SOLVED MA - Jane Britton, 22, Harvard student, Cambridge, 7 Jan 1969

[kwash]

Something I read (article quoting the ME?) said she was facing her assailant while seated on her bed when the first blow occurred and that it landed just behind her ear. Perhaps she didn't see it coming because she was performing oral sex? Sorry for the graphic nature of this thought.

 

[Donamena]

Something I read (article quoting the ME?) said she was facing her assailant while seated on her bed when the first blow occurred and that it landed just behind her ear. Perhaps she didn't see it coming because she was performing oral sex? Sorry for the graphic nature of this thought.

I guess that would make sense the weapon could have been picked up from the end table. Yikes, what a thought!!!

 

[kwash]

That's what I was envisioning. The weapon being an artifact she had on the end table. It was at hand. Lends credence to the idea that it was a lover that wanted her dead.

 

[PlainJaneDoe]

Your committee members - particularly your major professor - essentially make or break you as a grad student. They have unwieldy power over whether or not you pass comps, pass your defense, get your PhD, etc. Even after that, they have the power to prevent or hurt your career by not giving references or spreading defamatory information about you within your discipline & academia. Even when you report such behavior - even in today's age - universities protect the tenured faculty member (and therefore themselves) first. Unfortunately, from my own experience, I can tell you that reporting something like harassment can end up being more trouble than it's worth. The reprocussions of reporting it can be worse than the original harassment. I can only imagine it was MUCH worse back in 1969. I'm not even sure there would be an appropriate office or body on campus to report such things in 1969.

Rsbm...

Aaaaamen sister!

My adviser is making my life ugly now and it isn't even harassment or anything criminal...just being a crappy person and not a mentor. I can hardly handle her bs even when I KNOW I am on my way out (fall graduation) and I KNOW I have a job lined up (so am not as dependent on her recommendation for employment, which is good because she didn't do a thing to help me). For people not in this environment I feel like it is hard to understand how much far one person can go toward making or breaking you. Yes we have other committee members but most of them aren't eager to have any conflict with Adviser because they will be dealing with her in their department and program long after I'm gone, and they have their own careers to think of. (Some of them have grants or are considering applying for a program grant with her too.) And beyond that...sometimes I just am too tired to fight her anymore. And (not anymore for me) we often feel like we owe them something because they gave us a position and a chance so we feel obligated to do whatever they ask.

"Power differential" doesn't even cover it. IMO.

 

[reedus23]

Just an initial gut reaction after reading the articles and posts.

A perp doesn't randomly pick someone on the 4th floor. Too risky as the means of egress is more difficult. Leads me to believe the perp knew the victim.

There were no screams heard. Again, leads me to believe the victim knew the perp as well. A stranger in the house after midnight would lead to screams. She had to have known him and been relatively comfortable with that persons presence.

No signs of a struggle. Again, leads me to believe that the victim knew the perp and likely didn't see the attack coming and when it came it was swift and vicious.

Covered her up after killing her. Again, leads me to believe the perp may have known her.

No robbery. No sexual assault. I'm sure there are other motives, but not sure what other motives a stranger would have in killing an unknown person that doesn't involve either of these two. Again, tends to make me believe she knew the perp.

Obviously, very little information about people in her life. Of the information that is known, obviously the boyfriend and the professor raise red flags for me.

Again, it's just an initial, gut reaction, but where my mind went, IF the information is accurate, is:

Jane had a prior relationship with a professor, maybe sexual, maybe an affair with a married professor.

My gut tells me Jane was done with it, ready to move on to someone that could commit to her, i.e. her relatively new boyfriend.

Maybe, professor wasn't quite so ready to let go of Jane and let someone else have her.

Professor would have known that Jane had recently returned for her exams. Just so happens that her boyfriend just returned too and they had gone on a date. Could this have been enough, if known, to push an obsessed professor over the edge? Could he have been laying in wait in the neighborhood, watching until she returned to her apartment? It would explain the lack of screams. The lack of a fight. The potential ritual. The covering her afterwards. All just my gut reaction, thoughts and opinions.

 

[carbuff]

Hey all, Fred&Edna asked me to come over and see if I can provide any local insight, since I've lived in the Boston area for like 30 years now. I don't know whether I have anything relevant to say, though.

We moved here about 10 years after the murder. It was still talked about then -- still is now and then. The rumor has always been the one that's mentioned several times in this thread, about a professor she may have been having an affair with, or who may have been trying to pressure her into an affair; quite a few people seem to think there was a drug connection as well. The rumors have not always named the same person, however I've heard at least three names over the years.

The blackout is not unusual for Boston-area police departments. You can't get the time of day out of Boston LE. It might mean they were protecting somebody but it might also mean that with so many suspects, they didn't want to fuel any more rumors than are already out there.

Another rumor that's always been around: that many of the unsolved murders of young women around New England were committed by a cop who was a serial killer. I've never heard Ms. Britton mentioned as one of the cases, though Ada's case is.

People around Boston used to smoke like chimneys. If there was a cigarette butt, it's likely the person just lit up from habit, without even thinking about it.

The security issue and unlocked doors -- even today, people around here are casual about locking up. In 1969, it wouldn't surprise me if fewer than a quarter of the doors on any given night were locked. I don't have any real numbers, though, just an impression.

 

[fred&edna]

Thanks for sharing, carbuff. Your thoughts are relevant

 

[reedus23]

I would like to know what, if anything, has been submitted for testing given the advances in technology.

 

[carbuff]

Hey all, Fred&Edna asked me to come over and see if I can provide any local insight, since I've lived in the Boston area for like 30 years now. I don't know whether I have anything relevant to say, though.

We moved here about 10 years after the murder. It was still talked about then -- still is now and then. The rumor has always been the one that's mentioned several times in this thread, about a professor she may have been having an affair with, or who may have been trying to pressure her into an affair; quite a few people seem to think there was a drug connection as well. The rumors have not always named the same person, however I've heard at least three names over the years.

The blackout is not unusual for Boston-area police departments. You can't get the time of day out of Boston LE. It might mean they were protecting somebody but it might also mean that with so many suspects, they didn't want to fuel any more rumors than are already out there.

Another rumor that's always been around: that many of the unsolved murders of young women around New England were committed by a cop who was a serial killer. I've never heard Ms. Britton mentioned as one of the cases, though Ada's case is.

People around Boston used to smoke like chimneys. If there was a cigarette butt, it's likely the person just lit up from habit, without even thinking about it.

The security issue and unlocked doors -- even today, people around here are casual about locking up. In 1969, it wouldn't surprise me if fewer than a quarter of the doors on any given night were locked. I don't have any real numbers, though, just an impression.

Addendum: I used "Boston" as shorthand for "Boston area" in my post. Many agencies were involved, the crime was committed in Cambridge, which is an entirely separate jurisdiction, and I think the Middlesex County district attorney's office was at least nominally in charge. The state police were likely also involved. That would be normal procedure for Massachusetts.

Also, it's all rumor.

Another reason for blacking out the investigation might have been for people's personal safety. Some of the theories being propounded would point to organized crime or other violent organizations and people have been killed in New England for pointing fingers. Still happening. (See: Aaron Hernandez.)

 

[fred&edna]

In many of the news reports about this case, Cambridge Police Detective "Leo Davenport" is quoted. I also found Detective Davenport mentioned in few Boston strangler reports, too... and I wonder if police originally attempted to tie Jane's murder to the strangler, thus missing her "real" killer?

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...4z5HAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NvgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3698,903071

"Detective Leo Davenport, head of an 18-man investigating team... "


Davenport mentioned here:
http://www.massretirees.com/article...s/detectives-seek-boston-strangler-clues-1963

and here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Y0...ge&q="leo davenport" Boston strangler&f=false

and here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=4c...ge&q="leo davenport" Boston strangler&f=false

Davenport was appointed Cambridge Chief of Police in 1977:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1977/5/10/cambridge-has-new-police-chief-pleo/

 

[Archangel7]

I have read over the posts, associated articles and peripheral material of the period. Some of the following things come to mind as interesting and significant.

Harvard Univ. had a huge influence on the area. Revered by many and begrudged by others locally.

There are nuances associated with large private univ. such as Harvard with regards to NEWS, Harvard's Reputation(and therefore the ability to continue tuition revenue), HUPD, BPD and student privacy/reputation.

Generally relations were good between Harvard campus reporters and HUPD/ BPD concerning crime reporting records however that was likely dependent on whether the crime was on or off Campus and whether students were involved. Harvard was adamant about protecting an image and the fact they were a private school shields them somewhat from public record laws dealing with on campus crime. All of this had its affect at the time.

When I was asked to look at this thread, I first decided to get a flavor of the case by simply looking at photos of the "players" involved and around Jane Britton.
I started with the earliest photos related to those people and the time frame of the murder and continued so for as far as I could find photos.

I was instantly interested in two male subjects strictly from the period photos alone. Afterwards I began to read the subject matter of the case and of the period history surrounding the era and crime.

My opinions follow:

In cases like this where info is hard to come by, none are talking, and a solvable crime goes unsolved, it comes down to a few possibilities.

1. I have seen similar murders where... when I requested an unofficial explanation on a joining jurisdiction's case of how an obvious murderer/armed robbery of a business owner could just slowly drift into oblivion.....I was taken aside and told the perp was Federal WITSEC/WPP and they scooped him up and left with him. Diplomatic Immunity is similar.

2. It's always possible BPD botched the case and there's no way to prosecute it. There was much going on with much focus on war, serial killers, etc. and poor crime investigation techniques relative to today.

3. Maybe BPD had a very good idea of the actual perp., but no evidence, or were technology limited on evidence testing.

The rudimentary mechanics of case files is that they are opened/initiated with a case number and either remain open, inactive, or clearance is achieved by some means(solved, missing person found, case removed, etc.)

So even though case files are not public info. just the fact that they are either still "open," or "cleared" tells us much about a case and a FOIA request will at least allow release of non sensitive info. and /or possibly reveal the case status.

I would recommend a FOIA request to BPD on the Jane Britton case. It may reveal either valuable info or uncover the "real" status of the case currently.
Sometimes inquiries can cause a fresh look with new technology. For example we have a huge fingerprint database now. A simple request by a BPD detective to the FBI may immediately turn up the killer's ID.

 

[carbuff]

That would be CAMBRIDGE PD, not BPD. Cambridge is a completely separate municipality.

 

[Donamena]

That would be CAMBRIDGE PD, not BPD. Cambridge is a completely separate municipality.

That was my incorrect assumption.

 

[reedus23]

Archangel, thanks for bringing that up about FOIA. I had meant to say something about it and completely forgot. I'd agree, a formal FOIA request should be submitted. Like you said, obviously will not lead to getting a complete copy of the investigative file, but it may lead to some pieces of information that is not now known.

 

[Ausgirl]

So glad to see so many new people commenting in this thread. Thank you! :seeya:

I'm obv. in Australia, so I'm not sure how I'd go about getting FOIA information from the US and I would guess it'd be a lot more expensive from here if I could, but I'm happy to chip in for the fees (if there are any) if someone more local wishes to do so.

 

[Donamena]

Moi? Since I went off the reservation? The desperado has to do it? But that would involve the federal government, would it not? Do murder cases get covered by that? I don't believe, please correct me car buff, that any other LE handled this but Cambridge?

 

[fred&edna]

FOI is a great idea, but would the blackout override a request??

I did a quick little googly-effort and found "MuckRock"... could this be of use?

https://www.muckrock.com/about/

MuckRock is a collaborative news site that brings together journalists, researchers, activists, and regular citizens to request, analyze & share government documents, making politics more transparent and democracies more informed.

The site provides a repository of hundreds of thousands of pages of original government materials, information on how to file requests, and tools to make the requesting process easier. In addition, MuckRock staff and outside contributors do original reporting and analysis of many of the documents received through the site.

 

[reedus23]

FOI is a great idea, but would the blackout override a request??

I did a quick little googly-effort and found "MuckRock"... could this be of use?

https://www.muckrock.com/about/

MuckRock is a collaborative news site that brings together journalists, researchers, activists, and regular citizens to request, analyze & share government documents, making politics more transparent and democracies more informed.

The site provides a repository of hundreds of thousands of pages of original government materials, information on how to file requests, and tools to make the requesting process easier. In addition, MuckRock staff and outside contributors do original reporting and analysis of many of the documents received through the site.

I know nothing about them. Could help. I would probably start with the records department (link below) and ask them who handles their FOIA requests and if they have policies/procedures for handling such requests.

http://www.cambridgema.gov/cpd/policeunits/supportservicesdivision/recordsunit.aspx

 

[carbuff]

Moi? Since I went off the reservation? The desperado has to do it? But that would involve the federal government, would it not? Do murder cases get covered by that? I don't believe, please correct me car buff, that any other LE handled this but Cambridge?

I don't know enough about LE protocols to answer that question. I write murder/ghost mysteries, so I do a bit of research and talk to people a lot, but I'm hardly an expert More of a gossip collector.

Nowadays, it would be normal procedure for the state police investigative units to be heavily involved, backing up the local LE, but I don't think that system was in place in 1969. I know the lab system has been revamped at least twice, both times because of serious issues with mismanaged testing. Most of the issues were in the drug testing area, not forensics.

I've heard that it was quite common for evidence in cases to go "missing." Especially in critical cases where there are rumors of bribes and/or threats. There was one case (unverified) where a secretary found a shoebox in the back of a filing cabinet. It held evidence about a drug gang murder and had been filed under "b" for "bloody scarf," apparently by an intern who had been given a nice bonus to file it there. Nothing to do with this case, but an example of the kind of thing that goes on. Things still happen, but people I talk to think it's rare rather than business as usual.

I asked a guy who might be in a position to have heard something, and he said as far as he knows, the feds were never involved, at least not officially.

The only other agency I can think of that might have been involved is Middlesex County, either the DA's or the Sheriff's office. Some of the news stories indicate the DA's office is where the decision not to prosecute was made.

 

[Kell1]

I apologize I didn't read through all the posts, I do have a few questions

1) was it ever determined what exactly the weapon was ?. I read that an archaeology, hammer, or a wedge shaped rock was missing from her apt ?

2) was it ever recovered ?