Salem Man Arrested, Charged In 1971 Bedford Murder

BEDFORD, MA — Charges have been filed against a Salem man in connection to a 1971 slaying of a Bedford woman, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office said.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Police Chief Ken Fong in a news conference Tuesday said Arthur Massei, 76, of Salem was charged with first-degree murder in connection to the killing of Natalie Scheublin, 51, which happened more than 50 years ago in Bedford.

Raymond Scheublin, who died in 2011 at the age of 92, found Natalie Scheublin bound, gagged, beaten, and fatally stabbed in both sides of her neck in the basement of their home on Pine Hill Road on June 10, 1971. Natalie Scheublin was a mother of two. Police eliminated Raymond Scheublin as a suspect early in the investigation.

"It's bittersweet to call a family 50 years later," Ryan said. "Mr. Sheublin died never knowing what happened to his wife. We do not give up, it may take us 50 years, but we are always trying to move things forward."

Investigators said even though Natalie Scheublin's 1969 Chevy Impala had been wiped for fingerprints, a print was recovered years later and eventually linked to Massei, using what Ryan called modern fingerprinting technology with records from his previous arrest.

The fingerprint was first linked to Massei in 1999. When interviewed by police, Massei denied having ever been to Bedford or having any knowledge of the killing, authorities said.

Police interviewed Massei again, and he told investigators he was solicited by an organized crime associate to kill the wife of a banker and to make the slaying look like a break-in, authorities said. Massei told detectives he refused the request, and investigators found no corroborating evidence linking him to the killing.

But in 2019, Ryan refocused the case. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Massachusetts State Police troopers and Bedford police detectives examined the case, gathering information about the Massei's past in an effort to identify new witnesses.

A woman who told investigators she and Massei defrauded banks in the 1990s said Massei had bragged to her about once killing someone with a knife, Ryan added. This witness interview led to an indictment of Massei Tuesday by a Middlesex Grand Jury.

"I'm hopeful that the arrest in this case will provide some closure and sense of justice for Natalie Scheublin's family, as well as assurance to all in our community who were shocked by this brutal crime," Fong said. "I want to thank all the investigators whose determination and perseverance made this moment possible, from those who responded to the Scheublin’s home that day more than 50 years ago, to everyone along the way who has pursued leads and ultimately identified the suspect we arrested today."

Massei was also arrested by Salem police in 2012 and charged with possession of a class A substance.

Massei is scheduled to be arraigned in Woburn Superior Court on Wednesday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.