938. But he was not hanged. The accused must have made a very convincing display of his emotion, because his Sentence was accompanied by a recommendation for mercy. In the end his Death Sentence was commuted to Life Imprisonment and Netcoff was shipped off to the federal penitentiary in Dorchester, New Brunswick.

I haven't found out yet when Netcoff was released from prison, but they do say that criminals return to the scene of their crimes. I have to wonder if Netcoff was able to stand in front of 683 Main Street one last time and relive what he did there, before the urgent bulldozers of Urban Renewal erased all evidence of his hateful act. Frank Osborne is certainly sentimental about the old Lost Valley neighborhoods. Here in B.C. he maintains a garden with palm trees which hosts a small chunk of limestone collected from the base of Fort Howe - a literal touchstone of his youth.
Edna May Curtis lived her entire life with the memory of her big sister being murdered on the Main Street sidewalk. During WW2 she met Frank Osborne, who did much to make her happy and help her heal. Frank Osborne Jr sent this photo of his parents, but unfortunately has no photo of Bessie Curtis to share. Perhaps a Lost Valley reader may uncover Bessie Curtis' photo in an old school yearbook or news clipping. She arrived in Saint John at the age of five, and so all of her schooling was in the North End.