Mr. and Mrs. Joseph
"Jock" Yablonski are shown in early December 1969,
just before the Dec. 9 United Mine Workers election.
Ya-blonski was challenging W.A. "Tony" Boyle for
the presidency. Yablonski lost, but was contesting the
election when he, his wife and their daughter were murdered
on New Year's Eve as they slept in their Clarksville, Pa.,
farmhouse. Boyle denied any connection to the five thugs
charged with the murders. Then in March 1971, Boyle canceled
a trip to Charleston because he had been indicted for
embezzling union funds and making illegal political
contributions. Shortly after he was convicted on those
charges, Boyle was charged with paying the assassins $20,000
to execute Yablonski. He tried to kill himself. Eventually,
Boyle was convicted and sentenced to three life sentences.
He died in 1985 at the age of 83. (Photo from Charleston
Newspaper files)
