Small Town In New York Considered Cursed After Multiple Murders

One small town in New York is considered cursed after an entire family and other residents were murdered. It has been dubbed the Village Of The Damned.

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Town Of Dryden New York Called The Village Of The Damned

Dryden is a town in Tompkins County with a population of 14,029 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. It is located east of Ithaca in the Finger Lakes region. The town was founded in 1797 and was established from the town of Ulysses. The town of Dryden was featured in a five-part Investigation Discovery series called Village Of The Damned.

In 1989, the town experienced the tragic loss of the Harris Family. The grisly murders happened a few days before Christmas. The family of four were found shot to death. Warren (Tony) Harris, his wife Delores (Dodie), and their 11-year-old son Marc were bound and had pillowcases covering their heads. The 15-year-old Shelby was sexually assaulted and found dead in a bedroom. The family was set on fire after they were killed.

Michael Kinge is believed to be the killer of the Harris family, although he was never convicted. Kinge was killed in a shootout with police in February of 1990. His mother, Shirley Kinge, was sentenced to 18 to 47 years in prison in connection to the murders, but her conviction was overturned after it was discovered that police made up the evidence used against her.

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A 2-year-old girl named Aliza Bush was reported missing by her mother on February 2, 1990. Aliza, who died due to asphyxia from suffocation, was killed by her mother Christine Lane, who was convicted of manslaughter.

Less than 4 years after the Harris family murder, in the summer of 1993, Paul Jackson stabbed Dryden resident Scott Hume to death. Jackson killed Hume in his ex-girlfriend's apartment.

Five days after Christmas in 1994, a high school football coach Stephen Starr was shot to death by his 17-year-old daughter's ex-boyfriend who was mad that they had broken up. The ex-boyfriend ran to a cemetery where he killed himself, according to the Washington Post.

Robert Bergman was shot and killed in September of 1996 by Edward Bailey who was a co-worker at the car dealership where he worked. In the same month on September 10, high school senior Scott Pace was killed in a car accident. Eerily, his brother Billy had died in a car crash in 1995.

In October 1996, two Dryden High School cheerleaders Sarah Hajney and Jennifer Bolduc were murdered. The best friends were allegedly killed by John Andrews and their remains were scattered throughout a forest in Madison and Chenango counties. Andrews took his life in his jail cell, according to the Ithaca Journal.

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Dryden town supervisor Jason Leifer was not happy about Dryden being featured in the ID series saying,

Even if the producers were able to get the facts right the production is in poor taste because its sole aim is to profit off of the victims and their families. Dryden is a beautiful town and calling it the ‘Village of the Damned” is insulting. (Investigation Discovery) should be ashamed of themselves for airing this.