Sammy White's Brighton Bowl

Sammy White's Brighton Bowl, or simply Sammy White's, was a bowling alley in the Brighton section of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after and owned by famed Red Sox catcher, Sammy White and featured lanes of both standard Ten-Pin and Candlepin bowling, the latter being the more popular style in New England. The bowling alley is most remembered for an infamous quadruple murder that occurred there in 1980. Sammy White's closed its doors in 1985.

Sammy White also owned the Alpine Lanes, a ten-pin establishment, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

The murders

On the night of September 22, 1980, during a robbery that resulted in the theft of $4,800, four employees were brutally bludgeoned and shot execution style. Found at the scene was a bloody bowling pin determined to be the weapon used to bludgeon the victims. [Globe Staff. News, Boston Globe, May 17, 1981.] Three died at the scene, and the fourth perished the following day. The robbery and the murders were not discovered until the next morning when an employee came in and discovered the open safe and contacted the police. [Crocket, Douglas S. and Linscott, Seymour R. "4 Bound, Executed at Brighton Bowl", Boston Globe, September 22, 1980.]

After an investigation, police arrested cab driver Bryan A. Dyer of Somerville. Dyer had worked at Sammy White's in 1973. During the trial, witnesses testified that in the days following the murders Dyer had paid off an overdue car loan as well as prepaid three months rent at the YMCA where he had been living. [Associated Press. "Mass. High Court Upholds 2 Murder Convictions", Boston Globe, July 13, 1983.] Dyer was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for all four murders.

The bowling alley murders brought new attention to the question of Capital Punishment in Massachusetts. [Flanagan, Newman. Editorial, Boston Globe, October 31, 1982.] In 1982, a ballot referendum legalizing the death penalty in Massachusetts passed and was signed into law by the outgoing governor, Edward J. King. [Blake, Andrew. "Death Penalty Now Law", Boston Globe, December 23, 1985.] In 1984, the law was struck down by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court as unconstitutional. [Harvey, Joseph M. "Mass. Death Penalty Ruled Illegal", Boston Globe, October 19, 1984.]

Popular culture

Filmmaker Eli Roth has stated that the Sammy White's murders were the inspiration for the gruesome campfire story described in the film Cabin Fever. [The Movie Chicks. [http://www.themoviechicks.com/summer2003/mctcabinfever.html Interview with Eli Roth] , August 28, 2003.]

Sammy White's Brighton Bowl was the taping location for WHDH/WCVB Channel 5's "Candlepin Bowling" (1958-1985), "Winning Pins", and "Candlepin Superbowl" television sport shows.

References