Jack Blake

Jack Blake was the first victim of notorious serial killer Arthur Shawcross. Jack had been a member of the first group of fifth graders to enter Wiley School, and he would have been a member of WHS class of 1979. When his class went on a picnic to Thompson Park that spring, Jack showed amazing leadership potential, uniting all of his classmates in singing.

After killing Jack Blake in the spring of 1972, Shawcross then went on to kill a young girl from Rochester who was visiting Watertown. Ironically, when Shawcross was released on parole from prison for these killings, he took up residence in Rochester where he began killing prostitutes and indigent women.

The District Attorneys in charge of the case were Bill McCluskey (father of Leo McCluskey), and Hugh Gilbert (whose wife was Holly Gilbert). [See a strange coincidence between McCluskey and Gilbert at this reference]

Also See
Notorious Jefferson COunty Crime