As a young girl growing up in New Jersey, memories flood me of long-ago friendships and fun in an innocent time.
There were hang-outs at pizza parlors, first cars, dates, shopping, and long phone chats with best girlfriends, and there was Pat Nodes. Pat was a slight built, fun-loving addition to the “girl clique” and one of the first to have a serious dating experience. His name was Dick Puskas (known as Andy to his employer and church), and he was perfect for Pat — a wonderful couple who eventually married.
As life propels us into different adventures in our lives, I lost contact with Pat and Dick — until 1982 when local newspapers and NY TV News reported a house explosion in the bedroom community of Middlesex, NJ. Inside that house were Pat and Dick. They were killed instantly, and their house was leveled. I was in total disbelief and followed news stories to learn how this ended.
Pat and Dick had three young boys and had become Jehovah’s Witnesses after their marriage. They moved to 182 First Street in the borough of Middlesex and became involved in the Middlesex Bible Church after sending two of their children to vacation Bible school there one summer. They were deeply religious and their lives centered around their church. On Tuesdays, they attended a Bible study class; on Fridays, Andrew worked with a teen Bible study group, and on Saturday nights, he showed religious films at the church. Patricia taught Sunday school and Dick (Andrew) was also a lay minister at the church and on his way to becoming the church’s fourth elder.
On February 25, 1982, Dick was preparing to take his two older sons to school while the younger child sat in the car, when he found a package on his front porch. He took the package into the house, but for some reason became suspicious and sent the two boys outside and then called the police.
As a police officer walked up to the front door of the Puskas home, the house exploded. The force of the blast threw him over the hood of his patrol car. He shouted into his microphone, “Send everybody!”
Shrapnel was found in Pat and Dick’s abdomen and chest indicating they were facing the explosion and that Dick may have been closer to the package than Patricia. Both died from “traumatic and hemorrhagic shock due to explosion,” according to autopsy reports.
It was reported that one of the children provided police with a description and diagram of the contents of the package, a 2-foot-square, unmarked cardboard box which the child said held several bottles and a pipe bomb with a 45-second timer. The description states two bottles were blue; one was a dark blue, and the other a lighter blue. The most significant piece of glass found at the crime scene contained molded lettering, which read in part, “KING’S.”
If the children were not in the house when the package was opened, how was a description of the contents of the box reported? The bottles contained a flammable liquid. One report stated it was gasoline. The package was addressed to Andrew Richard Puskas. It could be significant because Andrew went by “Andy” among his co-workers and “Dick” among close friends and church members.
Through the investigation, authorities determined the package was placed on the front porch by the killer and not sent via the United States Postal Service or a shipping carrier, such as United Parcel Service (UPS).
Investigators sent four or five large sacks full of debris to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco (ATF), and Firearms lab in Rockville, Maryland, for analysis. They also sent samples of wood, human tissue, and water left by the fire hoses, which might contain a clue to the nature of the bomb. After several weeks, the samples yielded some evidence, but nothing further was mentioned. The ATF determined that the bomb was a “fairly sophisticated device.” They believed someone committed the act out of “personal hatred” towards Andrew Puskas.
By April 1982, investigators interviewed between 500 and 550 persons to track down leads, and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms had put in 4,000 man-hours at the cost of $100,000 — a lousy $100,000.
As if this tragedy were not enough, some friends of Pat and Dick believed there was a connection between their passion for religion and the murders. The Puskas children went to live with an aunt after the loss of their parents. The aunt had trouble handling all three, so the two older boys went into foster care, and the youngest stayed with her. Jeannette Puskas, Dick’s mother, suffered a massive heart attack while visiting Pat and Dick’s graves. She died on June 4, 1982.
Years after the murder of Pat and Dick, I was asked by Gannett Publishing to write for their Editorial Board. I discussed the unsolved killing of my friends with my editor, and he provided me with all the newspaper articles published on the unsolved decades-old murder and my writing an updated article.
After connecting with law enforcement for any updates on the unsolved crime, I hit a wall. There was no progress on the senseless deaths of my friends decades ago.
What haunts me the most about looking for justice for Pat and Dick was the telephone conversation I had with their pastor. When I told him that I was going to write an article about the long unsolved murders of my friends and members of his congregation, I was stunned to hear his vitriol towards me. He said, “We have all forgotten about this — you forget it too.”
I think it’s time for Pat and Dick to receive justice — and no, I will not forget them.
