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

[J. J. in Phila]

Just read the book. Quite good.

 

[DevilsPlayThing]

Is her case closed? Solved ? So many questions.

 

[Dreamnine]

I read the book and Sherwood makes a very compelling case - in my view - for RH's guilt.

A lot of loose ends, though, and Mr. Sherwood is working on a second book about RH's life and the various criminal trials he was involved in, I last heard.

 

[Pink Panther]

Rh supposedly went to his professor L.A. Wright that night. If one googles the professor's name with RH's they show up together in a document written by Rh in 2002 (pressumedly just before he died.) Rh thanks LA Wright for his contribution (in 2002) and LA is still alive at that point. So they still have a professional connection (a Death Valley one at that). When researching for this book, did the author ever have or try to have a conversation with LA Wright about Rh's conversation with him the night that Betsy was murdered or was the conclusion merely hearesay?

 

[Pink Panther]

Is her case closed? Solved ? So many questions.

No. Her case is not closed.

: (

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Yes, they spoke to Professor Wright.


They wrote separate articles that are in a guidebook that was published in 1974. Wright sent Haefner some unpublished data for a presentation Haefner was making in 2002. That isn't a "professional relationship" by a long-shot.

 

[Pink Panther]

I said that they still had a "professional connection" in 2002. Not a "relationship". The only thing I was trying to establish was that they still knew each other and were in contact in 2002 just before JR died. Which in fact, seems to be the case.

JJ - You say "Yes, they spoke to Professor Wright." Who is "they"? What did they speak to him about? Is there any information about this that is publicly available?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I said that they still had a "professional connection" in 2002. Not a "relationship". The only thing I was trying to establish was that they still knew each other and were in contact in 2002 just before JR died. Which in fact, seems to be the case.

JJ - You say "Yes, they spoke to Professor Wright." Who is "they"? What did they speak to him about? Is there any information about this that is publicly available?

The authors of the book, who discovered the clue.

It isn't too unusual to share data between people in the same field. It happens with me all the time with colleagues. Sometimes, I'll hear from people that I've never met.

 

[Pink Panther]

I bumped into this article here:

http://zodiackiller.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=3232&sid=0d1db7f280413da447889ad79f616c60

"Nobody dies from a stab wound straight through the heart in the middle of a supermarket on a busy payday, and nobody else sees it. This is what's so perplexing."
(Norman Boudewyn, 19 - I believe he died on December 1, 1987. San Francisco.)




I've not found many other similar cases and had never bumped into this before. It reminded me of Betsy's case so I thought I would post it.

ETA - Boudewyn (also spelt BOUDEWIJN) is also a dutch name.

 

[Robin Hood]

RH and young boys

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/447136_Local-man-is-fingered-as-mystery-murderer.htm
l
Accused of sodomy

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...IBAJ&pg=6895,3412846&dq=richard+haefner&hl=en

 

[morf13]

The odd single stab wound murder,in an area with other people nearby certainly is odd,and unusual. Coincidentally, the link you provided was from a Zodiac killer forum, and Zodiac is considered by many to be a suspect in the case of Cheri jo Bates, who some,including myself, have tried to connect to the Aardsma case. There's no solid evidence thatthe Bates case and Aardsma cases are linked,but there are some interesting paralells...

Bates was killed in 1966 in Riverside at her college library(outside in the lot). Police held as possible evidence, a desktop poem that mentioned a girl in a red dress.The desktop poem was signed RH. Taunting letters were mailed to authorities in the Bates case.

Aardsma was killed at her college library(inside),and she was wearing a red dress. Police found an odd poem written on a nearby desk in the Aardsma case. The prime suspect was a guy with initials RH. Years later, a taunting letter was received in the Aardsma case.

Again, the paralells are interesting, and maybe one of the most unique types of coincidence you will ever see. I have looked into the RH suspect in the Aardsma case,and can not link him to the Bates case in CA.

The Zodiac killer was considered by many,including a prominent state documents expert, to have written teh desktop poem in the Bates case in 1966. He went on to write taunting letters demaning to have his letters published in the newspapers. His first such letter asked to be published "in the Friday paper"
The coincidences continue.....RH,the suspect in the Aardsma case,was from Lancaster PA. A girl named Lindy Sue Biechler was killed in Lancaster in the mid 70's,she was stabbed to death. Soon after, a letter was sent to the police. The author asked for it to be published "in the Friday paper".


Lots of interesting things sorrounding these cases,but nothing solid or concrete connects them

 

[Pink Panther]

I think the thing I find the most fascinating/incredible when reviewing information about Betsy's case is that it took place in such a public forum (with so many potential witnesses), so quickly and so efficiently. There are very few similar crimes which is why I posted the one article I've found of a similar incident (for Norman Boudewyn) above. These crimes seem almost to be a response to a "dare". Something like, "I bet you can't kill someone in broad day-light and get away with it." If someone had planned to kill Aardsma for personal reasons, wouldn't it have made more sense for him/her to have done so somewhere where he/she would have had the best chance of not being seen?

morf13 - I've read lots and lots about the parallels you point out and without question they are worthy of consideration. Somehow however, they just don't add up for me. The "rh" initials are startling and the mention of the red dress too...But beyond that, I'm not sure that the MO for Cheri and Aardsma connect at all. Very different murders. One swift, precise and in public. The other (possibly) drawn out, in isolation and far more violent.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Pink Panther]

Probably completely unrelated but just in case, I feel the need to post:

http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/crime/...o-about-1968-murder-victim-from-massachusetts

 

[Pink Panther]

Was Haefner ever enlisted in the navy? Where did the author's of the book "Who killed Betsy?"go? There is nowhere left to discuss this case? The website for the book has nowhere to leave comments/information? So much time invested by them and then...poof, everyone with knowledge disappears?

 

[Pink Panther]

Does anyone know if Haefner ever spent any time at Harvard?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Does anyone know if Haefner ever spent any time at Harvard?

As a student or employee, no. Was ever on campus at any point in his life, I've never heard about it.

 

[Pink Panther]

This article has probably been posted before but I hadn't seen it and so, I thought to post it for others who might have missed it as well. It's got a lot of interesting information in it:

http://www.pennlive.com/specialprojects/index.ssf/2008/12/dr_elmer_reed_at_ritenour.html

Here's another article that I haven't seen before:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...=jLAiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H7MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4361,71730

 

[marie-chantal]

I go to school and work at a Big 10 university. In our main library, there are areas where, even in the busiest of times, are eerily empty. If this happened between bookcases, then I can kind of understand why we haven't heard about any possible witnesses. I often think of this case when I'm in our library.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I go to school and work at a Big 10 university. In our main library, there are areas where, even in the busiest of times, are eerily empty. If this happened between bookcases, then I can kind of understand why we haven't heard about any possible witnesses. I often think of this case when I'm in our library.

I actually used that library, Pattee, about 15 years later. The campus was substantially more crowded then. You could go into some sections of the "stacks" be in there for 1-2 hours, and maybe see 1-2 other people.

There are rows, literally in double digits, of filled bookshelves, almost to the ceiling. The field of vision is exceptionally limited.

Ms. Aardmsa, I think, was in a row between two shelves. She could see the entrances to both ends of the row, and nothing else. Anyone not at either end of the row, or in the row, could not see her. If she was reading, focused on something intently, she might have not noticed someone coming up on her. A killer could easily have left at one end of the row and just walked out another row.

 

[Pink Panther]

There is one thing I just don't understand about the theory that Haefner killed Betsy...She moved to Penn State to be near her boyfriend and supposedly decided against other alternatives in her life to be near him. So, how/why was she dating other people? Didn't her boyfriend state that he was likely to propose at Christmas (a month after she was killed)? Wasn't it a serious relationship? One where she had chosen to follow her boyfriend? So where does her "dating" Haefner fit in? This doesn't make sense to me given what we know about Betsy???