In 1935, six Blumenthals were killed by a drunk driver in a car crash, and thus the curse of the Blumenthals, a Providence-based Eastern European Jewish family, was born.
The curse returned one night in 1954 when Ronnie Blumenthal was arrested for murder. But even after publishing “Curse of the Blumenthals,” New York Times bestselling author and Blumenthal cousin Phyllis Karas is still trying to figure out if Ronnie really was the one who committed murder, she said in a live discussion with SPJ New England.
After immigrating to the U.S. at the end of the 19th century, the Blumenthals became bootleggers — the family’s first bout with crime. Once Prohibition was repealed, Barney Blumenthal opened a liquor store in Boston.
On May 14 1935, a man with the last name Killeroy fatally struck six Blumenthals, including three children aged 6, 10, and 12. Horrific photos of the accident ran in newspapers across the country and the family struggled to cope with the losses until five months later when Ronnie Blumenthal — called a phoenix rising from the ashes — was born, along with newfound hope for the family.
Over the next two decades, the Blumenthal family rebuilt their reputation, placing the memory of the accident in the past.
But then, on July 17, 1954, Ronnie allegedly murdered his mother’s seamstress, Ora Schonarth, who was allegedly having an affair with his father.
Although Karas’ mother said Schonarth fell on an iron, her legs were first tied together with a piece of cloth and she was repeatedly beaten with a rolling pin wrapped in wax paper until her head “was positively destroyed,” Karas said. Then, she was stabbed in the heart with a kitchen knife.
Ronnie allegedly went to a friend’s house after the murder and said, “You’ll never believe what I just did” before describing the details of the murder.
Although he confessed to the murder and pleaded guilty, Karas said Ronnie was known to lie and told others he didn’t kill anyone. Years after his release, Ronnie even told his son that he “took the wrap for grandpa.”
“Ronnie allegedly committed a horrific crime, but the Blumenthals were not turning their backs on him,” Karas said. “We visited him all the time for” the 13 years he was incarcerated, but never discussed his prison experience or the murder.
After his release, Ronnie married twice and had a son, but lost the loyalty of his family. “He drank too much. He drove too fast. He borrowed too much money,” Karas said.
When he died in 2012, none of the Blumenthals contributed to his funeral and he was buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave.
Despite the fact that the Blumenthal’s no longer spoke to Ronnie, the family was very supportive of Karas writing the book about their family. Her 15 cousins shared what they remembered of the accident and the murder. When reading the book, Karas’ family members “found things they didn’t even realize … were in their memories,” she said.
Throughout the research and writing process, Karas was left with more questions than answers. She even visited two psychics to see if they could tell her whether or not Ronnie did it.
Karas plans to keep digging for that answer to share in forthcoming articles and, possibly, another book.
