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

[aprilmillwood]

This is my first time here but as I was reading through this forum it seems that everyone believes that this was a man. It says in all the articles that Betsy was very popular. I was just wondering could this a crime of envy. There are two women who throw me off. The roommate who parted with her at the library and new were she was and what she was doing there and the woman who found her and says that she heard the scream. If they saw here as havin something that they wanted and couldn't seem to get that could spawn the single stab straight into the chest and the reason she did not scream or struggle.

 

[Sophiered]

This is my first time here but as I was reading through this forum it seems that everyone believes that this was a man. It says in all the articles that Betsy was very popular. I was just wondering could this a crime of envy. There are two women who throw me off. The roommate who parted with her at the library and new were she was and what she was doing there and the woman who found her and says that she heard the scream. If they saw here as havin something that they wanted and couldn't seem to get that could spawn the single stab straight into the chest and the reason she did not scream or struggle.

I don't think a woman would have the height or strength to thrust that weapon with such force to make one single blow. The killer was very confident that one thrust would kill and silence her. I think if it was a woman who did that, there would have been at least several stab wounds.. In fact I think even most men would have left several wounds.....I am certain that the killer knew precisely how and where on her body to obtain a very quick clean kill. In my opinion it was almost Commando style.

 

[aprilmillwood]

I am just not ruling out a woman. I have known some very envious and jealous people who felt left out and overlooked. If they felt that much anger and resentment I can see were they could get the strength from. Maybe they just got lucky were they got her and when she collapsed they got scared and realized what they had done. Adrenaline can make you do things that you never thought you could. That is how they got the knife back out.

 

[Sophiered]

I do respect your opinion but can't agree. I think if a woman did stab her and was lucky enough to use a fatal blow with the first stab entry, they would thrust more to make sure the job was done...That was not a lucky first hit, it was an intended one only thrust, intended to reach a vital organ.

 

[littlehorn]

Thanks for the reply..Is the Centre County prothonotary's office in PA?
Oh and thank you for the offer, I also wish you still had it. I wonder if anyone else has it that would care to share it.

Yes, the Centre County Prothonotary's office is in PA. Sascha Skucek might be able to supply you a copy if you can get ahold of him through State College Magazine online.

 

[littlehorn]

I don't think a woman would have the height or strength to thrust that weapon with such force to make one single blow. The killer was very confident that one thrust would kill and silence her. I think if it was a woman who did that, there would have been at least several stab wounds.. In fact I think even most men would have left several wounds.....I am certain that the killer knew precisely how and where on her body to obtain a very quick clean kill. In my opinion it was almost Commando style.

This was almost surely a blitz attack. The killer stabbed and ran -- he didn't wait around to see if she was dead, leading me to believe he MAY not have been known to her -- i.e., even if she survived, she couldn't have named him.

Based on the height, it almost had to be a man. I am 6'3" and when I did the autopsy mock-up the only way I could stab at that angle and maintain control of the knife was with my height -- my ex-wife, Betsy's height, could not do it at that angle comfortably with the knife entering the way it did.

Generally envy killings/etc. are directed at a certain aspect of the person -- envious of her beauty, disfigure her face, and so forth. Plus killings by females are typically more savage, lots of stab wounds, because of the rage build-up.

Her roommate was accounted for that day, and the girl who found her has been interviewed numerous times, and even accompanied her to the health center in the ambulance. It changed her life...

 

[littlehorn]

One other note, I still have to believe this was a lucky shot. Reason:

1. Killer stabbed at an area which should lead to death, doesn't take a rocket scientist to stab someone in the heart
2. Killer did NOT know that he would nick her aorta and cause her to bleed out internally into her lungs, which did not allow her to scream or talk.
3. Killer had to expect this would be very messy.
4. Knife nearly missed the aorta, had her heart been in a different stroke of beating, she would have likely survived, and just had a VERY bad day.
5. Killer had to expect that she would be found quickly in a public place like this.

Maybe a thrill-kill even, just lashing out to see if he could do it.

 

[morf13]

This was almost surely a blitz attack. The killer stabbed and ran -- he didn't wait around to see if she was dead, leading me to believe he MAY not have been known to her -- i.e., even if she survived, she couldn't have named him.

Based on the height, it almost had to be a man. I am 6'3" and when I did the autopsy mock-up the only way I could stab at that angle and maintain control of the knife was with my height -- my ex-wife, Betsy's height, could not do it at that angle comfortably with the knife entering the way it did.

Generally envy killings/etc. are directed at a certain aspect of the person -- envious of her beauty, disfigure her face, and so forth. Plus killings by females are typically more savage, lots of stab wounds, because of the rage build-up.

Her roommate was accounted for that day, and the girl who found her has been interviewed numerous times, and even accompanied her to the health center in the ambulance. It changed her life...

What motives do most murders come down to?

1-Money/Robbery
2-Sex/ relationship
3-Drugs

I think all the above can be or have been ruled out in Betsy's case

That would seem to leave us with a "motiveless" crime. Also, you have an anonymous letter being mailed to Penn state years later, reading "you never did catch the guy that killed that cu** in the library did you?" (The chances of someone after all those years sending a prank letter, is slim,which would make me think her killer was still thinking about it,and wrote it) Add in all the aspects of suspected Zodiac victim ,Cheri jo Bates, killed 3 years earlier in CA. See the similarities here: http://www.truecrimediary.com/index.cfm?page=cases&id=67

(Killed at a campus library, wearing a red dress, no motive)
I for one consider her a possible Zodiac victim!

I dont buy the whole "Betsy walked up on a gay tryst" scenario. For this to be the case, we are to believe that not one,but two men kept this seret all these years. I just dont buy it. I think somebody saw an oppoutunity in a lonely, dimly lit area to kill a girl, and took his chance!

 

[littlehorn]

I dont buy the whole "Betsy walked up on a gay tryst" scenario. For this to be the case, we are to believe that not one,but two men kept this seret all these years. I just dont buy it. I think somebody saw an oppoutunity in a lonely, dimly lit area to kill a girl, and took his chance!

I agree. Part of what always bothered me about the two-guys leaving theory was that one of them would likely have talked. Why not? Anonymous sex with someone in the library, and then you see them murder someone, what's to keep you from talking?

The assistant stacks supervisor Brungart claimed that later the next year he felt he was followed through the stacks and saw the man who was following him, and recognized him as one of the two men he identified at the time. He felt this was some form of intimidation, trying to tell him not to tell anything. Who knows?

The theory is compelling though that perhaps she saw someone who she may have casually known engaged in something that would have been a career-ender or a criminal offense. I'm sure jacking off in the library to *advertiser censored* was likely not viewed kindly. All it would take is the PERCEPTION of the guilty party that this needed to be dealt with, and swiftly, and if they were deranged enough, it would be done. She may not even have realized what she saw or what was happening.

 

[littlehorn]

Betsy Aardsma article in the Penn Stater magazine, the official magazine of the Penn State Alumni Association, is out now. An excellent overview of the case, new developments, and the work of Sascha Skucek (and a paragraph about me, LOL).

 

[Balthazar]

littlehorn: What happened to your website on this case? It says Server Not Found?

 

[gaia227]

Was the letter sent to police regarding Betsy's murder typed or handwritten?

Do you have a copy of it LH?

 

[littlehorn]

I took the site down around this time last year. I was starting to generate less useful information, and more dumb crap. I actually had a stay-at-home mom request that I give her a murder tour of the Pattee Library with her 5 and 8 year olds in tow. LOL.

The postcard received was handwritten. I have never seen it -- no one outside the State Police has, at least no one I have met/talked to. It is in their files. The postcard was addressed to George Keibler, who was the original lead investigator on the case, working under the Lieutenant in charge at the time. It was also addressed to the State Police care of the Boucke building on campus -- where they had been given a temporary office/command center space in '69, but which had long been dismantled by April 13, 1979 when the postcard was received.

So whoever wrote it had knowledge of the workings of the police at the time -- who was in charge, where their office was -- but not of the changes in the case over the 10 years since the murder.

 

[littlehorn]

Bumping for Betsy...Any news, Morf13?

 

[morf13]

Bumping for Betsy...Any news, Morf13?

Sadly, not as it relates to Aardsma. I am talking with various agencies in PA & CA, as I have developed a POI from CA in the Zodiac case. This POI DID IN FACT, live in PA at one time.


It is very hard to get his info.I have some tidbits,one photo(looks alot like the Zodiac sketch),previous addresses,an arrest,DOB,etc.

I cant find any shred of where he worked,activities,associates,etc. I really would like to find that stuff out.Also would love to find handwriting samples by this individual.

 

[morf13]

Bumping for Betsy...Any news, Morf13?

Actually spoke to the Detective in charge of her case today, gave her info on my POI,we discussed the similarities to the Cheri Jo Bates/Zodiac case, which she was already familiar with. Its a longshot,but cant hurt

 

[penguins87]

littlehorn,

Do you ever plan on activating the whokilledbetsy website again? I just heard about this story recently and found this thread and it is very interesting. I just wanted to see the information you have compiled on your website.

Thanks, and good luck.

 

[littlehorn]

Sadly I don't...I don't have any of the site archives available -- the computer I created the site on, which had all of my data, crashed and I switched over to a new computer. The hosting company deletes information when a site is taken down so unfortunately it is lost.

The information I had was mainly newspaper articles, etc., compiled from various sources, as well as links to all relevant Aardsma information on the web. Also unfortunate is the fact that with my loss of data in the computer crash, went the autopsy mock-up photos and analysis that I had done. The PSP have seen/may have copies of this but of course once they have it, it will likely not come back out of their files for public consumption.

 

[morf13]

Here are some of the sites I have read about her case on:

http://www.statecollegemagazine.com...ws]=50&tx_ttnews[backPid]=61&cHash=418565ac46

http://labyrinth13.com/OtherWorks_BetsyAardsma.htm

There are a couple more,just do a google search

 

[littlehorn]

The Problem With Composites and Coincidences.

Lately I have seen a lot of talk here and on other sites comparing coincidental data on various POI's as well as composite drawings. So I decided to do a little research and present a scenario which shows why this type of research is so problematic.

Person of Interest: Joe Paterno
Occupation: PSU Football coach since 1966.

1969 -- Betsy Aardsma leaves Michigan to attend graduate school at Penn State.
1969 -- Joe Paterno turns down Michigan coaching job in favor of keeping Penn State position.

11/28/1969 -- Betsy Aardsma stabbed in Pattee Library around 5:00 pm.
11/29/1969 -- Joe Paterno takes Nittany Lions to a televised victory over NC State in North Carolina -- more than enough time to get to NC after the Aardsma killing.

4/1979 -- Taunting postcard sent to police in Aardsma case
4/1997 -- Paterno Library groundbreaking -- significance to month of April/date transposition?

1993 -- Paterno says "without a great library, you can't have a great
university!" Donates $13 million to the college to build a library addition named after himself.
1994 -- Shrine appears on 25th anniversary of Aardsma slaying

There are other coincidences, but the most striking is this comparison of the suspect and the composite drawing:

It's a little bit of humor, but my point is that it's important when dealing with something like this, to not put too much stock in the composites/coincidences. Look at the Durgy myth and how it has grown!