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

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littlehorn said:
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 1969.

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

joepa.jpg


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!
Click to expand...


I know what you meant...but you just gave me my laugh for the day. I'll never look at JoePa the same way again...LOL!
 
Cambria said:
I know what you meant...but you just gave me my laugh for the day. I'll never look at JoePa the same way again...LOL!
Click to expand...

Like one of the officers told me: "I know you didn't do it. You weren't even born yet. That's about all I can tell you. Everybody who's old enough to have been there, is a suspect."

JoePa seems to have been in the right places at the right times, and his fascination with libraries bears looking into. ;)

I keed, I keed...But you got the point!
 
Cambria said:
I know what you meant...but you just gave me my laugh for the day. I'll never look at JoePa the same way again...LOL!
Click to expand...

to compare with composite in post #740......just found it somewhat interesting, the lips and glasses, hi forehead, slim nose, similiar eyebrows...


John Brennan Crutchley

Mug shot of John Brennan Crutchley.

Born October 1, 1946(1946-10-01)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. Died March 30, 2002 (aged 55)
Bowling Green, Florida, U.S. Alias(es) The Vampire rapist Conviction(s) Kidnapping, Sexual battery Penalty Life sentence Status Deceased Occupation System engineer
 
This case is so creepy yet so intriguing. I had never heard of it before now. Littlehorn, are there any interviews with the lady who found Betsy? Is she still alive? You mentioned it had changed her life. I know it would have mine. Thanks for all your research into this.
 
Hi, sorry, I didn't notice so many pages of this thread. I guess I should read it all before I posted my question. Thanks.
 
In answer to your question, there were no public interviews with her, and her identity was protected in life by the press.

From what we can discern, her name was Marilee Erdley, and it did change her life. She was a classmate of Betsy's, and she rode the ambulance with Betsy to Ritenour Health Center. While there, police found her going through Betsy's purse, in a daze. When they asked why she was going through her purse, she replied "I don't know." She was that dazed and shaken by the whole thing that she was basically just functioning on a mechanical level.

She passed away in 2002, IIRC.
 
PA residents and possibly those online (don't know what the availability online will be) -- Keep an eye out for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article about the Aardsma case, expected possibly this Sunday, 10/11/09.
 
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review is also planning an article. Don't know when it comes out but apparently it is coming out soon.
 
The article in the Post-Gazette yesterday was good. Glad you could be a part of it, littlehorn!

I'm also glad that Trooper Barrows is so dedicated to this case and has a suspect she is looking at. I found it interesting that she said she thought Betsy knew her attacker and was familiar with him and not afraid of him. I guess I always thought it was a random crime, sort of a "thrill kill." I always assumed there was no struggle because it happened so fast and she didn't have time to react. But I found it very curious that Trooper Barrows feels the exact opposite.

Here's the link to the article.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09298/1008195-455.stm
 
Cambria said:
The article in the Post-Gazette yesterday was good. Glad you could be a part of it, littlehorn!

I'm also glad that Trooper Barrows is so dedicated to this case and has a suspect she is looking at. I found it interesting that she said she thought Betsy knew her attacker and was familiar with him and not afraid of him. I guess I always thought it was a random crime, sort of a "thrill kill." I always assumed there was no struggle because it happened so fast and she didn't have time to react. But I found it very curious that Trooper Barrows feels the exact opposite.

Here's the link to the article.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09298/1008195-455.stm
Click to expand...

Yes, I found that interesting, too. I hadn't heard of this student before. Perhaps she feels she is getting closer, or perhaps it is such a long shot that she isn't afraid to reveal this information. The previous trooper on the case, Kent Bernier, while an excellent PSP trooper, was very close-lipped. Perhaps Leigh Barrows realizes that publicity is likely the only way to bring this case to a conclusion...
 
Thanks for posting that link. That was a very good article. I also think that is interesting Trooper Barrows thinks it was someone she didn't have reason to be afraid of. Makes sense. Nothing much else makes sense. I will be thinking of Betsy on November 28th. Forty long years. Wow.
 
The Friday, November 20, 2009, issue of the Daily Collegian had an interesting cover story on the case that included some new information about David and Betsy's relationship and the possibility of extracting DNA evidence from Betsy's dress. I believe that I've read all there is on the Web about the case and hadn't seen this info before. The story gave a little more insight into what David Wright went through during the incident and over the years. In case you missed it, it is located at: http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/11/20/betsy_ruth_aardsma_40_years_la.aspx
 
Great article, you beat me to linking to it because I took a new job and am not on the computer much anymore.

A really excellent piece, they did their homework. Some stuff in there I had never read before, and that's saying something, LOL.
 
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Betsy's murder.
 
I just read about it last week...

looks like the anniversary date came and went without any reports of the guilty person confessing as some criminals do to brag sort of...:waitasec:
 
websurfer said:
I just read about it last week...

looks like the anniversary date came and went without any reports of the guilty person confessing as some criminals do to brag sort of...:waitasec:
Click to expand...

Also no reports of any shrines, mocking postcards, etc., on the 40th anniversary. Perhaps the killer has died, or is feeling the heat generated by all of the publicity we helped to generate.

Or perhaps he is finally over bragging about it, or feels some remorse and is dealing with it in his own way? Who knows?

Would love to see this solved before it hits 41...
 
Its amazing how much attention this case gets, all over the net. I have seen posts about this case on multiple sites about the Zodiac killer, mainly because of the paralells between her murder and the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in CA (possibly by Zodiac)

I have a POI in the Zodiac case who is originally from PA, and I shared what I have on him with Trooper Barrows who is in charge of the Aardsma case. She thought what I had on him was interesting. The Aardsma case is most likely not Zodiac related, but I definitely wanted to share the info with her seing how my POI was fromPA
 
I just started reading about this case so it's going to take awhile to get through all the posts and articles. Littlehorn, I sure wish you hadn't taken down your site because I'm sure that would've been very helpful in getting a handle on this case.

Was Erdley ever considered a POI in this case? I'm sitting here thinking about a student rivalry, perhaps unbeknownst to Betsy, someone who may have wanted to do away with their perceived competition. Erdley wasn't at her desk when confronted by the two men. She was confronted near the staircase where the spot of blood was found.

It bothers me that she couldn't say why she was going through Betsy's purse at the hospital.

So far, I haven't seen anything to indicate that Erdley was truly screaming out for help for Betsy. Was she? Were her cries simply ignored? I find that hard to believe. Seems like too long of a delay between when Betsy was stabbed and when someone finally summoned an ambulance.
 
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