Today is the 42nd anniversary of an unsolved murder in Monroe County. The Delaware Water Gap man was killed with an axe at his bar. Police along with his family are seeking the public’s help to finally solve this cold case.
Victim's Daughter Jessica Joubert says, "He was an innovative thinker and he really cared about people."
Jessica Joubert has fond memories of her father. But they were cut short when she was just 14-years-old.
Joubert says, "He crawled in my window, kissed me on my forehead. I never thought that I was never going to see him again when I left home for Thanksgiving holiday."
ON NOVEMBER 28TH OF 1981– EDWARD JOUBERT WHOM EVERYONE CALLED EDDIE WAS DISCOVERED BRUTALLY MURDERED.
Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Investigator Trooper Brian Noll says, "He had been stabbed multiple times with an object we believe to be either an axe or a hatchet."
Police say it happened at the Bottom of the Fox in Delaware Water Gap when the 46-year-old walked out of the crowded bar he owned around 5pm to retrieve firewood. Eddie was found dead later that night right behind a tree with a stay out sign posted on it.
Noll says, "There was evidence that was recovered from the scene there, nothing that proved positive as far as any suspects."
In the days leading up, Jessica was living above the bar with her father since her parents were divorced and says he wasn’t acting like himself.
Joubert says, "I remember him being up very late at night, not sleeping, seeming very bothered and just on edge."
Today she along with her family are still searching for answers. Jessica tells us it keeps her from going to Delaware Water Gap’s Jazz Festival: “Celebration of the Arts” which her dad co-founded.
Joubert says, "Years ago I’ve gone and I had to leave, maybe not knowing if my father’s killer was there, if it’s someone I know."
The Bottom of the Fox is now the Sycamore Grill in Delaware Water Gap. While much has changed over the past 42 years, the community really hasn’t and police are hoping someone finally comes forward.
Noll says, "I find it difficult to believe that in a bar full of people and like I said, in kind of a small community, that there isn’t someone out there with information."
Police reopen the cold case file each year around the anniversary looking for anything they may have missed and reevaluating evidence as technology advances.
Joubert says, "It just changed my life forever, along with all of us so if anybody knows anything, I just wish somebody could speak up."
There is a five thousand dollar reward being offered for any information that leads to solving this decades old homicide in Delaware Water Gap. Just call Pennsylvania State Police Stroudsburg Barracks or Crime Stoppers.
