The Sinister Story Behind This Pennsylvania Lake Will Give You Chills
By Beth Price-Williams|Published September 08, 2017
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Beth Price-Williams
Author
A professional writer for more than two decades, Beth has lived in nearly a dozen states – from Missouri and Virginia to Connecticut and Vermont – and Toronto, Canada. In addition to traveling extensively in the U.S. and the U.K., she has a BA in Journalism from Point Park University (PA), a MA in Holocaust & Genocide Studies from Stockton University (NJ), and a Master of Professional Writing from Chatham University (PA). A writer and editor for Only In Your State since 2016, Beth grew up in and currently lives outside of Pittsburgh and when she’s not writing or hanging out with her bunnies, budgies, and chinchilla, she and her daughter are out chasing waterfalls.
Snuggled in Luzerne County, Harveys Lake was the spot to go in the early part of the 20th century. Beachgoers flocked to the sandy resort to sunbathe, to boat, and to enjoy those long summer days. But, the joyous atmosphere at Harveys Lake had its fair share of interruptions. Here’s the story of an unnecessary tragedy that occurred at this Pennsylvania lake back in July 1934.
Twenty six year old Freda McKechnie seemed to have it all back in July 1934. She was hopelessly in love with her 24-year-old boyfriend, Bobby Edwards, who appeared just as smitten with her.
Harvey’s Lake
Even better, Freda had just received the news that she was four months pregnant. Bobby proposed marriage to which the lovestruck woman responded, by all accounts, with sheer joy.
Bobby may have done the honorable thing by proposing. But, sadly, he had less than honorable intentions the evening of July 30, 1934 when he picked Freda up for an evening swim at Sandy Beach in popular Harveys Lake.
The next morning Freda's body was found face down in the lake. She had been murdered, hit over the head with a black jack. The police, of course, had only one suspect, whose story quickly began to unravel in tragic detail.
He had, Bobby told investigators, concocted a plan to kill Freda as they drove to the lake. Her death would allow him to be with his lover Margaret Crain, who he already referred to as his wife in long, loving letters.
Freda's murder eerily mirrored a 1906 murder where the pregnant victim, Grace Brown, had been drowned by her boyfriend, Chester Gillette, in a lake. Chester had only viewed Grace as a passing fancy, fully intending to settle down with a woman who was well to do as his family was.
Chester was convicted of Grace's murder and put to death in the electric chair in 1908. Would Bobby Edwards face the same fate? Bobby had already confessed to killing Freda with a black jack but, he said, it was all just an accident.
Bobby claimed that Freda had passed out as she was stepping into a rowboat. He, of course, panicked and ran to his car to get his black jack. Upon his return, he saw Freda still unconscious so he picked her up and threw her his shoulder. In doing so, the black jack hit Freda in the back of the head, killing her.
The jury didn't buy Bobby's convoluted story, finding him guilty and sentencing him to death by the electric chair in October 1934. Despite pleas for clemency by many in the community, Bobby was executed on May 6, 1935.
Had you already heard of the murder that occurred on this Pennsylvania lake before reading it here? Unfortunately, not all of Pennsylvania’s murders are solved, leaving some enduring mysteries. Click here to read about The Boy in the Box, one of the state’s most notorious unsolved murders.
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