Crime & Safety

1968 Murder of Bethlehem Man Solved, Police Say

Texas man charged with killing a Bethlehem Steel executive assistant 45 years after his body was dumped in a Monroe County field.

Nearly 45 years to the day that a Bethlehem man was shot to death and dumped in a Monroe County field, a Texas man has been arrested for the crime.

Richard Franklin Keiper, 67, of Boyd, Texas—about 30 miles northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex—was arrested for the murder of Alfred Barnes by Pennsylvania State Police and Texas Rangers, according to a news release.

Barnes, who was an assistant to the vice president of Bethlehem Steel, was 40 years old when he was murdered on Oct. 19, 1968.

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According to troopers, Barnes was shot multiple times and his body dumped in a field off of Evergreen Hollow Road in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County. His brand new 1969 Ford Thunderbird was missing from the scene, but was later recovered in Warren County, NJ, police said.

Keiper will be returned to Pennsylvania, where he will face murder, robbery and theft charges, police said.

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Keiper was 22 at the time of the murder and had ties to the Allentown area and Monroe County, troopers said. He has lived in Texas for a number of years, but he has also had ties to Virginia and Florida, police said.

The news release asks that anyone who has information about Keiper call one of the state police investigators—Trooper Donald Marsh, Cpl. Shawn Williams or Cpl. Thomas McAndrew—at 570-459-3890.


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