North Hills Flashback: The Fugitive of Perrysville, Circa 1999

I grew up in Perrysville. For my family, there was a peace of mind which existed during my early years. Sure, every town has its occasional criminal activity, but nothing major had happened since 1934, when the Dempsey murders became the first negative headline since 1902’s Biddle Boys. The community rarely made the news until one day in 1999, when a dramatic series of events ended in the historic area of Ross.

Fasten your seat belts and get ready for something straight out a true crime show. You won’t find too many stories like this one, especially those in which Perrysville is involved.

Our protagonist is a lady named Amy Beardsley, who lived in Bell Acres with her boyfriend, a man named Francis Paul Weber. Although Weber came across as a good, caring man to those who met him, his true nature quickly revealed itself to those who spent enough time around him. He could be controlling, possessive, and downright abusive. In fact, Weber had an extensive history of violent activity, something which revealed itself to Beardsley as their relationship progressed.

Beardsley, who began to worry about whether she would live to see another tomorrow, came up with a plan to ditch Weber on May 13, 1999. After picking up dinner, she let her boyfriend out of the car first, then drove away to Coraopolis, where she stopped by her mother’s house and then traveled to the house of her friend Regina Small. Unfortunately, Weber was able to track down Beardsley, shooting her in the early morning hours. She would die a few hours later.

Familiar with Weber, the chief of the Coraopolis Police, John Delach, telephoned Weber’s ex-wife, who had received numerous threats over the years. Rebekah Weber, who had divorced her abusive husband a few years earlier, was urged to leave her house in West View along with her children, as Chief Delach speculated he may be headed in that direction.

As it turns out, he was right, although Weber made a pit stop at his home to burn it down. By dawn, he had arrived in West View, firing shots along Highland Avenue. Weber was on the move by this point and was nowhere to be seen, presumably firing shots randomly in an effort to kill his ex-wife. He left behind a note for his family at a house along Washington Drive in North Hills Estates during a day-long trek across West View and Perrysville.

Roads were closed, school activities were cancelled, and the Port Authority decided not to run buses (back when there were buses which served Perrysville). By the evening, everyone was nearly ready to give up the chase for the fugitive. However, he was found in an abandoned house along Valley Drive, presumed to be number 1017. The owner had died about a year earlier and nobody had moved in yet. (The house is currently occupied and has been by a few different families for some times since the incident).

The police attempted to convince Weber to exit the house, but heard a gunshot instead. Weber had committed suicide.

The last time a fugitive had run through Perrysville in such dramatic fashion was in 1902 when the Biddle Boys made their way though a much simpler version of the town without a vehicle. The chase brought a newfound sense of fear to a little village in which the most serious violence was the occasional barfight at the Perrytowne Tavern. It served as a reminder that any town, no matter how supposedly safe it may be, can be the site of something which looks straight out of a crime-based television drama and that everyone, no exceptions, should make sure their street smarts are up to par, even if they live in a town termed “boring” or “safe” by residents.

Even in an era when media coverage was beginning to increase dramatically due to the rise of the internet, this story never entrenched itself into the minds of the residents of Perrysville in the same way those of the Biddle Boys or the Dempseys did. Perhaps the gruesome ending of the chase made everyone want to simply place it out of their minds once police had left the Valley Drive residence on the evening of May 14, 1999.

NEXT TIME: There was a lot planned for the Perrysville neighborhood in 1940. With the Great Depression over, homes were being built again, and more families were moving to suburbia. Of course, World War II occurred shortly after these plans were proposed, and by the time it ended, things had changed. What was supposed to happen and what remains of the proposals? Find out as we flash back to 1940 in next week’s edition of North Hills Flashback!

Bibliography: http://www.westview.com/suburban-seige-ends/Suburban%20siege%20ends.htm