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

[littlehorn]

I live in eastern PA. Let me know if there's anything I can do from over here. I'm tempted to take a trip out to Penn State sometime and see the crime scene in person.

Oh yeah, one thing I noticed on the website. The "What Happened" summary of the events is very good, but it doesn't mention Penn State as the school she was attending. It may be helpful to add this for any new readers that stumble across the website

Thanks!! I just changed it now to mention Penn State.

If you ever want to take a guided tour of the site, let me know. I'm in southern PA and would gladly meet you there and show you around. I lived in State College for a few years back in the '80s while dad worked for the college.

D

 

[littlehorn]

Just bumping this up in hopes of getting some new views and new insight. I've reached an impasse and I'd like any help I can get.

 

[Talisman]

littlehorn,

Just spent several hours on your website reading articles. I am from Pennsylvania (northwest) and don't remember hearing about this case. Now that I have looked at your site and read the articles (esp. by Sascha Skucek) it is understandable why Besty's case is in your heart.

What a heartbreaking and interesting story. A question I have is: Was the message left in 1994 the same as the one in 1999? The clippings they found scattered around, were they originals or just copies from the paper? The article described them as being 'yellowed', as if from age. Probably just a silly question, but one that popped into my mind, and probably one that can't be answered. How chilling, if the killer did infact come back to leave a message.

I was really leaning toward the assist. professor, Robert Durgy, until I realized that one of the students in the library would have recognzed him. Esp. since most of them were from her English 501 class (and he was an asst. English Prof.)

Thank you, littlehorn, for bringing this case to WS. From his writings, it seems like this case has gotten ahold of Sacha Skucek's heart as well.

 

[kline]

Facinating case.
I just came across it when Tom Voigt posted a link to it on the message board of the zodiac killer website.
Id be interested to know too if the clippings found with the make shift shrine were vintage 1969 clippings.
At first glance its hard to imagine this poor girl could inspire such murderous single minded intent in her killer.
One brutal stab to the chest.Somebody just wanted to kill her resolutely and instantly.
It just doesnt feel like a stranger,but who knows.Maybe some nihilistic nut job full of 60's counter culture philosophical angst of one strain or the other just wanted to see what it would be like to kill someone.
Perhaps some weirdo who had been grooving on the gory details of the Tate-Labianca murders which would have been all over the place during the late winter of 1969.
Whoever it was it would be wonderful to see them finaly brought to justice.
It just seems like this case is solvable.It almost a 95 percent certainty,at least in my opinion that the killer was someone connected to that school and that class.
Please dont give up on this one guys.

 

[kline]

Its kind of strange...
I think one would be hard pressed to come up with another year that had so many knife related high profile murders as 1969.
Early in the year there was Athony Costa's gruesome mutilation murders in Provincetown.
Then the Manson Murders in August.
Then the attack on Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Sheppard in September at Lake Berryessa near Napa California by the Zodiac Killer.(Sheppard died)
Then the Aardsma slaying.
Then
Meredith Hunter's murder at Altamont by the Hells Angels during that ill fated free concert.(This one even made it to the silver screen)
I mean geez..A lot of pretty savage behavior utilizing a primitive weapon the same year man walked on the moon.

 

[littlehorn]

littlehorn,
What a heartbreaking and interesting story. A question I have is: Was the message left in 1994 the same as the one in 1999? The clippings they found scattered around, were they originals or just copies from the paper? The article described them as being 'yellowed', as if from age. Probably just a silly question, but one that popped into my mind, and probably one that can't be answered. How chilling, if the killer did infact come back to leave a message.

Thank you, littlehorn, for bringing this case to WS. From his writings, it seems like this case has gotten ahold of Sacha Skucek's heart as well.

I am working on finding out if the clippings in 1994 were truly "yellowed with age" or whether they were copies. By '94 the original papers would have been on microfilm so there's no way the person cut up library holdings to get his "tribute."

The Durgy thing throws a lot of people in the wrong direction, but the more I think about it, the more I realize what you did; an English professor in the library on that day, while not out of place, would have definitely been noticed by a bunch of English majors and mentioned.

I don't know about the 1999 message; it seems that it was described as having different handwriting, so perhaps it was a copycat. But the way it sounds like -- the 1994 message was not widely publicized, so who would know?

Thanks for the compliments and the comments. I have a bunch of other information which is somewhat secret since I don't know what, if any of it, was released vs. what was eked out of retired investigators, etc.

Regards,

Derek

 

[littlehorn]

Facinating case.
I just came across it when Tom Voigt posted a link to it on the message board of the zodiac killer website.
Id be interested to know too if the clippings found with the make shift shrine were vintage 1969 clippings.
At first glance its hard to imagine this poor girl could inspire such murderous single minded intent in her killer.
One brutal stab to the chest.Somebody just wanted to kill her resolutely and instantly.
It just doesnt feel like a stranger,but who knows.Maybe some nihilistic nut job full of 60's counter culture philosophical angst of one strain or the other just wanted to see what it would be like to kill someone.
Perhaps some weirdo who had been grooving on the gory details of the Tate-Labianca murders which would have been all over the place during the late winter of 1969.
Whoever it was it would be wonderful to see them finaly brought to justice.
It just seems like this case is solvable.It almost a 95 percent certainty,at least in my opinion that the killer was someone connected to that school and that class.
Please dont give up on this one guys.

I hope I get approved over at the Zodiac board soon, I applied there a week ago and so far no authentication to post.

The more I hear, the more I think that the case is solvable. My website doesn't reflect some new information that I have found; as mentioned in my other post. One piece that I can reveal is that the police have fingerprints from the scene.

D

 

[littlehorn]

Its kind of strange...
I think one would be hard pressed to come up with another year that had so many knife related high profile murders as 1969.
I mean geez..A lot of pretty savage behavior utilizing a primitive weapon the same year man walked on the moon.

I agree. The odder part is that State College had a blight of other knife-related attacks that year and into 1970-71. I posted some of those on my site in the off chance that they're related.

Later in 1987 Dana Bailey was brutally murdered in her apartment with her own steak knife. Also still unsolved. She was a student as well.

Derek

 

[Talisman]

I hope I get approved over at the Zodiac board soon, I applied there a week ago and so far no authentication to post.

The more I hear, the more I think that the case is solvable. My website doesn't reflect some new information that I have found; as mentioned in my other post. One piece that I can reveal is that the police have fingerprints from the scene.

D

littlehorn, my heart skipped a beat when you mentioned about the fingerprints. But, surely they would have run the prints after all these years. Then again you do hear situations where evidence has been discarded/lost/misplaced.

Thank you again for posting about Besty. She already has a peice of my heart. With the fingerprint evidence maybe there will be some closure.

 

[littlehorn]

littlehorn, my heart skipped a beat when you mentioned about the fingerprints. But, surely they would have run the prints after all these years. Then again you do hear situations where evidence has been discarded/lost/misplaced.

Thank you again for posting about Besty. She already has a peice of my heart. With the fingerprint evidence maybe there will be some closure.

It is my understanding that the police periodically run the prints they have against the national database maintained by the FBI, in hopes that someone who has committed another crime will match up. So far, no match has ever been made to my knowledge.

It's my suspicion that the person who did this may, unlikely as it seems, have been a once-and-done kind of thing. He may have kept his nose clean in the years since and may still be among us.

The case won't officially be archived and considered "closed" until 2044. Hopefully in the next 36 years it can be solved.

Derek

 

[Talisman]

littlehorn,

If the killer was ,indeed, the man who said "Somebody better help that girl"....so indifferent and emotionless....my mind just can't think that was his one and only violent crime. Esp. with the reports that the killer 'knew' what he was doing (exactly where to plunge the knife).

You have opened my heart to Betsy's tragedy. She will now be on my mind alot. It is so sad that any case can be officially closed before there are answers. Just so afraid that this case, as with so many others, time has erased memories, potential witnesses have died. One of the newspaper articles mentioned that the police had only found or identified 12 of the potential witnesses in the library that day. Is that because people just didn't come forward? I realise the articles were older and maybe there was an update to that number later.

And with the 'if only' in this case with the 30 minute lag in time before they even knew a crime was commited, so much evidence lost. Forensics might not have been great in 1969, but at least there might have been even just the smallest clue.

I wish I had something to help you with in this case. All I have are questions. When you find out about the age of the newspaper clippings left at the murder site could you please let us know?

Thank you, littlehorn.

 

[MaryLiz]

It is my understanding that the police periodically run the prints they have against the national database maintained by the FBI, in hopes that someone who has committed another crime will match up. So far, no match has ever been made to my knowledge.

It's my suspicion that the person who did this may, unlikely as it seems, have been a once-and-done kind of thing. He may have kept his nose clean in the years since and may still be among us.

The case won't officially be archived and considered "closed" until 2044. Hopefully in the next 36 years it can be solved.

Derek

I said before I thought maybe two people were involved, but now I feel that there was only one. But I agree with you that it was probably a one-time thing for whoever did it. Which brings me back to my original thought that whoever did it was enamored of Betsy. It doesn't make sense for someone to just try killing someone for the sake of it and stop with one killing. Normally if someone randomly commits a murder to "see how it feels," he or she will get some kind of thrill from it and do it again and again. Whoever did it sounds creepy enough to have hung around the scene and feigned shock and horror along with everyone else.

 

[littlehorn]

If the killer was ,indeed, the man who said "Somebody better help that girl"....so indifferent and emotionless....my mind just can't think that was his one and only violent crime. Esp. with the reports that the killer 'knew' what he was doing (exactly where to plunge the knife).

And with the 'if only' in this case with the 30 minute lag in time before they even knew a crime was commited, so much evidence lost. Forensics might not have been great in 1969, but at least there might have been even just the smallest clue.

I wish I had something to help you with in this case. All I have are questions. When you find out about the age of the newspaper clippings left at the murder site could you please let us know?

Thank you, littlehorn.

I will let you know when I find out.

The thing I can't get my mind around is the "Somebody better help..."

If it was the killer, why do it at all? She could have been back there for hours, perfect getaway.

Unless he thought this way: By saying that, and heading the opposite direction, he immediately got everyone going in that direction -- while he walked away.

Obviously there wasn't a lot of blood and he would have known that...So he may have thought that would tie things up. But still, why not just walk away altogether, unless you wanted some kind of attention?

Derek

 

[littlehorn]

I said before I thought maybe two people were involved, but now I feel that there was only one. But I agree with you that it was probably a one-time thing for whoever did it. Which brings me back to my original thought that whoever did it was enamored of Betsy. It doesn't make sense for someone to just try killing someone for the sake of it and stop with one killing. Normally if someone randomly commits a murder to "see how it feels," he or she will get some kind of thrill from it and do it again and again. Whoever did it sounds creepy enough to have hung around the scene and feigned shock and horror along with everyone else.

I agree with you that I originally speculated it may have been just the beginning. But then again, someone could have been enamored or very p*ssed at Betsy and just did it, or even felt threatened by something they felt she witnessed/might reveal that happened in the library.

Maybe the person who did it became an avid follower and researcher of the case -- who knows? That would explain the newspaper articles. It certainly would make sense that if they were sick enough to do it, they might get some kick out of re-visiting it in their minds.

I hope they catch the guy, and I hope I can help. I'd just love to have one question answered: "Why?"

Derek

 

[Talisman]

:crazy: littlehorn, please forgive the stream of conscious that follows. (Sorry, can't get Betsy off my mind.)


(going with the theory it was a med student from Hershey)
1. David Wright was a first year med student at Hershey. Betsy made the trip from State College to Hershey every weekend to visit David. If classes started in September, would that be a long enough time (or personal contact) for someone to become enamored with Betsy? ( to kill for?) Wouldn't she have spent most of her time on those weekend visits with David?

2. How would the med student know that Betsy would be in the right place at the right time? (although students from the Hershey campus probably wouldn't be recognized readily by Penn State kids) One of Betsy's friends stated that she wasn't known as a book worm, a good student, but not a bookworm. To me that sounds like she wasn't always hanging around in the library. You know...you might run in to her there, you might not.

3. Wrong place/wrong time? One of the articles says " the murdered girl was working in a little-used portion of the library. She was in the core of the second floor, off to the side of central level, where books waiting to be shelved are kept." Holiday break from classes, campus not crammed with students, the library might have seemed like a good place to meet for a quick little drug deal between the two unidentified men. The young men went to a 'little-used portion of the library' just for this. Betsy happens upon them at just the wrong moment.

Another thing bothering me. It was mentioned before that the murderer killed Betsy quickly because he didn't want her to recognize him. One of the articles quoted the Mifflin County Pathologist as saying Betsy was attacked from behind. He said because of her height and the way the blade entered her chest. So, she wouldn't have seen him anyway.

So sorry, littlehon, for the ramblings. I need to get some sleep and let the real sleuthers here help you. They are amazing!

 

[kline]

Yeah,Im not a forensic pathologist but the angle of the wound kind of suggested to me too that an attack from behind was likely.
There are so many different ways to look at this.If this was a personal killing,a crime of passsion Id almost expect to see more damage.
It seems so clinical...if thats the right word.A precise wound designed to kill quickly.Turn and walk away.
It begs the question did the killer want Betsy dead specificlly dead or just to kill someone period?
If so obviously backtracking her life and people she knew would be futile.
Littlehorn The Zodiac website has a wealth of info on the case very well put together by Tom Voight but Its far more interesting to read from what I can tell then participate on the message board. It can get pretty nasty from what ive seen.

 

[MaryLiz]

Yeah,Im not a forensic pathologist but the angle of the wound kind of suggested to me too that an attack from behind was likely.
There are so many different ways to look at this.If this was a personal killing,a crime of passsion Id almost expect to see more damage.
It seems so clinical...if thats the right word.A precise wound designed to kill quickly.Turn and walk away.
It begs the question did the killer want Betsy dead specificlly dead or just to kill someone period?
If so obviously backtracking her life and people she knew would be futile.
Littlehorn The Zodiac website has a wealth of info on the case very well put together by Tom Voight but Its far more interesting to read from what I can tell then participate on the message board. It can get pretty nasty from what ive seen.

I agree, crimes of passion are often "overkills." But given the place where the crime was committed, it would have been impossible to keep stabbing her over and over and not get caught. This was done by someone very calculating, with knowledge of the anatomy, who knew exactly where to place the knife to kill her almost instantly. And I believe she was struck from behind too, with almost no chance to cry out or scream, although the girl who found her said she heard a scream, but she seemed to be the only one who heard it.

 

[littlehorn]

:crazy:
(going with the theory it was a med student from Hershey)

1. Well, I would think the type of person who would become enamored with Betsy may have been the type to fall in love/become obsessed quickly...I don't think it was a Med Student from Hershey, in my mind, I would think it might have been someone she would have known from her PSU Main campus goings on. It seems more likely someone would become enamored with her from being around her, because like you say, she likely spent most of her weekends with David.

2. How would the med student know that Betsy would be in the right place at the right time? (although students from the Hershey campus probably

One of the original theories from the police, which is contained in one of the articles on my site, is that "Police determined that Betsy was not following any particular pattern, so there was no real reason for her even to have been at the library that day." I tend to agree with that -- Like you say, it's not like she went to the library every Friday at 4 pm, for example. They also stated that they were able to determine her movements up until about 1 hour before the murder -- so she was not followed into the library.

My only issue with the drug deal theory is -- what would have caused them to feel like they needed to kill her if she didn't know them? I guess I wonder what would cause an attack of that severity over something as simple as drugs -- weed was prominent at the time, and although kids were frequently busted, it doesn't seem to have been a huge deal.

In the same article as the one about her patterns of behavior, the police actually have a separate theory to the one about him killing her quickly so as not to be recognized -- that theory is that the killer was NOT afraid of being recognized, as he didn't even stick around long enough to make sure the single stab wound killed her.

The attack from the back -- Which makes sense -- in the stacks it would be hard for two people even to pass each other, so perhaps if she was turned facing away from him, that was his only opportunity, and the best chance for her NOT to scream or create a ruckus.

Not trying to curb enthusiasm, those are just some things I have noticed from the reading I've done which kind of make me think that perhaps it wasn't a med student at all...In fact, I kind of think the guy got really, really lucky, because an inch or so either way and she might well have lived.

Derek

 

[littlehorn]

Yeah,Im not a forensic pathologist but the angle of the wound kind of suggested to me too that an attack from behind was likely.
There are so many different ways to look at this.If this was a personal killing,a crime of passsion Id almost expect to see more damage.
It seems so clinical...if thats the right word.A precise wound designed to kill quickly.Turn and walk away.
It begs the question did the killer want Betsy dead specificlly dead or just to kill someone period?
If so obviously backtracking her life and people she knew would be futile.
Littlehorn The Zodiac website has a wealth of info on the case very well put together by Tom Voight but Its far more interesting to read from what I can tell then participate on the message board. It can get pretty nasty from what ive seen.

I think perhaps that the person or persons decided to kill her, but motive as yet remains the hardest part of this. It may have been a sexual predator, or someone who was into a thrill kill, but again, why in the library? Most sexual predators will want to spend time with their victims, so to speak. A thrill kill seems most likely, or a specific silencing that had to be done immediately, because if someone was targeting her and knew enough about her to follow her there, they would have had a much better opportunity to commit the crime in her dorm, etc., where there would be less potential witnesses.

Derek

 

[littlehorn]

I agree, crimes of passion are often "overkills." But given the place where the crime was committed, it would have been impossible to keep stabbing her over and over and not get caught. This was done by someone very calculating, with knowledge of the anatomy, who knew exactly where to place the knife to kill her almost instantly. And I believe she was struck from behind too, with almost no chance to cry out or scream, although the girl who found her said she heard a scream, but she seemed to be the only one who heard it.

Take for example the case of Lindy Biechler, from www.lindyandchristy.com.

She felt she had been being followed/watched for several weeks; she was stabbed 11 times, of which almost any would have been fatal; the killer or someone went so far as to vandalize her tombstone and then send a taunting letter to police about it. A classic case of a crime of passion.

Betsy's case feels totally different from this one. Although, police have been taunted about it, and she has been "memorialized" twice, once in 1994, and again in 1999.

Keep in mind that it was found that she bled out into her lungs -- making the report of a scream highly unlikely. I tend to think, like you, that she never had a chance to scream. But there were a lot of erroneous reports. I have read newspaper articles that had her "found in a pool of blood," etc., which was incorrect as well.

Derek