Ok, I am new here, but I spent the last week re-reading all the threads about Evelyn Hartley, and I have a couple of points. My theory is this:
(A) No one seems to really consider the fact that Mr. Rasmusen was a college professor who may have inadvertently confirmed for a shady student that he intended to be at the home-coming game and not at home. TAs and such may have been aware of the Profs personal plans for that evening. A college-age student would be more likely to have access to a vehicle as well. Lie-detector tests were only given to Evelyns classmates, not the students of the professor. Perhaps he had a not-so-nice student or one hard up for money.
(B) Also, the issue of lights being on: It is possible that as they tried to break into different houses, they didnt notice the light on or just figured the owners left the lights on when they went out. I leave lights on when I am not home. Perhaps they peeped in the window and Evelyn was using the restroom. The house would have appeared empty. Also, the radio could not have been that loud as there was a sleeping baby in the other room. Which brings up the point that I think it is interesting Evelyns father knocking on doors and ringing the doorbell didnt wake the baby up.
(C) Another idea to consider is that perhaps the burglar was already in the basement when the family left and he may have thought the entire family was gone, not realizing their babysitter was there. The documentation I have read states that Mr. Rasmusen picked up Evelyn that night. Perhaps the perp. saw him leave and thought the house would be empty, climbed in the window, and was surprised to find that the wife and kids were still home. Soon Mr. Rasmusen returns with Evelyn, there is a brief period of sound, the radio goes on softly, the car drives away, and all gets quiet. At this point the burglar thinks he is alone and makes a noise which Evelyn goes to investigate. At that time she is surprised by the burglar (or perhaps he was startled by her) in the basement and is chased back up the stairs. This is when she loses the first shoe. She bolts for the front door, struggling with the man who has, by now, caught up to her in the living room. She loses her second shoe, has her glasses broken, and begins bleeding in the struggle, but is still able to get out the front door and begins to try to outrun the intruder while screaming. It is at this time, the second perp, who was waiting for the first to let him in the locked house, cracks her over the head with an object, likely the one he used to try to pry the windows that were locked (the neighbors house and the bedroom window) taking her completely by surprise. They dont re-enter the house, but just take her to their car and drive away.
(D) Also, has anyone considered that Evelyn had babysat for this family before so she had some experience with the front door lock? Perhaps she even had a similar style lock on the front door of her own home. It may be complicated for one not familiar with it, but not so much if you use that style every day. It being self-locking does not eliminate the possibility of her exiting that way. In fact, her father exited that way and the door locked behind him.
(E) Another point I have been thinking about: In a documentary from the 1980s you can watch on YouTube, police stated that Evelyn had been laying/laid beside a building for a period of time (long enough for a significant pool of blood to form) before again being moved on. I hypothesize that the perp. that Evelyn encountered in the house did not have a plan to kill Evelyn, but as she ran from the home screaming in an attempt to draw attention to her situation perp #2 hit her with something. I believe he hit her so hard that they felt they had no other choice but to take her with them. Not premeditated at all, but an act of desperation when things spiraled out of control. I can picture them in my minds-eye arguing over what to do with her and the stronger willed of the two winning the argument that they had to finish her, as the case may be, because they had wounded her so badly. I think this was an incident that spun out of control quickly and dire consequences.
Opinions?