SOLVED MA - Jane Britton, 22, Harvard student, Cambridge, 7 Jan 1969

New Posts

Pink Panther said:
Yes. This is correct. Jane's mother was Ruth Gertrude Reinert. I did find an obituary for her a while back but I'll have to dig to find it again!

I have not encountered an obituary for Jane so far.
Click to expand...

I'm a little surprised that we cannot find an obit for Jane.

Also, there is so very little about her mother. I've even tried to find a lead regarding her mother being a visiting scholar at Radcliffe, but so far... nothing.

It's likely her brother is still living, and maybe other siblings as well.

Maybe macoldcase will soon return AND hopefully shed more light on the case!!
 
In the web preview for this article, it says the police filmed her entire funeral, obviously to record who was there and how they behaved.

I can't find an obit, yet, but I'm combing some old papers later.. damn pay per view... I wonder if it was all ket low key, though, since there would have been such a circus going on around the family anyway, with media & police..

That articles also says she was covered in white roses for her burial. So sad.
 
fred&edna said:
I'm making notes! I've also solicited help from a friend (associated with LE, not Boston tho) and I'm hoping he will advise me of the best manner in which to request and actually obtain any or all of the info we seek.
Click to expand...
This is awesome, F&E! Please do thank your friend for us! And good luck with it all, it'd be so great to get some more details. I have a gut feeling this crime is solvable..

And maybe Ada's murder, too. I don't think it was a coincidence at all. Copycat, or same guy, but no coincidence.
 
Ausgirl said:
This is awesome, F&E! Please do thank your friend for us! And good luck with it all, it'd be so great to get some more details. I have a gut feeling this crime is solvable..

And maybe Ada's murder, too. I don't think it was a coincidence at all. Copycat, or same guy, but no coincidence.
Click to expand...

Well, first we have to remember that I will be lucky to just get my foot in the door and talk to someone. They may only take my name and number and say they will get back to me. But, IF I am lucky enough to talk to a detective... I can only hope he will see some of the blackout as "gray" now. My LE friend tells me that it's VERY possible the Boston PD will disclose nothing and we will be lucky if we can get maybe one or two questions answered. We might need to rethink this... just to narrow down the MOST important questions. Two questions that might give us enough information to go from there. I know that's not good news. But, it's what I'm going to work with.
 
Perhaps the others posting and reading this thread will suggest a couple of questions each, we could get a kind of census going maybe?

My two questions are:

- where was the stone found, and was it the murder weapon?

and:

- could we please have a timeline - names redacted, if they like - which includes the inconsistencies for which the four were polygraphed.
 
I'm interested the real reason for the news blackout and not the 'things are getting mis-reported' bunkem.
Also, where was the object/stone found.

There was also a reference to a broken table leg found in some rubbish that the police thought was a clue (unfortunately PP view)

Off to think of other approaches incase LE doesn't come good.

Edited to add - I think LE should take a look at the whole case again especially in light of the Ravi drugs thing. I would imagine if it were today with computers the whole lot would be cross referenced but then in '69 it would be hard to keep tabs on paper files.
Another idea - On another case (not related) contact was made with some of the witnesses/family and you wouldn't believe what came out the bag, it's def worth the effort IMO.
 
Good call on the end-table.. I haven't been able to find reference to that on any free articles.

Come tax return time, I am deffo treating myself to a few ppv subs. As much as I loathe supporting these ripoffs I think they'd come in handy for these very old cases.
 
My mistake it wasn't a table leg it was an end table.

Now, why would somebody remove an end table in whole or part ? there's a clue lurking here I think.

PPV is a pain. We need somebody to go to the libraries and look at the micro fiche.
 
Pink Panther said:
Borowitz was a true crime writer. Kent State published at least two of his books. I believe these boxes (with their related documents including photos) were donated by he and his wife. I've tried to access them electronically but haven't found a way to do so. I think that you have to contact the University for access.

They do have a Facebook site:

https://www.facebook.com/ksuspecialcollections

If you have a facebook account, you can try asking there.
Click to expand...

I'm going to try and get what we need from the files.
 
From a Boston Globe ppv preview:

Ravi Rikhye, 22, of India, had been rooming for two days with Mr. and Mrs. William Cobb
 
So, William Cobb lived at 5b University road and Jane lived at number 6.

From what I can see from Google maps nobody would have to enter the street if they lived in the same block. looks like you can just go between floors. I could be wrong and will stand to be corrected.
Also, if they go up in twos, 5 and 6 could be on the same floor.
 
This case drives me nuts because I KNOW ITS SOLVABLE. So few people to track down and the ones that are untrackable make me particularly suspicious!

The way she was killed/posed is a major clue as to who killed her. After 40 years (without a resulting arrest) you'd think LE might just be open to releasing a bit more information?
 
I've been nagged all night by Ada Bean's death..

And if it wasn't the same killer, I'll be a monkey's Aunt. Precise details of both are too similar, there's proximity in time and location...

BUT. If it was the work of a serial killer - did he only happen to kill these two women a week apart, and then never kill again? I have been checking unsolveds of the time for similar murders, but it's just such an immense task... maybe others will show up. We'll see.

I tend to agree with a poster (too lazy to look up who, presently) who stated they thought Ada may have been murdered to throw the investigation of Jane's murder off. That's a possibility, too - a desperate attempt to make it look like a Boston Strangler style crime spree, rather than Jane's murder being more personal..

Clearly, the police saw that the two crimes were probably connected - but it was serial murder, or a diversion..?

Ada wasn't raped, was she? I am pretty sure neither woman was sexually molested. Odd, when you think about it. How many serial killers who murder up close don't rape their victims? Not many. None that I can think of, actually.
 
I've started to look at other murders in the time frame, managed to find a few, now looking to see if they were unsolved.
 
The murderer, in Jane's case didn't (as far as we know) take a weapon with them. If it was for rape and not murder I'm sure she would have been raped. So, it's possible initially, it was to talk to her and find out what she was thinking. That leaves IMO just a few scenarios. If it was spurned love (Jane was leaving the flat in a few weeks) that's one, another could be to find out what she knows and what she's going to do with it.
Personally, ATM I'm leaning to her seeing something when leaving the apartment of the Mitchells and going down/up the stairs. However, that might change.
It's interesting that at the time Jane was flitting between flats that two men were seen making a fast retreat. I don't think it would mean that they did the murder but it's the timing I'm connecting.

Edited as usual - One more thing, there's also the chance that somebody got the wrong apartment and the wrong woman.
 
I went back to the beginning of these threads and upon reading the first page I realized that macoldcase has contacted LE (without results). I do not mind calling LE again but I don't feel comfortable doing so without more information from macoldcase. If anyone else would like to call, that's fine. But, I hope you understand why I am hesitant to do so at this time.

I'm sorry (I know we all had our hopes up)

:dunno:
 
No worries. F&E!

I wonder why Jane was leaving her flat? For a better one? To live with James/friends? Was someone bothering her? So many questions..

I also wonder if James H. returned to Canada after he left the course? The papers said he was from Ontario.
 
fred&edna said:
I went back to the beginning of these threads and upon reading the first page I realized that macoldcase has contacted LE (without results). I do not mind calling LE again but I don't feel comfortable doing so without more information from macoldcase. If anyone else would like to call, that's fine. But, I hope you understand why I am hesitant to do so at this time.

I'm sorry (I know we all had our hopes up)

:dunno:
Click to expand...

macoldcase hasn't been on here for a while. I corresponded with her via private mail for a bit but have heard nothing from her for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure that she had any more information than we have...So, I don't think that you should hesitate on account of that. Worst case, they'll tell you that they can't share any information.

Regardless, do what you feel comfortable doing and please keep researching with us - your input is much appreciated!

: )
 
Ausgirl said:
No worries. F&E!

I wonder why Jane was leaving her flat? For a better one? To live with James/friends? Was someone bothering her? So many questions..

I also wonder if James H. returned to Canada after he left the course? The papers said he was from Ontario.
Click to expand...

Yes. The papers said he was from Toronto and in fact, had just returned from a vacation there shortly before Jane was murdered. As I've posted previously, I can't find much information about him anywhere. I have posted everything I've found.

: (
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

... and 97 more.
Total: 697 (members: 98, guests: 599)

Online statistics

Members online
98
Guests online
599
Total visitors
697
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
626,520
Messages
18,527,604
Members
241,069
Latest member
MariahKamikaze
Back
Top