Bettie E. Renner, 38, Murdered 18 April 1950, Nassau, Bahamas

[Richard]

Bettie E. Renner, age 37, of Washington DC was on vacation at Nassau, Bahamas when she was brutally attacked and murdered. The case has remained unsolved for 70 years.

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Bettie Elizabeth Renner
Birthdate: 1913
Death: 1950 (36-37)
Nassau, The Bahamas (Bahamas) (Murdered)
Place of Burial: Mount Olivet Cemetery, Washington, D.C. United States
LINK: Bettie Elizabeth Renner

 

[Richard]

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thursday, 20 April 1950)

 

[Richard]

Bettie E. Renner
BIRTH 1913
DEATH 19 Apr 1950 (aged 36–37)
Nassau, New Providence District, Bahamas
BURIAL
Mount Olivet Cemetery
Washington, District of Columbia, USA
PLOT Section 46, Lot 60

Miss Bettie E. Renner, 38, was a graduate of the Washington School of Law and of Catholic University. She served in Tokyo on the staff of Joseph B. Keenan during the war crimes trials and before that was an attorney with the Justice Department in Washington.

The Washington Post - April 20, 1950

LINK:
Bettie E. Renner (1913-1950) - Find A Grave...

 

[Richard]

Corrections to previous posts"

Bettie's given name was: Bettie Ellen Renner.

Her age at death in 1950 was given both as 37 and 38 in newspaper accounts. With a known birth year of 1913, she was most likely 37.

Bettie had two brothers who were living in 1950. They were Charles Henry Renner, Jr. and Frederick Paul Renner. Both worked for the US Government and both traveled to Nassau, Bahamas to identify and claim her body.

They had a younger brother named Edwin Gore Renner, who died during World War while serving as a Corporal in the US Army.

 

[Richard]

Following the World War II Victory over Japan, the world was faced with dispensing justice for atrocities committed by Japan.

Each Allied nation sent teams of prosecutors and defense attorneys to Japan for trials of accused Japanese war criminals.

The United States selected 22 prosecution lawyers for this duty and sent them to Japan for the duration of the trials. Three of those lawyers were women. One of them was Bettie E. Renner.

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MAY 3, 1946 to NOVEMBER 12, 1948

All Japanese Class A war criminals were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) in Tokyo. The prosecution team consisted of justices from eleven Allied nations: Australia, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Soviet Union and the United States of America. The Tokyo trial lasted from May 1946 to November 1948.

Of the eighty (80) Class A war criminal suspects detained in the Sugamo prison after 1945, twenty-eight (28) men were brought to trial before the IMTFE. The accused included nine civilians and nineteen professional military men...

LINKS:

https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.3_1946 Tokyo Charter.pdf

HyperWar: International Military Tribunal for the Far East

Tokyo War Crimes Trials (1946-48): Bibliography and Selected Links

 

[Waller]

I don't think the so called trials against Japanese "war criminals" have nothing to do with her death.
At least the Japanese didn't do it.
I mean in 1950 Japan was nothing more than a colony ruled by McArthur...
Maybe the killer was just a local criminal

 

[Richard]

I don't think the so called trials against Japanese "war criminals" have nothing to do with her death.
At least the Japanese didn't do it.
I mean in 1950 Japan was nothing more than a colony ruled by McArthur...
Maybe the killer was just a local criminal

You are probably right regarding the highest ranking Japanese war criminals - those who were tried by the IMTFE in Tokyo. In 1950, all of those convicted were either dead or still serving prison sentences (with only one or two exceptions).

However, the fact that Miss Renner was chosen for such an important position indicates that she was highly regarded and a very competent person. Her previous work in the FBI and in the Department of Justice should be considered when looking for possible motives in her violent and seemingly senseless death which has gone unsolved for 70 years.

In the course of her work and research with the IMTFE, Bettie Renner came to know intimately the evil and ruthless practices of the Japanese military committed during World War II. The world has come to know the magnitude of the Nazi atrocities, but those committed by the Japanese were equal - or perhaps much worse in comparison.

The trial in Tokyo - as prolonged as it was - was only the tip of the iceberg. Many other Japanese could/should have been prosecuted, but time, available evidence, missing persons, etc were all elements which narrowed the field and scope of the trial to the 28 ultimate defendants.

The Japanese were hoping to become a free nation with their own constitution and government again in a few short years. Perhaps there were elements who wanted to eliminate any possible obstacles to that goal.

 

[Waller]

We as a nation should be very very embarassed to talk about "evil and ruthless practices...committed during the World War II"...
because we're the only nation in history (neither Stalin nor Mao did it, and they were no saints...) that dropped not one but two nuclear bombs on two cities full of civilians (a more than clear crime of war).
That said I don't believe the trial in Tokio was "only the tip of the iceberg". I believe it was a fake trial with no independent courts and without any legitimacy

 

[Richard]

Oh, I can assure you that Japanese war crimes and atrocities were very real, just not generally well remembered today. The link below discusses some of them. Unfortunately, at the end of the war many witnesses, victims, and evidence were no longer in existence.

It was crimes like these that Bettie Renner investigated and prepared for trial.

LINK:
Horrific Japanese Crimes In WWII That History Forgot

 

[Richard]

70 Years ago...

 

[Richard]

News report dated 20 April 1950 on the murder of Bettie Ellen Renner.

 

[Richard]

Bumping this case up. Better Renner was murdered on Nassau in the Bahamas 72 years ago. Her case remains cold and unsolved.

 

[Richard]

LINK:

“Wasn’t Me. One White Man Did It” Said Negro Church Deacon Convicted Of Extortion Of The Widow of Sir Harry Oakes 1950 · Bahamianology

In the Bahamas, prior to 1950, the word extortion was probably used as much as the word Jupiter. Few knew what extortion, or even what Jupiter meant for that matter. Continue Reading

bahamianology.com

LINK:

Bettie E. Renner (1913-1950) - Find a Grave...

Miss Bettie E. Renner, 38, was a graduate of the Washington School of Law and of Catholic University. She served in Tokyo on the staff of Joseph B. Keenan during the war crimes trials and before that was an attorney with the Justice Department in Washington. The Washington Post April 20, 1950

www.findagrave.com

 

[Richard]

On 19 April 2025, this unsolved murder case will be 75 years old.

 

[Richard]

This unsolved murder of Bettie Renner is now 75 years old.

 

[Richard]

Bettie's brothers Charles and Frederick had the sad duty of identifying and transporting her body from Nassau, Bahamas to Washington, DC for burial in April 1950. They both passed away in 1974.

Charles Henry Renner Jr.​

Birth 28 Jun 1909
Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Death 30 Aug 1974 (aged 65)
Myrtle Beach, Horry County, South Carolina, USA
Burial Southern Palms Memorial Gardens
North Myrtle Beach, Horry County, South Carolina, USA
Charles Henry Renner Jr of Myrtle Beach, SC; died at the age of 65. He was the son of the late Charles and Elizabeth (Keating) Renner Sr. ... He was preceded in death by his brothers Frederick and Edwin Renner and his sister Bettie E. Renner...

Charles Henry Renner Jr. (1909-1974) - Find a...

Charles Henry Renner Jr of Myrtle Beach, SC; died at the age of 65. He was the son of the late Charles and Elizabeth (Keating) Renner Sr. He is survived by his wife Genevieve and his son Charles III and daughter Estell Renner. He was preceded in death by his brothers Frederick and Edwin Renner...

www.findagrave.com

Frederick Paul Renner​

Birth 26 Aug 1912
Rhode Island, USA
Death 16 Jul 1974 (aged 61)
Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina, USA
Burial Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Candler, Buncombe County, North Carolina, USA

Frederick Paul Renner (1912-1974) - Find a Grave...

www.findagrave.com

Bettie E. Renner​

Birth 1913
Death 19 Apr 1950 (aged 37)
Nassau, New Providence District, Bahamas
Burial Mount Olivet Cemetery
Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Plot Section 46, Lot 60

Bettie E. Renner (1913-1950) - Find a Grave...

Miss Bettie E. Renner, 38, was a graduate of the Washington School of Law and of Catholic University. She served in Tokyo on the staff of Joseph B. Keenan during the war crimes trials and before that was an attorney with the Justice Department in Washington. The Washington Post April 20, 1950

www.findagrave.com

 

[Richard]

This unsolved murder is one of the oldest cold cases of Royal Bahamas Police, dating back 75 years to 19 April 1950.