So, when brother Frank died in 2003:
>>Five years ago, when neighbors noticed elderly Frank Bernstorff had quit puttering around his Evanston garden, they asked one of his live-in sisters if anything was wrong.
No, Margaret Bernstorff said, there was nothing to be concerned about -- he'd gone to live with out-of-state relatives.<<
Would it be fair to say that an explanation like the above would not be the sign of someone who is mentally disabled talking, but rather of someone purposely "not telling the truth." I mean a) "what's that smell in the house" and b) "Frank's gone, but all of his stuff is still here (not to mention his body)" and c) also, which of the bodies were covered with a blanket and who did the covering?
Anita was evidently alive and living at the house at the same time, i.e. when Frank died (ref: "his live-in sisters). She was approx 93 upon her brother's death. She had been coming onto the family porch up until Spring this year, when people stopped seeing her and asked about her. She supposedly died in May 08. I wonder if people conversed with Anita in the years prior to 2003, what her mental estate was at that time, i.e. she wasn't oblivious to her brother suddenly "not being around" was she?
We read that one person asked about Anita and was told she was sick and upstairs. The above mentioned article says this:
>>Anita had become afraid to venture outside, Margaret Bernstorff said.<<
Well maybe she did become afraid to venture outside, and maybe she was sick and upstairs, but at some point she was dead. Was she one of those who was covered? Again, Margaret appears to have been able to "not tell the truth."
Now I've been seeing "bodies in bed" in my head, but the article says:
>>"Some were partially clothed, some were wearing full clothes," said a source in the medical examiner's office. The bodies were covered when they were found, another source said.<<
Did these people drop, and someone just went and put a blanket over them? Did they get carried and placed in a bed? The above says that the bodies were covered, so apparently they were "all" covered? I'd like to know "where" the bodies were found and whether there were flowers placed beside them or any other type of "good-bye" activity (pictures, etc.)
>>neighbors stared at the yellow police tape around the Bernstorff home and spoke of Margaret Bernstorff as an an articulate, friendly and generous woman.<<
Hmmm articulate, probably educated? Her father was a PHd, her mother was a PHb. They seemed to have money, so perhaps the children were all given an education? I wonder about "in what" and where. And if no education, why. And again, did any of these people have children? The inside of that house definitely has a story to tell.
>>Neighbors said the Bernstorffs had lived at the Evanston home at least since the 1920s.<<
The children were born between the years 1910 and 1920, the closest I can figure. I have to tell you that I might be very afraid of what could be found in boxes and bags in that house, in the attic (maybe babies that did not live?)
At what point in time did this tolerance of death being in your midst begin in this family?
>>But others noted that Margaret Bernstorff almost never invited neighbors into the house.
"You didn't go inside," said one neighbor. "You left things at the back door."<<
Huh, I guess if you DID you would be feeling very creeped out about now.
>>Redmond said Margaret Bernstorff rarely let him or his workers inside. If Redmond asked to use the bathroom, she'd say there was something wrong with the toilet, he said.<<
Now really... Is this again an issue of "not telling the truth?" I think that Margaret "knew" that there was something "not socially acceptable" going on inside that house, not just that it was "untidy."
>>"She was very proud and private," said one neighbor. "No one wanted to pry. She had a real grace about her, and everyone wanted to respect that."<<
"Proud and private" hmmmmmm and hmmmmm hmmm hmmm...
Boy, I really hope that we soon get some more information from the police or the family members of these people.
Wrinkles
