Buffalo in the ’80s: Kenmore teen brutally murders his family

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

One of the most disturbing crimes in Western New York history happened 30 years ago today: Sept. 16, 1985.

John Justice killed his parents and brother in a blood bath in their Village of Kenmore home. As he sped away from the scene, he killed a 22-year-old neighbor in a fiery crash on Military Road.

In 2013, News reporter Lou Michel wrote a piece on the state Office of Mental Health beginning legal proceedings for Justice to be declared mentally unfit for release when his prison term expires in 2015.

In 2011, Steve Watson’s story about houses of infamy, sites of horrific crimes that gripped the community mentioned the fate of the Justice home.

 

 

 

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Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.