On a cold December afternoon in 1975, a mother, two daughters, and a son were found shot to death in their large, suburban home in Teaneck, New Jersey. They were discovered by father and husband Wesley Diggs, an entrepreneur who owned bars and restaurants in Harlem, NY. He immediately became a suspect in the case, yet was cleared only a few weeks after the tragedy occurred. The police had ruled out robbery as a motive and said there were no signs of forced entry into the home.
A lengthy probe by The Amsterdam News revealed that a local police chief and county prosecutor had treated the case as if they were dealing with a pickpocket. After many years, detectives were still unable to secure even one arrest.
A source close to the investigation also told the newspaper that the Bergen County, N.J. Prosecutor’s Office had mounted a search for an informer, who had promised to furnish them with clues to the killers, but disappeared soon after being paid a large sum for his “cooperation”. With revenge remaining as the only possible motive (including the possibility of reprisals from impatient loan sharks), detectives began “stepping up” their inquiries with friends, extended family, and business associates of Wesley Diggs - yet when Diggs suddenly died on a public street from a heart attack in 1987, police were no closer to solving what had been a disturbing, and very senseless crime.
