PA PA - Betsy Aardsma, 22, murdered in Pattee Library, Penn State, 29 Nov 1969

[cbcrime]

Well I'm glad they are not being territorial. It isn't that I necessarily feel that profiling is the answer. I do feel that it can be helpful. I think that investigators need to be careful though, to not exclude information or people in an investigation because it does not fit a profile. I do think you can pick up some generally helpful information. I can't help but think of Dayle Hinman who can pick up details from a crime scene and help officers look in new directions or reinforce their own thoughts on the crime. Though from the way this crime scene is described I don't know if anything could be descerned. I appreciate all that you have done to bring this case forward.

 

[MaryLiz]

Well I'm glad they are not being territorial. It isn't that I necessarily feel that profiling is the answer. I do feel that it can be helpful. I think that investigators need to be careful though, to not exclude information or people in an investigation because it does not fit a profile. I do think you can pick up some generally helpful information. I can't help but think of Dayle Hinman who can pick up details from a crime scene and help officers look in new directions or reinforce their own thoughts on the crime. Though from the way this crime scene is described I don't know if anything could be descerned. I appreciate all that you have done to bring this case forward.

That would be great if current LE investigating this case were to have a profiler look at it. Dayle Hinman came to my mind also the other day when the subject was brought up. Robert Ressler would be another good one. I feel that even after nearly 40 years, some new info might be gained from a profiler's assessment.

I also agree with what Trino said the other day. This case needs to be looked at by fresh eyes, a cold case unit maybe along with a profiler, to see it for the first time. It couldn't hurt...that's why I REALLY hope LE also submits this case to the Vidocq Society.

Derek, you have done a great job and I hope the VS contacts LE after they read what you have submitted to them about Betsy's case.

 

[littlehorn]

Well I'm glad they are not being territorial. It isn't that I necessarily feel that profiling is the answer. I do feel that it can be helpful. I think that investigators need to be careful though, to not exclude information or people in an investigation because it does not fit a profile. I do think you can pick up some generally helpful information. I can't help but think of Dayle Hinman who can pick up details from a crime scene and help officers look in new directions or reinforce their own thoughts on the crime. Though from the way this crime scene is described I don't know if anything could be descerned. I appreciate all that you have done to bring this case forward.

Honestly I kind of wish this had been profiled, I think it might have been helpful given the nature of the crime. If it had only happened a few years later it's likely there would have been much more information available on the killer's mindset.

Unfortunately the other problem is that the responding student paramedics were not aware that this was a crime scene, and neither were the library officials, etc.

They actually cleaned up the aisle she was in, as she had urinated herself as she lost involuntary muscle control. They stacked the books that she had knocked down neatly to one side of the aisle. By the time police arrived, there was a somewhat sterile environment, no idea of positioning of the body except witness reports, etc.

 

[cbcrime]

It is too bad it was not treated as a crime scene. It makes it even more difficult. And because it was not treated as a crime scene - people probably did not notice as much of the details. They just moved in to provide medical assistance.

 

[littlehorn]

That would be great if current LE investigating this case were to have a profiler look at it. Dayle Hinman came to my mind also the other day when the subject was brought up. Robert Ressler would be another good one. I feel that even after nearly 40 years, some new info might be gained from a profiler's assessment.

I also agree with what Trino said the other day. This case needs to be looked at by fresh eyes, a cold case unit maybe along with a profiler, to see it for the first time. It couldn't hurt...that's why I REALLY hope LE also submits this case to the Vidocq Society.

Derek, you have done a great job and I hope the VS contacts LE after they read what you have submitted to them about Betsy's case.

I actually contacted Robert Ressler through his website about this case. I received no response to my email. I also contacted one of the famous Bundy profilers, I forget his name -- he is a professor at a school in Connecticut or Vermont. Also no response.

I contacted a profiling service that works on sexually violent unsolved cases, and will do profiles for a fee. No response.

I hope LE follows through with what I have done for them so far on the Aardsma case, and will follow through on the persons of interest that I have and will continue to submit to them.

If they don't, at least it's off my soul that I didn't do EVERYTHING I could to make sure this comes to justice.

I will keep pushing until they shut me out entirely or until I feel there's nothing left to push towards and the case is completely dead.

 

[littlehorn]

It is too bad it was not treated as a crime scene. It makes it even more difficult. And because it was not treated as a crime scene - people probably did not notice as much of the details. They just moved in to provide medical assistance.

Exactly, they just started trying to provide CPR, comfort her, etc., which is great, but they ruined the crime scene. And the real killer thing is -- the janitor cleaned the area up after they took her to the Ritenour Medical Center. Talk about a bummer from an investigative standpoint.

I sometimes wonder who the janitor was and if he was a suspect, LOL. What better alibi (I'm at work) and what better way to destroy evidence (I'm cleaning up, it's my job).

 

[Marilynilpa]

This may have been mentioned in one of the articles, but was the male library staff seriously questioned about Betsy's death? I read one article that said a male library staffer reported that he saw two men talking near the stacks where Betsy was killed, but apparently he was the only one to see these two men. That could have been a nice cover-up if the staffer was the killer - "Yes, Officer, I saw two men I didn't recognize hanging around the stacks near the time of the murder." A good way to throw suspicion off of himself.

 

[littlehorn]

This may have been mentioned in one of the articles, but was the male library staff seriously questioned about Betsy's death? I read one article that said a male library staffer reported that he saw two men talking near the stacks where Betsy was killed, but apparently he was the only one to see these two men. That could have been a nice cover-up if the staffer was the killer - "Yes, Officer, I saw two men I didn't recognize hanging around the stacks near the time of the murder." A good way to throw suspicion off of himself.

I don't know for sure but I would assume so...He has been questioned as late as 1987 and still maintains that he saw two men. In the 1987 article on my site he was interviewed by CDT.

 

[Jade]

From reading the articles at littlehorn’s site a sense of the times:

Nation in a “rolling boil” -Start of national draft lottery, Vietnam war raging with some 50 soldiers a week KIA, bombs planted in safety deposit boxes of a CA bank, Manson murders, Chicago 7 trial, Woodstock then 4 months later Altamont, Chappaquiddic, drugs, airline high-jacking, accusations of US soldiers massacring civilians, threat of nation wide rail strikes, first manned moon landing, end of the Beatles.

Could the countrywide campus unrest have contributed to Betsy’s murder? Many of the protesters of the time were very violent.

http://www.whokilledbetsy.com/articles/1987.mht

Quote from the male library staff member:

“Just getting work done at the library was a challenge, not only because of the murder but also because of the campus riots and protests going on at the same time, which led to a rash of bomb threats and similar incidents at the library.”

http://www.whokilledbetsy.com/articles/madison.pdf

About a month before her death she led a discussion group on the Vietnam War on Moratorium day.

Also from the articles:

Betsy graduated from University of Michigan the proceeding spring and there were college coeds murdered in Michigan?

http://www.whokilledbetsy.com/articles/madison.pdf

And then there was Robert Durgy. It was no secret in the English department that Durgy, a former assistant professor, was under investigation for the murder. Police began to investigate Durgy when they learned that he had previously worked in Ann Arbor and that he had come to work at Penn State the same time that Aardsma enrolled. Although newspapers dutifully reported that police had no suspects and no motive, by May 1970, Lt. Kimmel was anxiously awaiting information from Michigan. His lead and the result of his investigation are still classified, but the puzzle can be fitted together.

Before the murder in mid-November, Durgy confided to Professor Michael Begnal, who still teaches English at Penn State, that he could no longer face his students in class. “He seemed under a great deal of stress,” Begnal said this past fall when I interviewed him. “He told us he was seeking counseling and we offered to take over his classes until he straightened things out.”

But things did not get better. Around Thanksgiving, Durgy packed his things and traveled back to Michigan with his wife and two children. A few weeks later in December, on a cold evening, Durgy was found mortally wounded after his car smashed into a bridge’s median support. No alcohol was in his blood, no skid marks were on the road, and there was no ice anywhere. There was no evidence to suggest how or why Durgy’s car had crashed. By the time police questioned Begnal in May about the Durgy/Aardsma connection, they were reaching for straws. Begnal told the police the same thing he told me: “[Durgy] seemed like a nice, ordinary guy. My wife and I would invite him and his wife to dinner sometimes. Our kids would play together.” Begnal wouldn’t dare to speculate if Durgy had a role in the Aardsma killing, but Kimmel was not easily deterred. He investigated a possible connection between Durgy and the serial killings at Ann Arbor as well as to the death of Betsy Aardsma. But later Kimmel found out that the Ann Arbor killer struck again after Durgy had come to Penn State. The one lead on the case to date was summarily scrapped without a word to the newspapers.

 

[Marilynilpa]

Could the countrywide campus unrest have contributed to Betsy’s murder? Many of the protesters of the time were very violent.

I would think that if Betsy's murder was linked in any way to Vietnam war protests or other campus unrest, it would have been done in a way to make more of a "statement". Stabbing her and leaving her to die in the library stacks doesn't seem like it would advance anyone's ideas or prove anyone's point.

But those were turbulent times, lots of drug usage on college campuses, etc., so there were a lot of people out there not thinking with clear minds.

Betsy graduated from University of Michigan the proceeding spring and there were college coeds murdered in Michigan?

Are you referring to the two Michigan coeds killed in New Jersey? Just wondering.

You mentioned Betsy's professor in your post. He would have certainly been recognized in the library, but no one recalled seeing him there on that day. But I've always wondered about the relationship between the two, or at least what he thought the relationship was. I don't think it is connected to her killing, though.

 

[Trino]

One of my first thoughts about Durgy was that he should have been investigated further, although I don't think he's involved. I also wonder if LE asked the counselor he was seeing what was discussed. Why could Durgy no longer not face his students? (He said this before Betsy's murder.) It appears that Durgy took his own life, but why? Did his wife have any infor to offer? Unanswered questions, for sure. Finally, he was not identified as being in the library by anyone.

 

[littlehorn]

Could the countrywide campus unrest have contributed to Betsy’s murder? Many of the protesters of the time were very violent.

The coeds murdered in Michigan were killed by John Norman Collins and a truck driver, who accounted for the last one murdered. Police investigated his possibility of involvement but he was not mobile outside the MI area.

The Durgy thing is interesting, but has been roundly disproved. For one thing, Betsy never had a class with Durgy, and may not even have known him -- we checked her school transcripts to confirm this.

The other issue is timing -- Durgy's wife confirmed that they were on the road that day back to MI, as she recalls missing Thanksgiving dinner with her family in MI. Despite his untimely demise, he was not present in the State College area that day. Witnesses (fellow professors) confirm that he left that morning or the night before.

He had been questioned extensively by police with regards to both the MI murder and the Aardsma murder, but was cleared.

There was actually a sidebar to the State College Magazine article which explained this, but didn't make it on to the website. I have a copy of the print magazine which has the sidebar in it.

 

[littlehorn]

Could the countrywide campus unrest have contributed to Betsy’s murder? Many of the protesters of the time were very violent.

I would think that if Betsy's murder was linked in any way to Vietnam war protests or other campus unrest, it would have been done in a way to make more of a "statement". Stabbing her and leaving her to die in the library stacks doesn't seem like it would advance anyone's ideas or prove anyone's point.

But those were turbulent times, lots of drug usage on college campuses, etc., so there were a lot of people out there not thinking with clear minds.

Are you referring to the two Michigan coeds killed in New Jersey? Just wondering.

You mentioned Betsy's professor in your post. He would have certainly been recognized in the library, but no one recalled seeing him there on that day. But I've always wondered about the relationship between the two, or at least what he thought the relationship was. I don't think it is connected to her killing, though.

See my post below for some clarification. She was not in any classes with him, either in Ann Arbor or in PSU.

The coeds killed in Michigan were unrelated also, from what I've found.

I don't believe the murder was political, but like you say, it may have been based on the fact that generally a LOT of young America was out of their heads at the time.

 

[Trino]

Robert Durgy and his wife left on November 27. Betsy was murdered on November 28.

 

[littlehorn]

One of my first thoughts about Durgy was that he should have been investigated further, although I don't think he's involved. I also wonder if LE asked the counselor he was seeing what was discussed. Why could Durgy no longer not face his students? (He said this before Betsy's murder.) It appears that Durgy took his own life, but why? Did his wife have any infor to offer? Unanswered questions, for sure. Finally, he was not identified as being in the library by anyone.

Actually, Durgy was investigated rather lengthily by police both from Michigan and PSU. I think part of the reason he may have committed suicide was that in his unbalanced state, to be investigated for murder may have pushed him completely over the edge.

There are a lot of reasons why one might not be able to face their students. Having been a teacher myself in a past life (not literally) I can attest to that.

Especially with the war going on -- he may have felt as though teaching English was not effective at changing the world, he may have worried about what would happen to students who failed out of his class (drafting, etc.) or he may have just gotten culture shock moving his family to PSU (basically, a backwater) from Ann Arbor.

I would even suspect perhaps he just became depressed from moving away from family and friends. I know a co-worker of my wife right now whose husband is very badly depressed because they made a move from Baltimore, PA to the local area, and he feels as though he is "too far" from his grown children, the places he used to fish, etc., so he basically mopes about and wishes to die.

I know that his wife confirmed that they were not in State College that day, having left the previous night. They missed Thanksgiving dinner as she remembers it. Other professors also noted his absence.

Plus, that would not explain the further contacts from the murderer -- the postcard, the shrine(s), etc. which occurred after his death.

He is interesting on the surface, but once you dig a little deeper, he becomes a less compelling suspect, and more of a sad case of a guy who has just reached the end of his rope, for whatever reason.

 

[littlehorn]

Robert Durgy and his wife left on November 27. Betsy was murdered on November 28.

People have even suggested to me that he hired an assassin to kill her, but again, as UNLIKELY as this is, his death and absence on that date still leave the killer alive, well, and free to move about the country.

 

[Stella]

Here's a thought I don't think has been mentioned. Maybe she was the victim of mistaken identity. IF the killer attacked her from behind, he may have thought she was someone else. My husband once grabbed a handful of hiney that he thought belonged to me simply because the girl's hair was down to her waist and same color as mine. :blushing:

 

[Marilynilpa]

Here's a thought I don't think has been mentioned. Maybe she was the victim of mistaken identity. IF the killer attacked her from behind, he may have thought she was someone else. My husband once grabbed a handful of hiney that he thought belonged to me simply because the girl's hair was down to her waist and same color as mine. :blushing:

That's an idea I've wondered about, too. That might explain the single knife wound - the killer struck once, realized his mistake, and got the heck out of there.

But I just can't get past the fact that this murder took place in such a public place. Mistaken identity or not, this was a very risky undertaking for the killer. That's why I think this was a "thrill kill", because the risk would be part of the thrill. There must have been plenty of other opportunities for someone to kill Betsy, if this was a personal attack.

By the way, I had a similar experience with my late husband that you had with yours - he came up behind a woman he thought was me at the shopping mall, put his arm around her and asked her if she was ready to go home. He was lucky security didn't haul him away!

 

[kline]

Here's a thought I don't think has been mentioned. Maybe she was the victim of mistaken identity. IF the killer attacked her from behind, he may have thought she was someone else. My husband once grabbed a handful of hiney that he thought belonged to me simply because the girl's hair was down to her waist and same color as mine. :blushing:

I put my arm around someone's shoulders and kissed thier neck.
Imagine my chagrin. I freaked out far worse then she did.
Fortunately she thought it was funny.
My ex made sure I basked in the glory of that one for years.

 

[kline]

I agree with your assessment. It seems as though this person took an opportunity to commit a murder, ostensibly because he found a single female alone in the stacks. He may have staked out the area beforehand and waited until someone came by (the likely scenario) and if he was of the age where he could pose as a student no one would have thought anything of a studying male student in the core.

It's obvious that he has at least tried to reach out to police to taunt them, as well as perhaps revisited the murder site.

I agree with you that there is a total lack of control in this situation which tends away from serial killer possibility -- I wonder if perhaps, like an exhibitionist or someone who enjoys having sex in public, there is perhaps a type of killer who enjoys killing with the express risk of getting caught as part of the pleasure? Just a thought here about why he might hang out in the library as I'm sure there were many better opportunities to grab a female victim elsewhere on the campus.

This is another of those elements that I keep coming back too with this case whenever I try to get a sense of the type of person the killer might have been and his involvement or lack thereof with Betsy.
Probably one of the most puzzzling elements to me.
I could be wrong but it just seems to me that by rights the killer should have had very little expectation of not being apprehended.
Its preposterous.
He didnt slit her throat why would he think she wouldnt scream bloody murder?
Reportedly from what Ive read that was Jack The Ripper's M.O. a throat slashing from behind to silence the victim first.
Even a direct stab wound to a vital area wouldnt automaticly mean instant death...she could very easly have raise quite a bit of commotion.
I wonder if his being able to walk off was something that just happened.
And of course if the murder was something he was willing to be caught for as weve discussed, that raises a whole truckload of other questions.