The Altoona Railroad Spike Murder
Roy Lockard and Margaret Karmendi A black sedan with out-of-state plates barreled down Jaggard Street in Altoona on the night of April 21, 1936. As the car sped toward the intersection of Jaggard Street and Bell Avenue, its headlights illuminated a tall, gangly man who was walking long the road with a small child slumbering in his arms. A young woman-- a friend of the man carrying the sleeping three-year-old boy -- walked alongside in the brick-paved gutter. But the driver did not slow down, nor did he stop. As the sedan raced past, it struck the back of the sleeping boy's head, nearly knocking him out of the man's arms. "I couldn't see the license number, but I think the plate was green," recalled Roy Lockard, the 24-year-old WPA sewer worker who was carrying the child, Matthew "Sonny" Karmendi. The mother, Margaret, remained at the home of a neighbor, Paul Iorio, who had appeared on the scene shortly after hearing Margaret had knocked on his front do...
