Alfred Vuozzo Jr. was the brother of Cathy Vuozzo killed 44 years ago by McGuigan victim’s father
By Stephen Pate – The Vuozzo and McGuigan families shared a tragedy 44 years ago that erupted again in an apparent revenge killing this week on St. Mary’s Road, PEI.
In 1970 Herbert McGuigan Sr.’s truck collided with the Vuozzo family van on the Commercial Road outside Montague, PEI, killing Cathy Vuozzo aged 9.
Sins of the father? – Herbert Brent McGuigan Jr. and Brandon McGuigan murdered in their St. Mary’s Road home (Picture Eastern Graphic supplied by McGuigan family)
On Wednesday night, it is alleged that Alfred Vuozzo Jr., Cathy Vuozzo’s brother, murdered Herbert McGuigan Sr’s son and grandson in an act of revenge on St. Mary’s Road, Kings County, Prince Edward Island.
Vuozzo is reported to have shot 39-year old Brendon McGuigan first, allegedly to show the Herbert McGuigan what it feels like to lose a child.
68-year-old Herbert McGuigan Jr. tried to subdue Vuozzo but he too was shot to death, according to reports given to us.
Alfred Vuozzo Jr. left the home at 1522 St. Mary’s Road, PEI without harming Brendon McGuigan’s children, two of whom were reported to be in the home at the time. The whereabouts of Brendon McGuigan’s pregnant wife and third child, at the time of the murders, are not known.
The exact nature of what happened will be kept under wraps by the RCMP until the trial. If Vuozzo pleads guilty to a charge, the evidence may never be released by the RCMP.
1522 St. Mary’s Road, Kings County, PEI scene of a double homicide (Google Street View)
The news stories on CBC and The Guardian that the man charged with two homicides on PEI this week did not know his victims are false.
“(The suspect and the victims) are not related by family or marriage,” said Butler, the RCMP media relations officer on Thursday. “They did live relatively close to each other, 10 minutes apart,” reported The Guardian.
At noon today we emailed the Eastern Graphic and CBC News about the tragic family connection. Afterwards they published this story. Accused and victim’s families share tragic history.
The McGuigan 1970 accident
Alfred Vuozzo Sr. was driving in his van along The Commercial Road, that connects Murray River and Montague, PEI. His wife and children were in the panel van.
McGuigan was driving along the Greek River Road, which ends at The Commercial Road. McGuigan’s truck hit the Vuozzo van broadside behind the passenger side door.
St. Mary’s Road, scene of the double murder, and its proximity to Lower Montague where the accused lived and 1970 accident that killed his sister at The Commercial and Greek River Road, Kings County PEI (Google Earth map)
The Vuozzo vehicle apparently had the right-of-way on The Commercial. McGuigan had a stop sign at the intersection of the Greek River Road and The Commercial.
The intersection at the Greek River Road is a complex stretch on The Commercial where the road from Murray River turns obliquely to the left at the intersection. While it’s hard to tell if the Greek River road had a warning about the stop sign as it does today, there was apparently a stop sign on the Greek River Road.
Greek River Road intersection on The Commercial, Kings County, PEI (photo Google Street View)
Alfred Guy Vuozzo Jr.’s sister Cathy was nine years old at the time of the 1970 accident. Cathy was thrown through the windshield of the van and died as a result of her injuries.
Alfred Jr.’s father, Alfred Vuozzo Sr, was treated for his injuries at the hospital. His wife and other children received minor injuries.
Cathy Vuozzo’s funeral was held at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Montague. The Vuozzo family grieved her loss for decades.
Alfred Vuozzo Sr., the driver of the van, believed Herbert McGuigan Sr. was drinking and driving at the time. At the very least, McGuigan failed to stop and yield to traffic on the Commercial.
In the mind of Alfred Vuozzo Sr. Herbert McGuigan got away “scott free” from the accident without any injuries and was never charged with a crime.
Herbert McGuigan died October 6, 1975 in St. Mary’s Road. He was buried at St. Paul’s Catholic Church situated at the end of St. Mary’s Road.
Deathbed confession
While the McGuigan’s and the Vuozzo’s lived in the same general proximity and were related through marriage, the loss of little Cathy festered as like an open wound within Alfred Sr, it is said.
The story is told that when little Cathy’s father Alfred Sr. lay on his death bed in 2011, he confessed to his son, the accused, that he regretted not taking his revenge on Herbert McGuigan for killing his precious little girl.
While we have no public statement from the accused Alfred Vuozzo Jr., the tragic events of their families no doubt was a motivating factor when he allegedly first killed Herbert McGuigan’s grandson on Wednesday night and then Herbert McGuigan’s son.
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Eastern Graphic – Accused and victim’s families share tragic history
Friday, August 22, 2014 1:23 pm | Updated: 1:27 pm, Fri Aug 22, 2014.
Wednesday’s chilling murder of a father and son while inside their home on a quiet rural PEI road is not the first time a shared tragedy has visited the Vuozzo and McGuigan families.
Today, Alfred Guy Vuozzo Junior, 46, faces two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of father Herbert Brent McGuigan age 68 and his 39-year-old son Brendan. The pair was shot to death while inside their St. Mary’s Road West home.
In late November 1970 Brent’s father, Herbert McGuigan, who has since passed away, was the driver of a truck that collided near Commercial Road with a panel van driven by Alfred Vuozzo Senior. The accident claimed the life of nine-year-old Cathy Vuozzo, a sister of the man who now stands accused of Wednesday’s murders.
The Graphic reported at that time that Cathy Vuozzo died after being thrown from the vehicle. Two other children as well as the Senior Vuozzo received minor injuries. Herbert McGuigan was not injured.
Alfred Vuozzo Junior was apprehended without incident around 7:40am Thursday morning. He has been remanded into custody and will make his next court appearance next week.
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Thanks to The Eastern Graphic for the 1970 accident story. Follow me on Twitter at @sdpate or on Facebook at NJN Network, OyeTimes and IMA News Buzz. You can also subscribe and receive notifications of new stories by email.
Ed. In an earlier post Herbert McGuigan was misspelled as Hubert, Cathy as Kathy and Alfred shortened to Alfie. We have also removed direct quotes from Mr. Vuozzo, reported to us earlier, which cannot be independently confirmed, and clarified the 1970 accident. We regret the errors and apologize to those affected. We also appreciate those who took the time to comment and clarify the facts.
Ryan
Where is it you get your facts MR. PATE? Most of this garbage is false along with most the story’s that’s been spreading around here! I can assure you this, nothing like that was said by the sick basterd who killed these two men. There is no way you could know what was said because there’s two people who were there and you havnt talked to either of them. Also there was no feud. There was no relation and they were not neighbours. Thanks!!!
Horrible
Amazing what people do to get ratings. This whole story is false considering there is a whole article that you wrote about it and then at the bottom copy and pasted the original TRUE story. Which by the way mentions nothing about the father being impaired, the original article says her name is Cathy, not Kathy and his name is Alfred Vuozzo Jr. by the way, not Alfie. And that last information comes from a credited journal that publishes ON the island. Would love to see where you references come from because the only thing true in your whole article is the article you COPY AND PASTED from another site. Wouldn’t be surprised if this whole website is a fake. Shame on you.
Tragic
This makes me sick. I don’t understand how you can print that ppl made statements… who?? This is sick and just more gossip..typical…more revictimizing the famiies who have already lost so much.
Sea Costello
You trying to glorify a murder , wrong and sick to try and twist and turn a story like this , leave the people alone in this tragic event !
Stephen Pate
(Horrible) Thanks for the spelling errors. The story comes from multiple sources and has been confirmed to the extent possible. The Eastern Graphic story was printed after we told the Graphic what we knew. The media were hiding the story behind the misleading RCMP press releases. And now the story is out there. WE have no sources that mentioned an impairment on the part of the father which is why we did not report it. If you have information that adds more information or contradicts our sources we would be glad to read it. Thanks again for your comments.
Stephen Pate
Thanks for reaching out Ryan. The story comes from multiple sources and has been confirmed to the extent possible. Shirley McGuigan is a sister-in-law to Alfred Vuozzo Sr. according to his obituary which would make her a relation. There are other connections between the McGuigan’s and Vuozzo’s according to their family trees. The RCMP confirmed they were neighbors “They did live in close proximity to each other, but it’s not believed they had any type of relationship,” RCMP Sgt. Leanne Butler told CBC News on Thursday.” Perhaps on St. Mary’s Road they might not be considered close neighbors but to the wider world the few miles that separated them is “close proximity.” If you have information that contradicts our sources we would be glad to read it. Thanks again for your comment.
Nick
Among the rest of your vague and political rebuttals. You have still yet to mention what Ryan said about your so called quotes. How could you possibly know what this sick individual said moments before his cowardly acts?
Were you there?
Can you speak to men beyond the grave? This is the only way you could quote this!
Otherwise it’s complete b.s. like the rest of this article.
And yes you do mention impairment! It is on your second paragraph, fourth line.
Lastly a neighbor by definition, is one who lives in the same neighborhood.
St. Mary’s road and Montague are anything but that. Two different school zones to be exact. Close proximity, sure in relation to the entire province. But no where near “neighbors.”
Oh and yes, my grammar and spelling may not be up to your standards. However your lack of facts supersede any grammar/spelling mistakes.
M.Crane
None who is writing this story about this murder was in this house, most of what you have been reporting are rumors. Shame on you for the pain you are causing to these families and friends.
I had my brother murdered 10 yrs ago, one of the worst part of the nightmare was what the news reporters would write. Most of it was rumors or lies. We all know a paper doesn’t have to go by facts, if it did it wouldn’t sell much papers right? They are protected by freedom of speech I guess.
Stephen Pate
What happened at the murder scene was told to another person related to the accused. That is how the story got out.
Think About It
@Ryan – you can assure us of what was *not* said? Since you also weren’t there, you can’t, can you?
As for the rest of you armchair critics, you can hem and haw about it all you want but something tells me you all would just like to try and write this tragedy off as a random act of insanity. Really? Islanders who have been neighbors (and yes, for crissake they live in the same general neighborhood give me a break) for generations just drive up the road to their neighbors house and randomly shoot them?
Of course they don’t, and not only are they somewhat related, the indisputable fact is that the dead man’s father killed the accused’s sister year ago in a horrific accident for which he was never apparently called to account. Now, I know some of y’all are a little slow, but do you honestly expect the rest of the thinking world to believe that the accused just randomly up and decided to take out a man and his son for no apparent reason, and leave others alive in the house…and that it had absolutely nothing to do with said accident in which his sister was killed?? What’s next, you let us know you’re selling shares in the bridge? haha!
Finally…think about how fast Vuozzo was caught, and without incident. Gee..I wonder why? I’ll let you brilliant ones connect the dots there..
Think About It
Wonder if crown prosecutor got the facts wrong too, eh Ryan, Nick, Sean Costello etc?
Oh wait – he got them from Vuozzo’s own mouth, by his own admission.
Let’s see if you all are men enough to admit how wrong you were!