More than 50 years after a Bedford woman was found murdered in the basement of her home, charges have been laid in the case, the Middlesex District Attorney and Bedford Police announced on Tuesday.Arthur Massei, 76, of Salem was arrested Tuesday and charged in connection with the 1971 murder of Natalie Scheublin, District Attorney Marian Ryan said. “Over half a century ago Natalie Scheublin, wife and mother, was violently murdered in her own home,” Ryan said. “Today we were able to tell his son and daughter that we could finally take the first step in holding the alleged perpetrator accountable for his death.” On June 10, 1971, Raymond Scheublin, then president of Lexington Trust Co., returned from work to find his wife dead in the basement of their Pine Hill Road home. The 54-year-old mother of two adult children had been bound, gagged, beaten and stabbed, investigators said. The victim’s 1969 Chevy Impala was taken from the home and later found at the Bedford VA hospital. Although it appears the car was cleaned, fingerprints were recovered, including one that was later matched to Massei’s left thumb using modern fingerprint-matching technology, Ryan said. Massei initially denied being in Bedford or having knowledge of the murder. But he later claimed he was approached by an organized crime associate to kill the woman and make it look like a burglary. Investigators said there was no evidence to support this claim. Ryan said the investigation uncovered a woman who said she was involved with Massei in the 1990s in bank fraud schemes, and he bragged about killing someone. that Mr. Massei regularly carried a knife with him and bragged in his presence that he once killed a person with a knife,” Ryan said. Massei was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury. He was arrested at his home on Tuesday without incident, Ryan said. He will appear in Woburn District Court on Wednesday. Raymond Scheublin died in 2011 at the age of 92. The couple have a daughter and a son.
More than 50 years after a Bedford woman was found murdered in the basement of her home, charges have been laid in the case, the Middlesex District Attorney and Bedford Police announced on Tuesday.
Arthur Massei, 76, of Salem was arrested Tuesday and charged with the 1971 murder of Natalie Scheublin, District Attorney Marian Ryan said.
“Over half a century ago Natalie Scheublin, wife and mother, was violently murdered in her own home,” Ryan said. “Today we were able to tell his son and daughter that we can finally take the first step in holding the alleged perpetrator responsible for his death.”
On June 10, 1971, Raymond Scheublin, then president of Lexington Trust Co., returned from work to find his wife dead in the basement of their Pine Hill Road home.
The 54-year-old mother of two adult children had been bound, gagged, beaten and stabbed, investigators said.
The victim’s 1969 Chevy Impala was removed from the home and later found at a hospital in Bedford, Virginia. Although it appears the car was cleaned, fingerprints were recovered, including one that was later matched to Massei’s left thumb using modern fingerprint-matching technology, Ryan said.
Massei initially denied being in Bedford or having knowledge of the murder. But he later claimed he was approached by an organized crime associate to kill the woman and make it look like a burglary. Investigators said there was no evidence to support this claim.
Ryan said the investigation uncovered a woman who said she was involved with Massei in the 1990s in bank fraud schemes, and he bragged about killing someone.
“During this time she came to know Mr. Massei quite well, that Mr. Massei regularly carried a knife with him and had bragged in her presence that he had once killed a person with a knife,” Ryan said.
Massei was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury. He was arrested at his home on Tuesday without incident, Ryan said. He will appear in Woburn District Court on Wednesday.
Raymond Scheublin died in 2011 at the age of 92. The couple have a daughter and a son.