The Horror of Murder Ridge

I'm certain he must have seemed like a nice enough fellow; a kind of big galoot.

There's no way 28 year old Clyde Patton, high school teacher, part-time car salesman and father of four, could have known about the delusional, violence racked mind which lurked beneath Cletus P. Reese's brow. If he had, I suspect the fateful trip to the Reese farm could have been avoided.

According to the Coshocton Tribune, while visiting Hafner Truck and Equipment in Coshocton, Reese expressed interest in a new Hudson. A second test drive to Reese's home would end Patton's young life. What happened on that fateful trip in June of 1954? What caused Reese to come unhinged and end an innocent man's life? The Tribune reported that Reese was quoted as saying, "We had a fight and I beat him up."

In more than a fight, the Tribune reported Patton's skull had been crushed with several violent blows from a large wooden club.

Reese, according to the newspaper, had been reported by his suspicious sister. Reese was held by authorities until a search of the Reese farm turned up the missing teacher. The body, found in an open field behind the Reese farm, had been dragged there by Reese, who it's rumored had the strength to lift a hog. After confessing his crime, Reese was charged with the 1st degree murder of Clyde Patton. It was during additional interrogations, conducted by the sheriff and Tribune staff members, suspicions arose that the Reese farm held additional grisly secrets.

Thus, begins the tragedy and legend of Murder Ridge. More tomorrow.

Source: Coshocton Tribune June 5, 1954