The Ultimate Guide to Pukwudgies! – Part 2 – Freetown Forest - Patreon Preview!

Freetown Forest is a 5,000 acre forest that includes 25 miles of trails, a wading pool, a splash pond, grilling stations, athletic fields, a grand pavilion, picnic areas, scenic overlooks, and fully equipped restrooms. It’s open to hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, swimming, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and just plain, old country strolling. That’s not even mentioning the fact that it’s also home to an entire Wampanoag reservation.

All of this is just on the surface, though. It’s the kind of information that’s reserved for tourists and weekend warriors. Travel beyond this superficial layer and you’ll find a land of lore and legend. You’ll inhabit an other world of being and nothingness. You’ll exist amongst the truth and the aspirational. That’s because, among other things, Freetown Forest is home to…

"Yes, we're bow and arrow guys, too."

Pukwudgies!

What’s happening right now?

Okay, so what’s going on!? I thought we were supposed to be covering the actual Pukwudgies this time. Why are we talking about Freetown Forest? Well, it’s very simple. We’re still going to get to the conclusion of the series with Pukwudgies. This is just for you, though. This is an exclusive patron post on the forest! It’s the deeper dive on the subject that this whole Patreon thing is supposed to be about!

A murder magnet

Okay, let’s get this one out of the way. Freetown Forest seems to just be a haven for murder and it’s not difficult to see why. It’s 5,000 acres, for God’s sake. You can do anything you want in there. I wouldn’t personally use that freedom to murder people, but that’s just me. I’d probably build a sweet fort and pretend to haunt it.

Like this, only haunted and poorly built.

Anyway, some people just use it to kill other people and one of the most infamous murders was that of Mary Lou Arruda. She was a 15 year old cheerleader from Raynham, Massachusetts. I’m not going to go into the unsavory details, but her badly decomposed body was found tied to a tree in the forest in November of 1978.What makes this case so well-known is the fact that a man by the name of James M. Kater, from Brockton, was convicted of kidnapping the girl in 1979. He has previously been convicted of kidnapping someone else back in 1967. This recent conviction was overturned by the Massachusetts Supreme Court. He would then be convicted a third time in 1986. That conviction would also be overturned. Are you  noticing a pattern here? 

Kater was retried for the kidnapping in 1992, this one ending in a mistrial. He would be retried one final time in 1996, which lasted all the way to 2000. This conviction would actually stick, though. Kater died of cancer in 2016, meaning he spent more time getting away with the murder of Mary Lou Arruda than he did being punished for it.

Read the Rest on Patreon!

So, what IS happening right now? Well, you'll have to join us on Patreon to find out! If you decide to join the community and become a patron, you'll have full access to all of Slightly Odd Fitchburg's exclusive Patreon posts!  They're only for members and you'll part of an elite group that gets monthly posts that no one else does! On top of that, you'll also be treated to lots of perks, gifts, and even the ability to vote on topics or publish your very own guest posts!

This time we're talking about Satanic cults, murderous apparitions, Kind Philip's War, and even Lizzie Borden! You really don't want to miss out on it!

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