It was the summer of 1979, and the Ascot Drive-In north of Akron was a popular hangout for area teens. Dates snuggled in their cars. Friends stood outside their rides catching up with classmates. It's doubtful many were paying attention to the screen that Friday evening of Aug. 24, even if "The Amityville Horror" was one of the season's biggest hits. Ricky Beard had no expectation of seeing the end of the movie anyway. The 19-year-old had graduated from North High School three months earlier, but his date, Mary Leonard, was the 17-year-old daughter of an Italian-Catholic family with a strict midnight curfew...
