Richard Hough in 1980
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 28, 1989Born: 1914
Died: 1995
Married: Carol F. Merrill
Children: Richard A. Hough
Richard Hough served as Saranac Lake Village Trustee from 1978 to 1981. He served as town supervisor, justice of the peace, councilman and chairman of the board of assessors in the Town of Franklin. He was employed by the Alvin Doty Electric and the American Management Association.
He was arrested for attempted murder in 1989, pleading guilty in 1990.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 28, 1989
Ex-SL trustee charged with attempted murder
Police say he shot man walking with estranged wife
By JULIE STOWELL
SARANAC LAKE — One-time village trustee Richard Hough Sr. was in the Franklin County Jail today charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting another man with a rifle here Saturday night as the man walked with Hough's estranged wife.
Village police said Hough, 75, of 20 Church St., was arrested for shooting James F. Pelton, 56, of Hartford, Conn., about 11 p.m. Saturday.
Hough was ordered held without bail in the county jail and was awaiting psychiatric testing tday, police said.
According to the police report, Hough's estranged wife, Carol, 68, of 8 Sunset Road, was arriving home with Pelton around 11 p.m. when Hough, who had hidden in the bushes near the garage, leaped out and shot Pelton with a .30-.30 rifle, wounding him in the fleshy part of the lower left back.
Pelton fell to the ground while Carol Hough struggled with her husband, police said. Pelton, whose injuries were not serious, stood up and joined the struggle and the two ultimately over- powered Hough. A neighbor, Josephine DeFuria, called the police.
According to DeFuria, whose husband Lewis also joined in the struggle to hold Hough down, Hough had been stalking the house for weeks. She said she saw him at the house earlier Saturday. She characterized Hough as “extremely jealous.” In fact, DeFuria said, Hough told his wife before police arrived at the scene that he had planned to shoot her, Pelton and himself. According to DeFuria, as she and her son walked their dog around 10 p.m. they saw Hough off through the park across “I didn't think anything of it,” she said this morning.
That soon changed.
“I had just gone to bed when all of a sudden I heard this shot,” DeFuria continued. She sprang out of bed and saw her neighbor, Carol Hough, struggling with Richard Hough. “I heard Carol screaming,” she said. She said she saw Carol Hough grab the gun away from her husband and throw it in the bushes.
“I went out, and they were struggling,” DeFuria said. A passer-by had stopped to assist the woman, DeFuria said, and her husband tried to calm down Mr. Hough, telling him he had better be careful or he'd wind up in jail.
“He said he didn't care,” DeFuria said. In fact, she added, when the police arrived, “he walked up to them, held out his hands, and said “Here I am, take me away'.''
Police said the couple had been separated for nearly a year. DeFuria said Richard Hough has not lived at the Sunset Road home since last fall. “He was terribly jealous. He's a strange guy,” DeFuria remarked.
If Hough was jealous of Pelton, that would be strange, the neighbor said, since Pelton had been a family friend for a number of years. “He was a friend of Richard's too,” DeFuria stated.
This alleged jealousy extended beyond his estranged wife to his neighbors, DeFuria said. When a former neighbor got remarried — something Hough is said to have tried to talk her out of — he would no longer speak to her, she said.
The neighbor painted a picture of a marriage that was on the rocks before the couple separated. “She (Carol) only stayed because of the children and grandchildren,” DeFuria said. “They hadn't talked to each other in a long time, that's how bad it was.”
Once Hough had moved out, DeFuria said Carol Hough was afraid he would come back. The woman knew Hough watched the house, she added.
Although Hough is now in custody, DeFuria said the neighborhood is still somewhat concerned. “If he gets out he’ll just try it again,” she maintained. Her son, who had known Hough since moving into the neighborhood, is terrified she added.
Police said Richard Hough was treated for cuts and scrapes at the General Hospital of Saranac Lake. He appeared before Village Justice Deborah Charland, who ordered the psychological testing. No bail was set.
Police Chief Donald Fina said today that psychological testing is a fairly common procedure in incidents such as this. The police investigation into the incident is continuing, with assistance from the state police, Fina said.
The next step is a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to warrant holding Hough for the grand jury, Fina explained. A defendant can always waive a preliminary hearing and let the case go directly to the grand jury.
According to Daily Enterprise files, Hough, a native of Saranac Lake, has served as town supervisor, justice of the peace, councilman and chairman of the board of assessors in the Town of Franklin. He was employed by the Alvin Doty Electric Co. and the American Management Association and at the time he ran for village board in 1978 he was listed as semi-retired. He sought re-election in 1982.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, October 18, 1996
Richard A. Hough Sr.
SARANAC LAKE - Richard A. Hough, Sr., 82,. of 50 Mill St., Malone, and previously of Saranac Lake, died Thursday, Oct. 17, 1996 at Alice Hyde Hospital in Malone.
Born June 5, 1914 in, Saranac Lake, he was the son of Frank and Lillian (Hugg) Hough.
Mr. Hough had been a lifelong resident of the area before moving to Malone 3 1/2 years ago. An electrician's assistant by trade, he worked for Alvin Doty Electric Co. After retirement he worked in the Green Thumb Program. During his life he held numerous public offices in Vermontville and Saranac Lake. He was in the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1934 to 1936. He was an avid fisherman and hunter.
He married the former Carol F. Merrill on May 23, 1937.
Survivors include a son, Richard A. Hough Jr.; two daughters, Mrs. Robert (Anita) Gowan and Mrs. William (Ginger) Dora, all of Saranac Lake; a brother, Kenneth Hough of Phoenix, Ariz.; 10 grand- children; and several great-grand-children, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a sister, Bernice Clifford.
Calling hours will be held today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home with pastor Robert Clark of the Vermontville Nazarene Church officiating and the Rev. Theressa Hough assisting. Cremation will follow with interment in Pine Ridge Cemetery in Saranac Lake with his biological father, George W. Marvin.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Saranac Lake or Malone adult centers in care of the funeral home, 40 Church St., Saranac Lake NY, 12983.
