Thomas Brigham, a 65-year-old former World War II prisoner of war and transient resident of South Norwood, was arrested in Montreal in connection with a devastating Monday bombing at the city’s main railroad station that left three people dead and 41 injured.
Prior to his arrest, Brigham told clerks at the South Norwood Pharmacy on Washington Street that he would be away for a couple of months because “I have a mission in Montreal.” Local acquaintances described Brigham as a frequent customer at the drug store who lived quietly in Apartment No. 4 at 260 Dean St. James Butters, a part-time clerk at the pharmacy owned by Selectman William Butters, recalled that Brigham frequently talked about “cosmic forces,” “hidden meanings” in newspaper headlines, and a belief that he possessed special powers.
Brigham was taken into custody by Montreal police after allegedly telling a reporter that he had mailed notes threatening Pope John Paul II ahead of the pontiff’s scheduled Canadian rail tour. While U.S. Secret Service acknowledged that Brigham had previously been placed under surveillance for trailing President Reagan, his relatives and ex-wife, Marjorie Brigham, noted he had a history of mental illness following his 1973 divorce and subsequent walkout from a Cleveland mental hospital in 1975. Brigham denied planting the 27.5-pound bomb, though authorities continue to investigate the blast’s ties to the upcoming papal visit.
Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger
Body of Missing Mrs. Zwicker Left In Walpole Woods—Police Start Search For Jealous Husband WALPOLE, Aug 17 -The plaintive barking of a little white Spitz…
6 Other Attacks on Girls Recently in Norwood-This Day in Norwood History-November 5, 1954
The summer of 1984 had just begun to heat up in the quiet suburban town of Norwood, Massachusetts, when a sense of unease settled over…
Erastus Monroe Boyden was tried before Judge Emory Grover in the District Court in Dedham, on last Monday morning, on two charges of assault with…
Natick resident Robert D. Langevin is captured in a Washington Street clothing store cellar after pistol-whipping 61-year-old owner John Rapolas during an attempted armed robbery.
On the sweltering summer evening of July 27, 1970, Sgt. Nicholas J. Connolly of the Norwood Police Department was alerted to a potential break-in at…
Discover more from Norwood Historical Society
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.