Thursday, December 23, 2010

Onetime Tompkins Square Park crusty found murdered in Virginia


[Photo by Steven Hirsch, reprinted with permission]

The Local East Village brings word that Robert Edwards Dyck — known as Yardsale around the Park — was found murdered last month in Virginia.

Per the Richmond Times-Dispatch from Nov. 23:

The beating death of a homeless man whose body was discovered last week near a Henrico County railyard ended his companion's dreams of a happy life together.

Robert Edwards Dyck, 37, and Lucille Obarzanek, a 28-year-old University of Vermont graduate, were hopping freight trains south from Pennsylvania to New Orleans when Dyck turned up missing and then dead, the victim of blunt-force injuries to his head and chest.

"We were going to try to make a go of it. To get to Louisiana and find work and raise a family," Obarzanek said yesterday.

Dyck and Obarzanek had been in the Richmond area for about three weeks, she said, living in a shantytown near the Acca Yard that the train-jumpers call Valhalla.

But sharing a tarp roof, a fire pit, and a pine-tree-studded junkyard of garbage and empty beer and wine bottles, Obarzanek said, were two men who carried ominous nicknames, "Satan" and "Roofless."

The two men — Samuel E. Gase, 32, aka Satan, and Brandon Thomas Geissler, 21, aka Roofless — appeared in Henrico General District Court yesterday and are being held without bond. Both are charged with voluntary manslaughter in Dyck's death.


As Yardsdale told Steven Hirsch's Crustypunks blog:

I'll probably die of alcoholism. I only drink beer, but I don't know. I'm not going to guarantee my demise. Sometimes I don't feel so right here. Thirty seven. Yeah it's hard core man. No I'm just getting started. The guy that give me my name is like in his sixties and he's got a freight train tattooed on his forehead. I'm just getting started. I ride the sunset. This is my first time in New York but I mainly ride the sunset which is LA to New Orleans.


Visit Crustypunks here.

21 comments:

  1. That's terrible to hear. Rest in peace.

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  2. so sad. condolences and best wishes to lucille obarzanek.

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  3. Sad, and even sadder at this time of year. I hope Lucille gets some help and support to get her through this.

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  4. Glad they caught who did it. Sadly most of the wandering tribes of humans live and die in annon. He had a goal and a dream and was going for it and two idiots robbed he and his love of it. Hope they like their new iron barred "home".

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  5. May u find that perfect ride

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  6. " on a freight train leavin town not knowin where I was bound .... May the Four winds blow u home ...

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  7. Its sad, but honestly yardsale would ask for it. He would cause a lot of trouble, do stupid shit to annoy people, alot of people wanted to go after him from what I remember a couple months ago. Still rest in peace. More information on this can be found here in this article : http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/nov/23/acca23-ar-671139/

    Satan wasn't really a bad person either, but im sure Yardsale drove him to far. You can see this piece about Satan on this blog
    http://crustypunks.blogspot.com/2010/07/sorry-about-your-bad-luck-bing-bing.html

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  8. ya i kn we all get out of hand when we drink my roaddogs take my knifes and smiley whenever i drink wiskey i was suposed 2 meet up with satin and yardsale in new orlans but my crew had a huge fight and we went our seprate ways i wish i could have seen him 1 last time i would have gone alone if if i could turn back time ya kn im hopin out 2morow and i just dank a pint of old tompson 4 yardsale R.I.P man i will never be able 2 beat u in a drinking contest u will 4ever be able 2 out drink me
    R.I.P

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  9. For as little as i knew him he sure was a crazy bastard, guess 2010 claimed another. RIP
    and the Fuckin bastards that killed him can get sodomized to death in prison.

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  10. whats not a well known fact is that yardsale was beating lucille which is what led up to this. its sad that he was killed during the intervention but it was only meant to stop the violence against lucille.

    FREE SATAN!

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  11. Yardsale was my older brother... and while he may have gotten crazy while drunk (big surprise!), he did not deserve to be beaten to death. I saw his body...his knuckles were cleaner than mine, meaning they suckered him... probably to pinch Lucille from him. The statements that he beat her are completely unfounded (she has no recollection of violence by Yardsale against her), and were heresay of the two suspects that killed him! Please don't comment on things you know nothing about. I know Rob could be violent... we beat on each other our whole lives! I also have the distinct feeling that "satan and roofless" were not playing the role of chivalrous knights in the rescue of a damsel in distress. May those punks rot in a cage, and Robert "Yardsale" Edward Dyck finally rest in peace...

    Love always,

    Matthew A. Dyck

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    1. I agree Matt. I have seen Rob get pretty fucking crazy but I doubt he was doing all that to be beat to death.Rob was a fantastic person who loved to have fun.I have many memories that i will never forget.Rob taught me things on a
      skateboard that were epic.plus he taught me how to frame houses wich is paying the bills to this day.Thank you Rob.you and your brothers are some of the raddest people ive ever met.that sucks your gone.i had a great time while you were here.much love and respect R.I.P. Those guys will get what they deserve.

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  12. I went to college in Laramie WY with Rob. He was my roommate for 2 years. Rob loved to party, and gave off a persona of tough guy, but deep down inside he was a great man who was just out to find himself. Rob came from a very loving family. We would get a great kick when his mom would call and ask to speak with her Robbie. Many of us have wondered what happened to Rob. To the family, I am very sorry for your loss. Go pokes

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  13. I've seen Yardsale hit people for no reason, and I've seen Satan tell someone 6 times to get out of his face in a confrontation before and not hit them. I've seen Yardsale hit a 17 year old girl over a beer, closed fist, with no warning. I don't think in his heart Yardsale was a BAD person, but alcohol made him so. Satan does not deserve to Rot. FREE SATAN!!!!

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  14. They didn't sucker him. Yard sale kept coming back. They kicked him out of camp, he left, came back hitting Satan over the head with a bottle, then they chased him out, still not hitting him, then he came back and they hit him once, yard sale picked up a chain they took the chain from him (the entire time Lucy is telling Yard sale just to leave, and so forth. Yard sale suckered Satan.

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  15. its fucking bullshit, they where all fucking hammered, and lucy pissed yardsale off, he drunkenly kinda pushed her out of the way, and satan (the drunken asshole he is) overreacted, but fuuck dude, beat him to death? and for fucking roofles to chim in. iv been in fights with satan before, one on one you'll just beat the crap out of each other til one or both of you pass out. but fuck. what ever happened to DRINK FUCK AND FIGHT! i thought you where supposed to be able to get in a fight with your friends and wake up the next morning and drink the shakes away together. fuck satan dude, he just gets in fights with good kids for no reason. Yardsale is one of the most well respected and most loved, dirtbags still riding the rails. hes a good dude; helped allot of kids, me included.

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  16. What the article failed to say is that Yardsale was beating on her and that is why they stepped up.Yardsale then went and passed out somewhere and when he woke up came back looking for more and they gave it to him.That is when he was put into the VW bus. But he was still alive.I am sure from the beating(obviously) and the alcohol he just never woke up again.Like it is said before the man would ask for it.No excuse to kill someone but they never intended to KILL anyone.You think that maybe that is why society trys to teach us NOT to fight because someone could get seriously hurt?Makes sense to me.Brandon,who I know very well,would never intentionally KILL anyone or anything!

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  17. Does anyone know how to get in touch with Lucy? We were friends in college, but lost touch when she moved to NYC. Some other friends are trying to find her to give her some important info as well.

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  18. RIP Yardsale. I just found out about this. So sorry for everyone's loss. Enjoyed serving you in Austin on occasion.

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