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

[littlehorn]

gaia227,
I hope he IS reading this and he'll know that he didn't win afterall. It doesn't really take that much intelligence to commit a murder. It takes alot more strength, stamina, and intellect to make it through life without stabbing a fellow human being. Betsy made it to Grad school without doing it to someone. So yeah, in my mind, Betsy was the winner. The short amount of years she spent on this earth were probably spent with more laughter, loving, and living than his long miserable life.

gaia227, I am so sorry for the rant. Thank you so much for your input.

Part of my idea with the website and the publicity I've been trying to generate through the forums was to shake the murderer up, if he is tech-savvy enough to be around here, and also to let him know that people are still looking for him.

Like Kevin Spacey says in "Usual Suspects," : "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Whoever murdered Betsy has done JUST THAT for the last 39 years. It's the easiest thing in the world -- just don't attract attention and people will forget.

I hope that by stirring this up and "fishing with dynamite" something useful will float to the top of the pond.

 

[littlehorn]

How many people besides investigators and family do you suppose kept an original set of vintage clippings all those years?
Id bet the house and lot it was the responsible.

Like I said I have hard time investing much in that scenario,but who knows? Certainly not me.

I would be willing to bet that whoever did it and kept those clippings that long, may have more information in their house. I'd be surprised if they didn't have a virtual shrine to her somewhere in a special place where they can go and reminisce about it. Maybe it will be uncovered when they die, and the family is going through their things.

The only thing about the homosexual scenario is to think about who would feel that silencing her would be the best option -- someone with more to lose than just a college student. Someone who might have been married, but bi or curious. Someone who might have a stake in making sure everything stays the same...

 

[kline]

Yeah,I really dont think the homosexinteruptus scenario is very likely,just one of those things that popped into my my mind.
The clippings are very intriguiging to me.
I wouldnt be surprised if the private shrine idea is right on the money.
Of course now we have to ask did he keep the clippings to gloat over what he did and got away with or because of some emotional attachment to Betsy herself or the events that led to her murder?
(Boy this case breeds more questions at every turn)
I also wonder what would motivate the killer at that time to place the shrine at the library?
After all many aniverseries had come and gone,obviously noted by him.
I wonder what happened in his life to motivate this risky gesture of what..absolution? memorium? Some sort of nostalgic catharsus to somehow revoke the time between then and the act of the murder itself?
Dont forget Me. Dont forget Her.
Very interesting.
Littlehorn i sincerly hope your efforts to publicize this case shakes something loose.Its time and I think its a wonderful thing to do for Betsy and her family and the people who cared for her.That photo of her breaks
my heart.
I wouldnt worry about the short attention span over at zodiac.com they are all hot in pursuit of a new POI at the moment(who does look promising)
Keep up the good work and thanks for bringing this facinating case to my attention.
Lets keep brainstorming.Who knows?

 

[Talisman]

Just another theory that popped into my head.

Betsy was attending Penn State "engaged in graduate study in English and art."
Betsy was working on a novel "illistrated with the artwork she concentrated on so diligently."
The article'Who killed Betsy Aardsma?" paragraph #13..."despite later rumors that Aardma posed nude for Penn State's art department..."

Common denominators: English and art.

I've been so busy looking for an invisible 'boogeyman' that coincidences right in front of my eyes weren't seen.

The police have stated that classmates have been questioned (some called back for more). Wonder how many students in Betsy's English 501 class also had a connection to her through art as well? Wonder how many students in the library at the time she was murdered were in both art and English 501?

littlehorn has wondered if it was a 'Nam vet. Was he someone that came back from the war? Did he have the GI Loan for college courses? Military background-knowledge of killing.

Was it normal for men to carry around big hunting knives with 4 inch blades in '69? (My Dad and brothers carried small pocket knives)

It is really starting to sound like premeditation to me by someone who did know Betsy....was in her English 501 class....had a connection through art...couldn't have her or she represented so many beautiful things that he couldn't handle ('nam might've been really bad for him)

...just some more ramblings from me. Just a question, don't they fingerprint you when you join the military? If they found fingerprints at the scene and it was a 'nam vet, wouldn't they have found a match?

 

[littlehorn]

Just another theory that popped into my head.

Common denominators: English and art.

Was it normal for men to carry around big hunting knives with 4 inch blades in '69? (My Dad and brothers carried small pocket knives)

...just some more ramblings from me. Just a question, don't they fingerprint you when you join the military? If they found fingerprints at the scene and it was a 'nam vet, wouldn't they have found a match?

I trimmed your post a bit so I could respond to it viewing it all at once.

I haven't been able to find a connection with Betsy and anyone in the Art Department. I got a copy of the SCM story, there were some sidebars listed that dispelled a lot of the rumors about her and nude modelling. No one has really been able to tell me definitively whether she took art lessons, etc., ever. A lot of the information in the news articles has been regurgitated so often, that it's possible that it was just repeated. If anyone has any link to her and an art tutor/art class, etc., I'd love to read about it. Her original course list for that semester was all Graduate-level english classes.
The knife thing, yes, I question that. Being that it was likely a fixed-blade knife, it would be much harder to conceal or justify carrying around. I'm not sure what kind of tools are used in bookbinding, but I wonder if there would have been a knife used in any library functions that perhaps would make sense? I carry a pocketknife or a boxcutter because of my job, each day we have some cardboard boxes to open or prepare for shipment, so perhaps it wouldn't be unusual to have access to those things in a library setting?
You raise an interesting point about the fingerprints, and one that I can definitely answer for you. When you join the military, you are fingerprinted -- but those prints are put into a CIVIL database, which is separate from the CRIMINAL database compiled by the FBI and computerized over the years. The civil database has never been computerized, and what does exist is mostly in the form of paper print cards.

Complicating matters is the fact that in 1960, a fire consumed much of the Central Records Repository at St. Louis. So many enlistment records, print cards, etc., prior to that time were lost forever. If someone who had any military experience prior to that was on file, it's most likely gone now.

 

[littlehorn]

Yeah,I really dont think the homosexinteruptus scenario is very likely,just one of those things that popped into my my mind.
The clippings are very intriguiging to me.
I wouldnt be surprised if the private shrine idea is right on the money.
Of course now we have to ask did he keep the clippings to gloat over what he did and got away with or because of some emotional attachment to Betsy herself or the events that led to her murder?
(Boy this case breeds more questions at every turn)
I also wonder what would motivate the killer at that time to place the shrine at the library?
After all many aniverseries had come and gone,obviously noted by him.
I wonder what happened in his life to motivate this risky gesture of what..absolution? memorium? Some sort of nostalgic catharsus to somehow revoke the time between then and the act of the murder itself?
Dont forget Me. Dont forget Her.
Very interesting.
Littlehorn i sincerly hope your efforts to publicize this case shakes something loose.Its time and I think its a wonderful thing to do for Betsy and her family and the people who cared for her.That photo of her breaks
my heart.
I wouldnt worry about the short attention span over at zodiac.com they are all hot in pursuit of a new POI at the moment(who does look promising)
Keep up the good work and thanks for bringing this facinating case to my attention.
Lets keep brainstorming.Who knows?

I just wish that something could have happened in the intervening years that we wouldn't even be having this conversation now, you know? Her mother and father are both dead. They will never know what becomes of this or what, if any, measure of justice is obtained.

And we can't get back the 40 years that she might have had to contribute something to the world, whatever it might have been. We'll never know.

I would be interested to know what significance the 25-year anniversary had when compared to the 1-24th anniversaries which passed without incident.

The keeping of the clippings is odd, especially if it was a murder to silence her because she uncovered something. I do have some evidence which I'm not at liberty to reveal that suggests the homosexual theory may be more compelling than any of us would think.

 

[Gina_M]

The knife thing, yes, I question that. Being that it was likely a fixed-blade knife, it would be much harder to conceal or justify carrying around. I'm not sure what kind of tools are used in bookbinding, but I wonder if there would have been a knife used in any library functions that perhaps would make sense?

You may be onto something with the bookbinding tools. Check out these awls:
http://www.chestercreekpress.com/tools.html
Could that have been the murder weapon? I'm not sure how much bookbinding is done in libraries, but it's worth looking into.

 

[kline]

I just wish that something could have happened in the intervening years that we wouldn't even be having this conversation now, you know? Her mother and father are both dead. They will never know what becomes of this or what, if any, measure of justice is obtained.

And we can't get back the 40 years that she might have had to contribute something to the world, whatever it might have been. We'll never know.

I would be interested to know what significance the 25-year anniversary had when compared to the 1-24th anniversaries which passed without incident.

The keeping of the clippings is odd, especially if it was a murder to silence her because she uncovered something. I do have some evidence which I'm not at liberty to reveal that suggests the homosexual theory may be more compelling than any of us would think.

Wow,really? That theory was just something I threw out there.
Id heard of the fire that destroyed so many military records its been a major stumbling block in the Zodiac investigation as well.
Yeah,Why the 25th anniversary?
He had marked 24 of them.
What caused him to relinquish the clippings after all that time?
The gesture obviously held some deep personal signifigance to him which leads one to think the murder might very well have been deeply personal as well.
And I agree,contemplating what this girl may have accomplished with her life is beyond tragic.
She should have had the chance to live it.
It shouldnt be too much to ask.

 

[littlehorn]

You may be onto something with the bookbinding tools. Check out these awls:
http://www.chestercreekpress.com/tools.html
Could that have been the murder weapon? I'm not sure how much bookbinding is done in libraries, but it's worth looking into.

Good point. PSU is the largest collegiate library in the world. I'm sure they have bookbinding tools around. That would explain the provenance of the weapon. And when you're done, clean it up, put it away, and your prints are on it only because you work there...

 

[littlehorn]

Wow,really? That theory was just something I threw out there.
Id heard of the fire that destroyed so many military records its been a major stumbling block in the Zodiac investigation as well.
Yeah,Why the 25th anniversary?
He had marked 24 of them.
What caused him to relinquish the clippings after all that time?
The gesture obviously held some deep personal signifigance to him which leads one to think the murder might very well have been deeply personal as well.
And I agree,contemplating what this girl may have accomplished with her life is beyond tragic.
She should have had the chance to live it.
It shouldnt be too much to ask.

I wonder what happened in his life in 1994 that caused such an effort on his part.

I'm starting to believe there is a whole story here that no one has ever heard...

Derek

 

[kline]

I wonder what happened in his life in 1994 that caused such an effort on his part.

I'm starting to believe there is a whole story here that no one has ever heard...

Derek

Obviously this anniversary was pivotal to him for some reason.
It could be viewed a couple of ways.
Perhaps it was an absolution.A gesture of washing his hands and laying it to rest.
Or perhaps whatever mental instabilty or spiritual void that precipitated the murder to begin with was provoked by something in his personal life.
Its hard for us because we dont have the context to place the gesture of the shrine in.
But I really think this is important and may have provided the best chance of catching this guy since 1969 perhaps even better then 1969.
I fear it may have been lost,I dont know how seriously authorities took it. It seemed like a real vunerable moment where he was realy showing his backside.
But what was that? 14 years ago?It would be about as difficult as trying to back track to '69 as far as a cold trail.
I hate to say it but part of me hopes it was a final bit of business before putting a pistol in his mouth.

 

[gaia227]

Talisman - I could not agree more with your statement. I was really just 'thinking' out loud. The whole intelligence factor was mentioned by me more in relation to the idea of a serial killer, as evidence has shown in many cases the serial killer tends to have a high intelligence quotient( of course, not always, but in many). However, intelligence does not mean you are going to make smart decisions or live your life in a meaningful, productive manner. I don't really think the murder was the work of a serial killer but at this point it is of course a possibility, as so many other things are.
I think the idea of winning is relative. WE don't see the killer as having won, but he may see it that way. That is all I meant. I am sure in my convoluted message I didn't make myself very clear. Thanks for your reply and no need to apologize.

 

[littlehorn]

But I really think this is important and may have provided the best chance of catching this guy since 1969 perhaps even better then 1969.
I fear it may have been lost,I dont know how seriously authorities took it. It seemed like a real vunerable moment where he was realy showing his backside.
But what was that? 14 years ago?It would be about as difficult as trying to back track to '69 as far as a cold trail.
I hate to say it but part of me hopes it was a final bit of business before putting a pistol in his mouth.

I know that the shrine issue was well-covered up by the authorities. But again, like you say, with 14 years passed, it's likely just as cold trying to figure out who put that there as it would be to solve the murder altogether.

Another thought I discussed with someone was that perhaps it was the FIRST anniversary which he was able to do this without creating any heat for himself. The 10th, 15th, and 20th anniversaries had major coverage from the local papers, etc. By the 25th things had cooled off quite a bit and the story was mostly forgotten.

Derek

 

[Talisman]

I wonder what happened in his life in 1994 that caused such an effort on his part.

I'm starting to believe there is a whole story here that no one has ever heard...

Derek

littlehorn,

Maybe his family life disolved right before the 25th anniversary of the murder. With the theory of him maybe being a closet homosexual there is the chance that his wife/girlfreind/family found out. Might have been enough to set him 'off'.

Still, though, there is the question of why make the shrine and risk getting caught? He had gotten away with it all of those years. Was it a taunting? Was it a release? Was it an emotional connection? Did he want to get caught on some level deep down?

Wish the police would release some of that information to the public you were talking about. For goodness sake-Betsy's murder happened in 1969. What in the world would it hurt? On going investigation indeed...sometimes you hit a high wall and need a little assistance over the top. Their might be one individual out there that hears/sees that information that will solve this case. Memories about that day a slipping away, esp if the person doesn't know how important what they saw is.

 

[Talisman]

Talisman - I could not agree more with your statement. I was really just 'thinking' out loud. The whole intelligence factor was mentioned by me more in relation to the idea of a serial killer, as evidence has shown in many cases the serial killer tends to have a high intelligence quotient( of course, not always, but in many). However, intelligence does not mean you are going to make smart decisions or live your life in a meaningful, productive manner. I don't really think the murder was the work of a serial killer but at this point it is of course a possibility, as so many other things are.
I think the idea of winning is relative. WE don't see the killer as having won, but he may see it that way. That is all I meant. I am sure in my convoluted message I didn't make myself very clear. Thanks for your reply and no need to apologize.

gaia:blowkiss:,

It wasn't you, you made yourself very clear. I just went off on a tangent after I started posting to your comment. ( I guess when you quote somebody's post you should stick to the topic - rambling on and talking out loud I am very adept at.)

Thanks for your post.

 

[littlehorn]

Still, though, there is the question of why make the shrine and risk getting caught? He had gotten away with it all of those years. Was it a taunting? Was it a release? Was it an emotional connection? Did he want to get caught on some level deep down?

Wish the police would release some of that information to the public you were talking about. For goodness sake-Betsy's murder happened in 1969. What in the world would it hurt? On going investigation indeed...sometimes you hit a high wall and need a little assistance over the top. Their might be one individual out there that hears/sees that information that will solve this case. Memories about that day a slipping away, esp if the person doesn't know how important what they saw is.

The odds of Betsy's murder being solved are slim to none, I agree. That's why I wish the police would be more willing to help. It seems like they hold it pretty close to themselves but yet not much knew has come out in the last 20 years even.

I wonder if the killer possibly enjoyed the attention that Betsy's murder caused, and felt that if he were to put the shrine up, it would cause some more local press attention, which he could then revel in? Just a thought, and one thought is as good as the next in this case.

I've gleaned quite a bit of information about this case so far without seeing the police files. Hopefully I will find out enough to present them with something concrete shortly.

Derek

 

[kline]

You know your right it could be just that simple.
Anybody with a collection of vintage newspaper clippings obviously closely followed the case in the press,perhaps noting the coverage of previous anniversaries he anticipated a lot of publicity for the 25th and thought his little shrine number would rock everyone's world.
I mean it does sound a bit contrived like the plot of a 70's slasher movie:
"I'm Back".'The diabolical killer of coed girls returns to the campus 25 years later to continue his reign of terror.Staring..'
Maybe he thought he could raise the fear factor back up to 1969 levels and bask in the vibe again.
Just for old times sake.Since im sure slaughtering Betsy was probably the 'Big O' moment of this freaks worthless existence before or since.

 

[littlehorn]

You know your right it could be just that simple.
Anybody with a collection of vintage newspaper clippings obviously closely followed the case in the press,perhaps noting the coverage of previous anniversaries he anticipated a lot of publicity for the 25th and thought his little shrine number would rock everyone's world.
I mean it does sound a bit contrived like the plot of a 70's slasher movie:
"I'm Back".'The diabolical killer of coed girls returns to the campus 25 years later to continue his reign of terror.Staring..'
Maybe he thought he could raise the fear factor back up to 1969 levels and bask in the vibe again.
Just for old times sake.Since im sure slaughtering Betsy was probably the 'Big O' moment of this freaks worthless existence before or since.

If you look at the newspaper coverage, it definitely drifted off at the 20th anniversary. There was minimal coverage at that time vs. the 15 and 10 year anniversaries.

It makes sense that he might want to relive all the excitement and fear he put into the local area by trying to stir the pot.

Derek

 

[Talisman]

If you look at the newspaper coverage, it definitely drifted off at the 20th anniversary. There was minimal coverage at that time vs. the 15 and 10 year anniversaries.

It makes sense that he might want to relive all the excitement and fear he put into the local area by trying to stir the pot.

Derek

littlehorn,

Just a though, maybe he moved away from the area after the murder. Maybe something happened in '94 that brought him back to State College.
What if it was something as ironic as one of his own graduating from there.

 

[littlehorn]

Just a though, maybe he moved away from the area after the murder. Maybe something happened in '94 that brought him back to State College.
What if it was something as ironic as one of his own graduating from there.

That's very possible. I thought it interesting that, when I looked back at the calendar for 1994, the 28th fell on a Monday. This may have some significance as to accessibility of the stacks for setting up his shrine? Just an interesting factoid, I suppose.

It would be ironic if he came back for a graduation. I guess I kind of suspect that the person who did this might have been a local, only because aside from the students who are there for a specific reason, a lot of people, students included, tend to settle in the area after they graduate.

I got the FOIA packet from the FBI today. Not too much heat or light contained therein. Basically pertains to two leads which the FBI followed as possibly relating to Betsy's crime. One was cleared when someone else went to prison for the crime that shared similarities, and one was dropped due to no real evidence linking him.

I would guess from the dates of the papers that the FBI hasn't been actively involved since 1972-73.

Derek