Man Repeatedly Vandalizes Childhood Friend’s Tombstone over 56-year-Old Grudge – IOTW Report

Man Repeatedly Vandalizes Childhood Friend’s Tombstone over 56-year-Old Grudge

OC: They say time heals or wounds, but that’s definitely not true. Just ask Paul E. Donovan Jr., who admitted to repeatedly vandalizing the tombstone of a childhood friend against whom he had been holding a grudge for over five decades.

69-year-old Donovan, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of institutional vandalism of a cemetery, last week. He had been arrested and charged with theft and vandalism in November 2015, after police identified him as the perpetrator of “at least four” acts of vandalism against a single tombstone in the Saint Matthews Cemetery in Whitemarsh.

old grudge jerk

The investigation in this truly bizarre case began in march of 2014, when a woman reported that her father’s tombstone had the name “John” written over it in orange spray paint, according to the criminal complaint. On April 29, 2014, the same tombstone was vandalized again with the same name in the same color spray paint, the woman told Whitemarsh police. Then, in December, a third complaint revealed that someone had poured a “tar-like substance” over the tombstone, which prompted police to set up hidden cameras to catch the vandal in the act.  more

17 Comments on Man Repeatedly Vandalizes Childhood Friend’s Tombstone over 56-year-Old Grudge

  1. “The suspect claims that 56 years ago when the deceased was 10 and this subject was 12, he claims that the [deceased] stole money from him and 56 years later he was getting back at him,” Lieutenant Christopher Ward told NBC 10. “So for 56 years he lived with this grudge.”

    What a moron, he never got his money back, and paid a hefty fine on top of it 56 years later. Who got the revenge? LOL!

  2. Like God, forgive those who trespass against you.

    My last sibling died July 2. She did not have good relations with her two children. Her son is lost to us in the family and society in general, her daughter is an exemplary person, Mom, Grandma.

    The executor of my sister’s will asked me to deliver a letter written long enough ago for the envelope to have been affected by light, like it was left in a window or something.

    Her roommate said he had seen the letter when it was written and asked me not to deliver it. There was no point, he said. I didn’t give it to her. It was just a punch from the grave over being right about her anger over a long-ago argument with no love, compassion or forgiveness in it.

    I couldn’t believe my sister went to the grave with hate in her heart and wanted to hurt her daughter even after death. While it was never directed at me, I was frequently trying to talk her out of hateful things and away from the edges of self destruction.

    Let it go, people. If God can forgive everything about you, you can be humble and forgive others too. Love is what matters. Not being right.

  3. So, let me get this straight, Dude got drunk, remembered some adolescent sleight and how he failed to properly deal with it, then took his revenge on the only representative he could find. A friggen tombstone…?

    Sounds like a Snowflake Justice Warrior to me.

  4. The only person whose grave I might even be tempted to – um, “vandalize” – upon would be Jane Fonda’s.

    But even then I wouldn’t do it, because ever since I was in the Army I’ve hated standing in long lines.

    😉

  5. Had disagreement and argument with an individual 30 years older than myself who worked for me. He had mentioned that if he were younger he would kick my ass. I coolly mentioned that if he were younger he would be in the hospital. I forget the exact name he called me, but I told him I’d be around to piss on his grave.
    A few years later, Good ol’ Charlie got the last laugh and word in, when he died he was cremated and sat on his wife’s fire place mantle.
    Carrying disagreements, bitterness or a grudge hurts no one but yourself.

  6. @cato: A couple of questions: Do you ever go over to pay your respects to Charlie’s widow? If so, does she ever leave the room for a few minutes?

    They say sometimes it’s never too late to make a dream come true…

    😝

  7. @Dad0f4: You are absolutely correct – and if God can forgive everything about you, He has no need for Hell. That’s why a lot of people believe that only Man has enough hate in his heart to imagine such a place.

    P.S. – My condolences to you on the loss of your sister. You did the right thing with the letter – to have delivered it would have made you an accomplice in a wrongful act.

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