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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Murder in St Anne

St. Anne Police Chief Rudy Dandurand was murdered while making an arrest in 1974. Dandurand’s murder was as sensational an event in St. Anne history as the Chiniquy murders had been three quarters of a century earlier.
Chief Dandurand was on patrol on the morning of Aug. 30, 1974. His wife Jewel was with him in the squad car. Carl Tiberia and Earl Stalnecker were fighting in front... of the Village Inn tavern at Station and Chicago streets. Dandurand broke up the fight. He put Stalnecker in the squad car and drove him to Earl’s Body Shop at 137 W. Guertin Street.
Tiberia and Lawrence Selvey got into a pickup truck and followed. Dandurand noticed Selvey’s hand was inside a garment. The chief pulled it away and saw Selvey was holding a pistol. Dandurand took the gun and handed it to his wife, while he tried to calm the three quarreling men. Either Tiberia or Selvey went to the squad car, grabbed the pistol, and shot Chief Dandurand.
As Dandurand fell, he tossed his service revolver to his wife and said, “Here, Babe, I’m shot.”
Dandurand managed to radio for backup. “May day! May day! I need an ambulance,” were the last words he said.
Then, the three men indicated they were going to kill the chief and his wife.
Jewel Dandurand aimed her husband’s .357 magnum service pistol and fired at the criminals as they approached. Both Tiberia and Selvey were shot dead.
Stalnecker ran away, but later gave himself up.
Chief Dandurand was 38 years old. He reportedly had planned to retire the following week.
Earl Stalnecker went on trial, but was found not guilty on April 30, 1975. Stalnecker was killed on Aug. 18, 1977 when his car went off Route 1, north of St. Anne, hit a culvert and burst into flames.
Before Chief Dandurand, the last murder in St. Anne was 19 years earlier, in 1955 -- and the victim was Rudy Abrassart, a saloonkeeper who was Rudy Dandurand’s grandfather.

 Mom knew Rudy and knew of the others mentioned here from the nearby small town of St Anne. Her parents lived in or near there for years. Her uncle Ernst "Big Boy" Arnold lived in Harlan County, KY and his daughter Etta Owens still lives there. Jewel Dandurand was from there and I will talk to Etta about that soon and add the info here. April 13:  Etta told me that Larry Selvey was a nephew to Mom's uncle Mort Owens. Mort lived in St Anne. His wife Sarah was Grandpa Arnold's sister.

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Wow. That was a great read. My mother lives in Bradley, and I'm a police officer in Chicago. Thank you Ms. Cousins.

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  3. Wow... so this is my family. My Grandma Pat is Rudy's sister. I've known all the details regarding his death my entire life. If anyone has any additional information regarding what happened to Rudolph Abrassart I would love to hear it. Thank you.

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  4. Reba Abrassart WorthAugust 22, 2018 at 5:36 PM

    Thanks for writing this blog, Rich. I am Rudolph F. Abrassart's granddaughter and first cousin to Rudy Dandurand. Rudy D.'s first wife's name was Reba. She and my mother, besides being related by marriage, were good friends. Reba died in 1969 from cancer. Rudy owned Angel's Cafe, named after his wife Reba, who's nickname was "Angel." My mother nicknamed me Reba because she liked Reba Dandurand so much. (I believe her family was from either Tennessee or Kentucky.)

    If you happen to have any pictures of Reba D. from your mother's collection, I would LOVE to receive digital copies.

    Do you happen to know if Mort Owens had a son born around 1960? If so, I'd like to know the son's first name and if he is still living.

    I am trying to locate my copy of The Daily Journal's account of RFA's August 5, 1955 murder. Rudolph F., to the best of my knowledge (and I just consulted his daughter/my aunt), was never known by the nickname "Rudy;" his nickname was "Mac" or "Mack." My family always referred to him as Grandpa Mac.

    I will try to get back to you when I find that article.


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