History:Â
At one point in its history, this house was occupied by two brothers, Richard and Lionel Sabourin. They were successful milk producers with over 40 head of cattle. They were known to be fairly well off, and had privately mortgaged several other people.
On the evening of April 18, 1963, as many as six men with stockings over their heads attacked the two men as they milked cows in the barn. Lionel, 55, was tortured and shot six times. He succumbed to those wounds. His brother, Richard, 61, was beaten and shot twice. He attempted to escape, but was dragged back into the barn and chained to the stall.
The house was ransacked and their safe pried open. No one is sure how much money was taken because Lionel handled the finances, and only he knew how much was in the safe at the time.
After they left, Richard remained for 13 hours chained next to his brother's body before being found by a neighbour, Michel Steep.
Richard told the police that there was an older man who walked with a limp who shot a large pistol or sawed-off shotgun. He said there were also two other club-wielding, younger men. Some time afterwards, a restaurant employee in Mattawa reported to police that there had been six nervous men, one of whom fit Richard's description of the older man with the limp.
They were never apprehended.
A book, The Cache Bay Tragedies, was released in July, 2016, by Nancy Prayeur, who stumbled on the story when she bought barn board from the owner of the property where the murder took place.
Personal Commentary:Â
I found this place, like so many others, purely by random circumstance. You see, I drive back and forth along the highway every day for work. During the fall, however, as is so often the case, traffic was horribly disrupted by construction that served to make the long drive even longer.
In an attempt to circumvent this issue, I began trying a few back roads to get around the zone. As I did, I was surprised to spot this place out in plain view. The next day, I brought my camera to work with me, and made a little stop on the way home.
The house itself didn't have a lot to offer. It was pretty much gutted, and access to the upstairs was hindered by... well, a lack of stairs.
The barn, however, made the whole stop quite worthwhile in my opinion.
November 12, 2016
I was unaware of the violent event that took place in the barn in 1963 until someone on Facebook mentioned the event in relation to a different house. Having become aware of the event, and researching it, I have included it above.
September 6, 2017
It appears that all of the outbuildings on this property have now been demolished. Â Only the house itself remains, and its fate is unknown.
