Robert Ivan Nichols, aka Joseph Newton Chandler III, aka John Doe

http://moviepilot.com/posts/2878400

I hope one day that someone will come forward and identify this man so proper research can be done on his background. A guy who takes over the identity of a dead child and relocates to the middle of nowhere, well, there's a good chance he is hiding from something. I kinda have the feeling that he was some sort of mob figure who had to go into hiding.



https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/2jikop/joseph_newton_chandler_was_a_sexual_deviant_new/

This will sound ridiculous, but...
I was researching some Merchant Marines (trying to figure out who Robert Tarbox's suspect could have possibly been), and I came across the name of Richard Calvin Zaleski. A relative of his had posted online that his family was trying to find information on his disappearance of 1963. They are hopeful he is still alive... He was born Nov. 22, 1925 (in Allegheny, Pennsylvania) and disappeared Feb. 24, 1963 after signing off of the SS Gaines Mill at Martinez, CA. I found somewhere that he had family in Texas that he would sometimes visit before he disappeared, but this is everything I know about the guy.


"Philadelphia, PA: Chandler's mother, Ellen Kaaber, was originally from Morton, PA (near Philadelphia). Authorities believe this man knew the Chandler family, possibly from living near them at the time of the original JNChandler's death in 1945."

Allegheny (where I believe Zaleski was born) is on the opposite side of Pennsylvania than Philadelphia. Zaleski grew up in Altoona, PA. Not sure how he could have known the Chandler family, but still worth looking into.


"Dallas, TX: At the time of the real Joseph Newton Chandler's death in 1945, the boy's family was living in Weatherford." I also read that they were living in Tulsa, OK, so I'm not sure which is accurate. The family died in Dec. 1945 in a car wreck in Sherman, TX. Zaleski lived in TX in 1955, but I'm not sure where in Texas or for how long.

I can't find all the links I found when I originally came across Zaleski's name in my research, but I'm almost positive I had read that he often visited some relatives in Texas. I could be wrong, and even if I am correct, I have no idea what area in Texas he would have visited. It's a pretty damn big state.


Again, just an idea but probably way off base. If anyone would like to do some digging on Zaleski, please, be my guest. I have found very very little. Maybe he did become Joseph Chandler, but I highly doubt it.

Confirmed that Richard does have family in the Dallas/Ft Worth area, but I'm not sure if they lived there way back then.

Richard's parents were Stephen and Mathelde (Campbell) Zalenski. He also had a brother named Irvin Zaleski (Born 1919. Died Dec. 11, 1980. He joined the Marines in 1944 and was married to Josephine Carmela Parziale.) and a sister named Lida Bernice "Lyda" Zaleski Koshorek. Just found an older photo of Richard's sister (probably early 80's), and she has some Z-like facial features.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=98699714


Richard's mother:


Seagull found out her DOD and a death certificate!


Just noticed in Mathelde's obit is says son Richard OF TEXAS!! That might end up being huge!! Now to find out where in Texas and how long he lived there.

Remember the 8 year old Joseph Chandler dies in 1945 in the Dallas area. I'm pretty sure Zaleski was either still living in PA at the time or may have been in the Navy. I haven't confirmed that he was in the Navy, but I believe he was and then was a merchant marine later on. I believe the Chandler family was living in Tulsa, OK in 1945 when Joseph was killed. I have to do some more digging on that, but an article I saw said that the John Doe who stole Chandler's identity probably had tied to Dallas/Fort Wroth as well as Pennsylvania, although the real Joseph Chandler was born in New York.


June 18, 1945 Altoona Tribune:

Three Children Bitten by Dogs.... Lyda Zaleski (Richard's sister), 13, of 2026 Thirteenth Ave, was bitten by a dog on the right side of her chest.


Irvin and his son, Thomas, were known to be pretty good in archery and hunting. Irvin had another soon, Irvin Jr., who went by the name of Skip, and a daughter named JoAnne.

I can find nothing on Richard Zaleski that is not posted already.


1992 pic of Chandler at a costume party


At the time of his death he was estimated at 5'7" and 160 lbs. It's believed his hair was a medium to dark brown when he was younger.

Rocketman wrote:I can find nothing on Richard Zaleski that is not posted already.

I spent hours looking and found nothing, but Seagull found him in a yearbook. Give me a sec and I will post it.....

http://zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=98&t=2943



He is the second one from the right. 1942 Altoona, PA High School yearbook. He would have been 17. Thanks, Seagull!!


NOTE: I had posted some other info on Richard C. Zaleski, but some of it did not really pertain to the possibility of him being Joseph Chandler, a possibility that I think is rather slim. Registered members can go to the "secret suspect" section of the forum and go to the "Merchant Marines" thread to see a little more info on Zaleski. I'm interested in him maybe being the guy who had met with Robert Tarbox... the Joseph Chandler stuff is probably ridiculous as I have mentioned before. But why not look into it and see what happens?

From that reedit link Ophion posted.

"I've been fascinated by the case of Joseph Newton Chandler for many years, first covering the story for the Free Times. For those just checking in, Chandler was the stolen identity used by an as-yet-unknown man who committed suicide in Eastlake, Ohio in 2002, leaving $82,000 behind. It served as the inspiration for the opening of my novel, The Man from Primrose Lane, in 2012.

There has been a lot of interest lately, due in part to a Reddit post that suggested Chandler may have been Zodiac.

Well, I still live in NE Ohio. So I wore out some shoe leather this week to get some new info to share with you guys before anyone else. I met with US Marshal Peter Elliott and spoke to some of Chandlers few associates. I also tracked down copies of Chandlers medical records. What they revealed changes the nature of this case, completely.

First, on February 4, 1989, the man who called himself Joseph Newton Chandler arrived at a local hospital with severe lacerations to his penis. The story he told the two doctors there was that he cut himself while attempting to masturbate with a vacuum cleaner. A doctor's note says that he appeared older than his stated age.

The coroner who examined his body after the suicide made a note that Chandler had male pattern baldness and authorities now believe the hair seen in the photographs was a wig.

They have his DNA profile but they do not have fingerprints. Try as they might, it seems this guy was very careful about leaving prints around.

When asked for an emergency contact, he always used the name Mary Wilson but the address he provided for her was bogus.

The gun he used to kill himself was purchased a couple weeks before his suicide, in Lake County, Ohio, not in Texas as was previously reported.

For reasons unknown, he requested copies of Chandler's birth certificate in February 2000.

I was able to take photographs of several items found in this man's apartment after his suicide. These new photos include documents as well as weird gadgets he created for purposes unknown and a strange child's Peanuts sticker from 1965. Also seen is a camera lens from a Japanese company, Asanuma, which has gone out of business. And a hobby tool nobody has yet identified.

Investigators believe the key to finding Chandler's true identity lies somewhere in the other cities he may have visited before coming to Ohio:

Buffalo, NY: This is where the real Joseph Newton Chandler was born and where his birth certificate was kept.

Orange County, CA: According to his work history, which may or may not be accurate, this man worked as an engineer in Fullerton from 1966 - 1971.

Columbus, OH: His emergency contact, Mary Wilson, was noted to live in Columbus, even though the address was fake. Some of his personal effects trace back to Columbus as well.

Philadelphia, PA: Chandler's mother, Ellen Kaaber, was originally from Morton, PA. Authorities believe this man knew the Chandler family, possibly from living near them at the time of the original JNChandler's death in 1945.

Rapid City, South Dakota: this is where Joseph Newton Chandler's birth certificate was mailed to, in 1978.

Dallas, TX: At the time of the real Joseph Newton Chandler's death in 1945, the boy's family was living in Weatherford."

Age regression to 1978

The Zaleski fella being born in 1925 may be a concern as it would make him too old to be 'Chandler' but the hospital did say that he seemed older than the age he claimed that he was. Can somebody reach out to Zaleski's family to see if they have pictures of him or if they would be willing to look at pictures of 'Chandler' to see if they have any similarities?

JohnFester wrote:The Zaleski fella being born in 1925 may be a concern as it would make him too old to be 'Chandler' but the hospital did say that he seemed older than the age he claimed that he was. Can somebody reach out to Zaleski's family to see if they have pictures of him or if they would be willing to look at pictures of 'Chandler' to see if they have any similarities?

I think Zaleski being "Chandler" is a very long shot. Zaleski's family never saw or heard from him after his disappearance so what are the options... 1. He died and somehow his body was never found or if it was found, it could not be identified. Being in the merchant marines, he probably had at least a couple forms of identification on him. 2. He lived the rest of his life under a different name, for whatever reason.

I have tried to reach out to Zaleski's great-niece (?), the one who posted that her grandmother, Richard's sister, was trying to find out if he was still alive or not. I never got a response, but the phone number I texted may not have been her number since this was I think 5+ years since she posted it, or it may be a landline. I guess I should track that number down again and try calling. I also tried to email this woman and did not get a reply.

Zaleski in 1942, age 17:


It is the only photo found thus far. Not much to work with, but better than nothing.

Put yourself in the position that this guy was in..... If you banged a vacuum and were injured and had to go to the hospital, you could probably come up with a less embarrassing story to give, right? So maybe his vacuum story is something less embarrassing than what really happened. Just a thought. I don't think I would tell the truth if I had injuries from getting it on with a vacuum.

A while back I was looking at Clarence Anglin as possibly being Chandler, but never really found anything worth posting. I don't remember how or why I even started looking into this possibility. I looked at John Anglin as well, but nothing came of it.

The Anglin brothers, along with Frank Morris, were the three men who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962, but I'm sure most people who would be on a website like this already knew that.

Frank Morris is an angle I had never even fathomed before, but very interesting thought. I don't think he has even a slight resemblance but the Anglin brothers may bear a slight resemblance.



-Matthew

Matthew Mayer wrote:Frank Morris is an angle I had never even fathomed before, but very interesting thought. I don't think he has even a slight resemblance but the Anglin brothers may bear a slight resemblance.



-Matthew

I agree. Morris looks nothing like Chandler. I don't see it in the Anglin bros either but it is possible with them.

I think that the Zaleski guy being Chandler is beyond a long shot but hey why not check it out more

any chance Troy Haughton could be this guy?

Eric X wrote:any chance Troy Haughton could be this guy?

Doubtful. I'm almost positive that Houghton was murdered in 1967.

Pinpointing the identity is going to be impossible unless more is learned about this fellow. No offense but saying that Richard Zaleski is this guy well that is very far fetched and there is nothing to back that claim.

Dunderhead99 wrote:Pinpointing the identity is going to be impossible unless more is learned about this fellow. No offense but saying that Richard Zaleski is this guy well that is very far fetched and there is nothing to back that claim.

I never claimed he was the same guy. Just an idea I threw out there.

Dunderhead99 wrote:Pinpointing the identity is going to be impossible unless more is learned about this fellow. No offense but saying that Richard Zaleski is this guy well that is very far fetched and there is nothing to back that claim.

I agree it is not probable but we won't know until it can be proven one way or the other.

Muttley wrote:

Dunderhead99 wrote:Pinpointing the identity is going to be impossible unless more is learned about this fellow. No offense but saying that Richard Zaleski is this guy well that is very far fetched and there is nothing to back that claim.

I agree it is not probable but we won't know until it can be proven one way or the other.

True dat. Not many names have been thrown out there, and the ones that have... well, there is nothing to go on as far as linking them to Chandler. There is nothing to link Zaleski to Chandler either really, but it's something I kinda have a gut feeling about.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/investigators-innovate-for-cold-case-break/372018106

I'm not sure what this is exactly because it won't load.

I did find some papers on another site but not too sure who to give credit to for obtaining these...

Something new posted on reddit yesterday.....

https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/5iuhtz/break_dna_gives_joseph_newton_chandler_a_last_name/

"In 2002, an old man committed suicide in Eastlake, Ohio, leaving behind $82,000 in his bank account. Calling himself Joseph Newton Chandler III, he'd worked as an engineer, but mostly kept to himself, making little gadgets in his small apartment. When authorities attempted to contact next of kin, based on his birth certificate, they learned that he was not Joseph Newton Chandler - who died as a boy in Texas, in 1945.

Since 2002, authorities have been trying to figure out who this man was and why he had been living under a fake name for 25 years.

Just yesterday, the US Marshals announced that they tested Y-chromosome genetic information from the deceased man and now believe that the last name of his biological father was "Nicholas" or "Nichols."

Is that name linked to any famous missing persons cases? It seems this man acquired his fake name around 1978."