New England’s Unsolved: The murder of John Donaldson

HARVARD, Mass. — The murder of John Donaldson, on April 6, 1979, shocked the tiny rural town of Harvard, Massachusetts. The 20-year-old was found shot to death in the driveway of his parent’s home on Lovers Lane.

“It’s hard, it’s hard,” John’s sister, Susan Donaldson James, told Boston 25 News Reporter Bob Ward. They met recently at the very spot where her brother was discovered, behind the wheel of his car, 44 years ago.

“He was killed just yards away from where Mom and Dad were sleeping,” Susan recalls. She and her brother, Jim Donaldson, tell me now is the time for answers.

“Everybody knew everybody,” Jim said. “It turned the town upside down. It was something they never experienced before.”

Jim discovered his brother’s body on that terrible morning.

“He did look asleep. There was a small trail of blood coming off his temple, that’s where the bullet had entered. And he was dead,” Jim remembered. “My emotional side didn’t know how to handle it. You’re still trying to ask yourself if you are in a dream and you’re trying to wake up.”

In 1979, John Donaldson was working at a hotel, as a dishwasher, one town over in Boxborough. On April 5, he worked the night shift at the hotel.

Early on the 6th, he hung out with friends at their house, likely drinking beer, and then drove home. When he pulled into the driveway, he didn’t go inside, he sat in his car.

Initially, investigators focused their attention on a Harvard police officer who, that morning, saw John in his car and actually talked to him.

The officer was even arrested, but charges were ultimately dropped when a grand jury would not indict him.

John’s family tells me, that’s when the case went cold.

But in 2005, 26 years after John Donaldson’s murder, Jim Donaldson was given access to his brother’s case file. He says, what he saw in the files shocked him.

“I’m convinced it was people he knew in the town. And people he was friends with,” Jim said.

Jim tells me the evidence is in shell casings recovered in Harvard and Boxborough.

“They found shell casings all around town a sort of arc around town that matched shell casings that were found at the scene,” Jim said.

“We believe they didn’t know Johnny was there,” Susan tells me. “That they were just out having a good time with an idea to go down to Lovers Lane and give Johnny a scare for a reason we’ll never know.”

Susan and Jim are asking authorities to take a fresh look at their brother’s case.

They hope, maybe now, the secret that’s been held so tight for so long, in Harvard, might finally be revealed.

“After all this time, what do you want to have happen now?” Ward asked Susan.

“If we don’t get a chance to talk to people now, this will never be solved. This is one last shot,” she said.

Boston 25 News reached out to the Worcester County District’s attorney’s office to ask about the Donaldson Case. A spokesperson gave New England’s Unsolved the following statement:

“Since taking office in 2007, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. has made it a priority to take a fresh look at all the unresolved homicides in the county.

The Unresolved Case Squad within the Massachusetts State Police Detectives Unit was created by District Attorney Early so there are dedicated investigators continuing to work to bring these cases to resolution. Each of these cases represents a victim who deserves justice and a family in need of closure.

The term “cold case” is no longer used by the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office. John Bish, whose 16-year-old daughter was murdered in 2000, talked about how that phrase conjured up an image of dusty files receiving no attention when in fact these cases are being worked on continuously by someone in law enforcement.

John requested that all District Attorney Offices use a more appropriate phrase, and he recommended it be called an “Unresolved Homicide Unit.” The unit was then renamed the “Worcester County District Attorney’s Office Unresolved Homicide Unit.”

It is never too late to pass on information to investigators and we strongly encourage it. We know over time that relationships change, people’s feelings change, and witnesses may be more willing to come forward. Paired with advances in science, our investigators and prosecutors welcome new information as they are driven to solve these cases.”

Anyone with information can reach out to:

Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Worcester County D.A.’s office at 508-453-7589 or WorcesterDAunresolved@mass.gov

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