Dorchester activist is fatally stabbed

John Beresford got an urgent call yesterday from a friend who said muggers had snatched a companion's purse. He ran out of his Dorchester house to nearby Ronan Park to help and confronted two young men believed to be the muggers. But his courageous act put the 40-year-old neighborhood activist face to face with an attacker who plunged a knife into his chest.

Beresford was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Boston Medical Center, the city's 20th homicide this year. The slaying stunned neighbors near the park, a wide, grassy perch with sweeping views of Boston Harbor, which for years has been plagued by violence and drug dealers.

Beresford's relatives could not be reached last night, but friends, neighbors, and local officials described him as an affable Mount Ida Road homeowner who gave time to tending to Ronan Park.

''John was a really good person who died trying to help somebody," said Bernie Provencal, 40, of Lexington, who was at the victim's home last night and described himself as one of Beresford's best friends. ''He was probably one of the nicest people you'll ever meet."

He said Beresford worked as a massage therapist and was an accomplished singer. He also served as an alternate Santa Claus for the city of Boston, using sign language skills to communicate with deaf children during the holidays.

Beresford was supposed to meet Mayor Thomas M. Menino at the park today. The mayor had planned to view efforts to trim trees and clear brush in the area. He described Beresford as a well-known community activist.

''That's outrageous what happened to that young man," Menino said in a telephone interview. ''My heart goes out to his family. This individual has been very active in that Ronan Park area."

Police had not made any arrests late last night, but they were looking for two young black men, one about 17 years old, about 5-foot-4 in height, 140 pounds, wearing a blue hooded jacket and blue jeans. They described the other suspect as about 23 years old, 5-foot-9, 140 pounds, wearing a black hood.

The slaying occurred shortly before 6:30 p.m., after the muggers approached Beresford's friend, Adam Greenfield, and a companion, an unidentified 58-year-old woman, near the bottom of the sloping park, near Adams Street, police said. The friends had been walking up a path in the park from the Fields Corner MBTA station when they were accosted from behind, police said.

An hour after the fatal stabbing, police tape marked off the area.

Up the street at Beresford's home shortly after the stabbing, Beresford's tenant called his landlord ''a very sweet person."

''He was always very caring," said Chris Barnard. ''He just wanted to make the neighborhood a better place."

Globe correspondent Scott Goldstein contributed to this report.