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

  • #321
I apologize I didn't read through all the posts, I do have a few questions

1) was it ever determined what exactly the weapon was ?. I read that an archaeology, hammer, or a wedge shaped rock was missing from her apt ?

2) was it ever recovered ?
I don't think so, but I'm not sure. Fred&Edna, Ausgirl, Pink Panther might know. Since she did her BA work in the Périigordian, thought a hand-ax might be the weapon. But it was a gift (a no-no one if it was real, antiquities are not supposed to leave the country of origin) or possibly a Mesopotamian one. I'd have to go back & look at the original articles. What's confusing is the conflicting articles about the way she died, I believe the coroner said some type of ax, which somehow later morphed into blunt instrument.

Reedus, if anything was submitted the black out on the case kept it from public knowledge.
 
  • #322
I don't think the artifact was illegal at the time. The laws about retaining them in the home country went into effect in 1970, I think.

I could be wrong about that, though.
 
  • #323
I don't think the artifact was illegal at the time. The laws about retaining them in the home country went into effect in 1970, I think.

I could be wrong about that, though.
If it was part of a dig it would belong either to the university or funding agent. You're probably right, it was just something they found abroad. Does anyone know, & forgive me if it's been mentioned, what happened to the Mitchells'? Were they anthropology grad students?
 
  • #324
In many of the news reports about this case, Cambridge Police Detective "Leo Davenport" is quoted. I also found Detective Davenport mentioned in few Boston strangler reports, too... and I wonder if police originally attempted to tie Jane's murder to the strangler, thus missing her "real" killer?

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...4z5HAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NvgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3698,903071

"Detective Leo Davenport, head of an 18-man investigating team... "


Davenport mentioned here:
http://www.massretirees.com/article...s/detectives-seek-boston-strangler-clues-1963

and here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Y0-DBGI2pHYC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=%22leo+davenport%22+Boston+strangler&source=bl&ots=N62-6bbawy&sig=cvupyseghhhKyaIbhhPxDVhhJrw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7hGZU4-MO5CVyASlzoDgDg&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22leo%20davenport%22%20Boston%20strangler&f=false

and here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=4c...ge&q="leo davenport" Boston strangler&f=false

Davenport was appointed Cambridge Chief of Police in 1977:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1977/5/10/cambridge-has-new-police-chief-pleo/
<rbbm>


Not according to this article dated January 8, 1969:
The scene of the slaying was the same apartment complex off Mt. Auburn St. near the JFK library site in which Beverly Samans, 23, a Boston University graduate student, was stabbed to death four years ago.

Police said they believed there was no connection between the Samans murder -- the 10th of 13 slayings attributed to the Boston Strangler -- and Miss Britton's killing.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9dpNu3jLO3tbkZSNmk2aHVYR00/edit?usp=sharing
A little more about Davenport and the weapon:
Det. Lt. Leo F. Davenport, head of an 18-man team investigating the slaying, said no weapon was found in the apartment, which revealed no evidence of a struggle.

Davenport quoted McGovern [Middlesex County M.E.] as saying the weapon could have been "a hand hatchet, a cleaver, or possibly a sharp rock."

Davenport said he felt personally the weapon might have been a ball peen hammer.

Examination of Miss Britton's apartment failed to yield such an instrument, Davenport said.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9dpNu3jLO3teTdNRHZRS0JGbXM/edit?usp=sharing
 
  • #325
Ok so , so far we have a 23 yo female murdered in her apt , in a bldg., where 6 years earlier another woman was stabbed, to death , which was attributed to Albert DeSalvo

No one is sure what the weapon was, where it is , if it came from her apartment, or if it was brought by her killer . Speculations by law enforcement range, from a meat cleaver, to an axe, to a sharp edged rock.

Other reports state possibly a ball peen hammer, or even a archaeology hammer, she "may have" possessed.

There's no sign of forced entry, however, the apartment complex is well known for its unlocked, doors, and windows.

No one heard a struggle, though a child reported hearing a noise out on the fire escape leading to her window, and another student, reported, seeing 2 men running to an idling vehicle. around the time, she got home .

She's found face down on her bed wearing a nightgown. She sustained, 5 severe blows to the head, though police feel she was looking at her attacker, or in his direction when she was struck.

It doesn't state however, if they feel all the blows were delivered while facing her attacker.

However it does list bruising of the face

Police refuse to disclose, whether or not she was sexually assaulted.

She's found (and this is where it gets confusing) by , in one report by her "steady" boyfriend" and in another by the neighbors and her boyfriend.

Discovery was approx. 1240pm according to police, and the coroner puts the time of death at 10-12 hours earlier .

A witness said she returned from her date, at approx. 1215am, meaning she was killed shortly after she got home , most likely within 30 minutes.

There's no sign of robbery or theft

Then there's this Iodine Oxide spread throughout the room, and on her body

And lastly the police, squash any further info from being released concerning the case.

SO as always we start with the victim why was she killed ?

So we do a victimology analysis on the victim :

Victimology worksheet (Crime Classification Manual )
I. Victimology: Why did this person become the victim of a violent
crime?


A. About the victim
Lifestyle
Employment
Personality
Friends (type, number)
Income (amount, source)
Family
Alcohol/drug use or abuse
Normal dress
Handicaps
Transportation used
Reputation, habits, fears
Marital status
Dating habits
Leisure activities
Criminal history
-Anyone in her family immediate or otherwise ever been in trouble with the law?
Assertiveness
Likes and dislikes
-Any medical history (psychological or physical)-especially recently?
-Was she on any meds?
-How long has she been on them?
-For What ?
-How often administered?
-Did she do this regularly?
-Was there anything in his lifestyle that would make her a target ?
-Was she or is there any indication he was involved, with anyone either professionally, or romantically?
-Did they have any problems if he was?
-Did she keep a diary, or any writings?
-Was she afraid of anything or anyone? (had she ever mentioned being stalked?)
-Was it known if she was in debt to anyone?
-List of friends especially anyone who visited recently

Significant events prior to the crime

Activities prior to the crime


B. Sexual Assault: Verbal Interaction
Excessively vulgar or abusive
Scripting
Apologetic

C. Arson and bombing: targeted property
Residential
Commercial
Educational
Mobile, vehicle
Forest, fields


II. Crime Scene
How many?
Environment, time, place
How many offenders?
Organized, disorganized
Physical evidence
Weapon
Body disposition
Items left/missing
Other (for example, witnesses, escape plan, wounded victims)


III. Staging
Natural death
Accidental
Suicide
Criminal activity (i.e., robbery, rape/homicide)


IV. Forensic Findings
A. Forensic analysis
Hair/fibers
Blood
Semen
Saliva
Other


B. Autopsy results
Cause of death
Trauma (type, extent, location on body)
Overkill
Torture
Facial battery (depersonalization)
Bite marks
Mutilation
Sexual assault (when, sequence, to where, insertion,
insertational necrophilia)

Toxiological results

V. Investigative considerations

A. Search warrants
Home
Work
Car
Other
B. Locating and interviewing witness


Primarily a low risk lifestyle, however the conditions she lived in elevates her risk, due to the ease of access to the apartments.

Because of this well label her medium risk to the offender.

Given what we know against what we don't sue to the police, its going to be tough to come to a conclusion on this case.

We don't know if the weapon was brought, or if it was acquired at the scene , we know it wasn't there when police arrived, but there's some speculation they found a sharp edged rock , now whether or not it was tied to the murder, we can only speculate .

However, the fact that police found it somewhere seems to indicate there were in fact looking for this specific object.

Again we can only base this off what we know for FACT. She was beaten, about the face and neck and found face down, with Iodine powder all over her and the room.

The weapon was taken from the scene, whatever it was

Always start close and work out....

If it was indeed something from her apt that was used to kill her, you have to start looking at 1) WHO LAST SAW HER ALIVE, AND 2) WHO FOUND HER. In this case, there is a common denominator .. her boyfriend

Now this could be purely coincidence, With a death timeframe of 10-12 hours prior to discovery that means she could've been killed anytime, from approximately 1240am-240am

Beating about the face and neck along with a weapon of opportunity often indicates someone the victim was familiar with .

This is further evidenced, if she was indeed beaten about the face THEN turned over onto her stomach. This is sometimes what we refer to as "undoing" a sign of remorse and shame, because the offender relates to the individual either personally, or indirectly.

The presence of iodine oxide is interesting, where did it come from?? was it something she kept in her apt? either way it seems pretty more than coincidental that it is a burial ritual from one of the countries, she had visited, which is another possible indicator of personal involvement.

However this might also be an attempt at staging, and if you know anything about staging you know that one of the commonly seen red flags, is the "third party discovery".. IE the killer will set it up so that someone else, discovers the body.

Now this can be done remotely, or by having a third party discover the body WITH the offender, .. so if we look at what appears to be here

1) Involved steady with a boyfriend
2) Last seen alive with her boyfriend
3) Body discovered by her neighbor at her boyfriends request
4) Apparent interpersonal violence (possibly intimate)
- If the iodine oxide is indeed a burial rite from some place she was familiar with then, you have yet another indicator of someone close


NOW this could all change if this was a weapon brought by the offender, then you are looking at a completely different type of individual.
 
  • #326
Can't argue with any of that RichKelly. For many of the reasons you state and based on the limited information that is available, at the moment I'd be looking at someone relatively close to her. Someone that wouldn't cause her to scream, yell, fight by their presence. The boyfriend or the professor (if some of what I've read about him are accurate) seem to me to be the most likely.

It certainly would seem to have to involve someone who knows her in some way. So many things just don't add up to a stranger (including the Boston Strangler). It's a very risky location. I would think a stranger would want ease of access and even more important ease of leaving the scene suddenly if need be. A 4th floor apartment doesn't fit that bill. With a stranger, you'd think there would also be some signs of a struggle within the apartment. Most likely reports of yelling or screaming.
 
  • #327
Didn't she have a major exam the next day? If so, why was she out on a date rather than home studying?
 
  • #328
<rbbm>


Not according to this article dated January 8, 1969:A little more about Davenport and the weapon:


Egad! Say it ain't so!! Oh, but the truth is... Yes, it would appear I am very wrong about poor Detective Davenport trying to tie Jane's murder to the Boston strangler.

Detective Davenport served many years as a Cambridge police officer, and also as a store detective.

http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/355/355mass532.html


Hatchet, cleaver, ball peen hammer, archaeology tool?

"Detective Lieutenant Leo Davenport speculated that the injury was effected by a hatchet or cleaver."

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/1/8/grad-student-killed-ptwenty-three-year-old-jane-s/


"Det Lt Leo Davenport said the murder weapon may have been some kind of an archaeology tool"

http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper ...Lockport NY Union Sun Journal 1969 - 0097.pdf


Did anyone know the actual murder weapon??

**
The blackout was declared Jan 10 (three days after Jane's murder) and at the same time it was reported the once missing archaeology artifact had been found.
 
  • #329
Didn't she have a major exam the next day? If so, why was she out on a date rather than home studying?


When I was at University, we'd spend all week cramming for exams like crazy, and it was a common thing to take some time off the night before in order to relax and clear the mind a bit.

Rich, lovely to have you along here, I so appreciate your POV on cases.

Couple of things I'd like to add:

Jane was attacked some time prior to her murder at the University, and fought her attacker off with a pen knife, with which she managed to slash his clothes. Whether the knife belonged to her or the attacker, I don't know. But this shows she was no timid flower, she would certainly have fought back if she'd been attacked by a stranger and was able to.

Jane was also known to have a 'thing' for older men. This isn't a rumour, but I'm not comfortable stating my source here. She is also said to have been somewhat gullible when it came to men, the impression I get is somewhere between a hopeless romantic and emotionally needy.

It's strongly rumoured that she was having an affair with a married man linked to the archaeology dept. at some point prior to her murder. This was not Lamberg-Karlovsky.

Iodine oxide, according to Wiki, is dark yellow as a solid - not red.
 
  • #330
Didn't she have a major exam the next day? If so, why was she out on a date rather than home studying?
If it was her comps, or a thesis or dissertation defense, there's no studying the night before. At that point, in front of your committee, either you know it or you don't graduate. Not at that level, & she was no intellectual lightweight. Her senior honors thesis at Radcliffe was over 60 pages long, with plates, drawings, etc. and that's just an undergrad thesis.
 
  • #331
When I was at University, we'd spend all week cramming for exams like crazy, and it was a common thing to take some time off the night before in order to relax and clear the mind a bit.

Rich, lovely to have you along here, I so appreciate your POV on cases.

Couple of things I'd like to add:

Jane was attacked some time prior to her murder at the University, and fought her attacker off with a pen knife, with which she managed to slash his clothes. Whether the knife belonged to her or the attacker, I don't know. But this shows she was no timid flower, she would certainly have fought back if she'd been attacked by a stranger and was able to.

Jane was also known to have a 'thing' for older men. This isn't a rumour, but I'm not comfortable stating my source here. She is also said to have been somewhat gullible when it came to men, the impression I get is somewhere between a hopeless romantic and emotionally needy.

It's strongly rumoured that she was having an affair with a married man linked to the archaeology dept. at some point prior to her murder. This was not Lamberg-Karlovsky.

Iodine oxide, according to Wiki, is dark yellow as a solid - not red.
I'm just stubborn, I'm still sticking with red ochre & either a Périgordian (her senior honors thesis area) hand axe or a Mesopotamian (Tepe dig) one, kept on the bedside table. Is there anything, anywhere that says exactly what the gift was from the Mitchells?

Humphries going to ground 'inexplicably' according to Karlovsky. Or a short list of grad students or lecturers (professors in other universities.) but most definitely an anthropologist. JMO etc.
 
  • #332
Rich, very interested in your point re staging and deflecting of blame. I have often thought it no accident she was attacked shortly after going out with her boyfriend, and have wondered if the scene was staged to suggest it was him.

As someone (F&E?) pointed out upthread, her apartment was in the middle of the 4th floor, not the easiest choice for a random attacker, but I think we can safely strike 'random attacker' from the suspect list, no?

So someone who knew her, who knew where her apt was, and how to get to it (and away from it) without being seen. If they knew her well, they'd know the door was never locked, because she shared a fridge with the Mitchells. Therefore, I'm wondering if the killer locked or barred the door at some point, or took the risk of someone walking in on the attack.

The Mitchells, IIRC, were the ones who gave her the stone axe thing, which was 'missing' and was then apparently 'found' and possibly linked to her murder. For some reason, I am always terribly confused on this one detail, I'd love to nail down the travels of that artifact (which was, apparently, an artifact from a dig...) so if anyone's clearer on it, do please chime in.

The Mitchells were also the people who found her, along with Humphries, the boyfriend. The question has been raised as to why, if the door was never locked and they were in an intimate relationship, he felt it necessary to go get the neighbours before entering Jane's apartment. It has never been said, AFAIK, whether he found her door locked that morning.
 
  • #333
Her senior honors thesis, done in 1967, was "The Périgordian Vc: a test in comparative methodology"

There was also a PhD dissertation on the same area: "The Périgordian Vc: An Upper Paleolithic Culture in Western Europe" in 1966 by David Nicholas, 1937-

Carbon black & red ochre were some of the paints used in the Upper Paleolithic cave drawings.
 
  • #334
Also, a question for those with law enforcement experience:

Under what circumstances would a police department issue a statement that they "neither confirm nor deny" that a victim was sexually assaulted?

I almost always think, on reading that, "Oh well, that probably means she was indeed assaulted sexually.. but they're not saying so for some reason... " otherwise, why not simply say she wasn't, that has to be easier on the family..
 
  • #335
Rich, very interested in your point re staging and deflecting of blame. I have often thought it no accident she was attacked shortly after going out with her boyfriend, and have wondered if the scene was staged to suggest it was him.

As someone (F&E?) pointed out upthread, her apartment was in the middle of the 4th floor, not the easiest choice for a random attacker, but I think we can safely strike 'random attacker' from the suspect list, no?

So someone who knew her, who knew where her apt was, and how to get to it (and away from it) without being seen. If they knew her well, they'd know the door was never locked, because she shared a fridge with the Mitchells. Therefore, I'm wondering if the killer locked or barred the door at some point, or took the risk of someone walking in on the attack.

The Mitchells, IIRC, were the ones who gave her the stone axe thing, which was 'missing' and was then apparently 'found' and possibly linked to her murder. For some reason, I am always terribly confused on this one detail, I'd love to nail down the travels of that artifact (which was, apparently, an artifact from a dig...) so if anyone's clearer on it, do please chime in.

The Mitchells were also the people who found her, along with Humphries, the boyfriend. The question has been raised as to why, if the door was never locked and they were in an intimate relationship, he felt it necessary to go get the neighbours before entering Jane's apartment. It has never been said, AFAIK, whether he found her door locked that morning.
If she had an artifact from the dig it really should have been in the collection at Harvard & not in her apartment, unless it truly was a gift from the Mitchells. In which case it could have been privately obtained.
 
  • #336
The reason for the black-out, Reagan said, was that there have been "inaccuracies" in press coverage of the killing. Reagan did not say what these inaccuracies were.

Police began speculating that the killer performed an ancient burial rite over Miss Britton's body after they found iodine oxide, a reddish-brown powder, on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the apartment and on her body.

Primitive tribes in Iran and France sprinkled a similar powder, red ochre, over the bodies of their dead in order to purify the bodies and to drive off evil spirits.

Caught as he was leaving his office for the day, Reagan said that police have now found the sharp-edged stone which had been missing from Miss Britton's apartment. He refused to say where the stone was found.

The stone, a gift to Miss Britton from Mr. & Mrs. Donald D. Mitchell, two friends, was an archaeological souvenir.
Police say Miss Britton was killed by five blows to the head from a sharp object and left lying face-down on a mattress in her apartment.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/1/10/cambridge-police-declare-black-out-on-britton/


Cambridge police said tests by Harvard scientists and police laboratory specialists determined that a reddish brown liquid was found dabbed on the skin of the young anthropology graduate student. Galligan said anthropologists at Harvard told him the markings appeared to be' Signs in a primitive burial rite. Students of anthropology would h a v e knowledge of such ceremonies, the professors told police. "They told us we were dealing with a sick man," Galligan said.

The Mitchells said they had uncovered a stone in an archaeological expedition which they gave then to Miss Britton a few months ago. Mrs. Mitchell said she recalled seeing it in Miss Britton's apartment two weeks ago, but police said it was missing.

http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/63938815/


Iodine in that amount.. it's just strange, unless it was actually liquid iodine, a bottle of disinfectant.

Why would she have had a quantity of the powder? I'm sure this was addressed upthread, I just can't find it.

I wish I knew FOR SURE more about the iodine -- to have it as a powder seems uncommon, and might be more important than we realise. On the other hand, if it was a bottle of iodine disinfectant, that's a pretty common thing for people to have lying around, especially people who travel to 'outback' regions of the world.


dropping this link here, for ease of finding it - http://worldtracker.org/media/libra...lytical.Chemistry.in.Archaeology.Jan.2007.pdf
 
  • #337
The reason for the black-out, Reagan said, was that there have been "inaccuracies" in press coverage of the killing. Reagan did not say what these inaccuracies were.

Police began speculating that the killer performed an ancient burial rite over Miss Britton's body after they found iodine oxide, a reddish-brown powder, on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the apartment and on her body.

Primitive tribes in Iran and France sprinkled a similar powder, red ochre, over the bodies of their dead in order to purify the bodies and to drive off evil spirits.

Caught as he was leaving his office for the day, Reagan said that police have now found the sharp-edged stone which had been missing from Miss Britton's apartment. He refused to say where the stone was found.

The stone, a gift to Miss Britton from Mr. & Mrs. Donald D. Mitchell, two friends, was an archaeological souvenir.
Police say Miss Britton was killed by five blows to the head from a sharp object and left lying face-down on a mattress in her apartment.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/1/10/cambridge-police-declare-black-out-on-britton/


Cambridge police said tests by Harvard scientists and police laboratory specialists determined that a reddish brown liquid was found dabbed on the skin of the young anthropology graduate student. Galligan said anthropologists at Harvard told him the markings appeared to be' Signs in a primitive burial rite. Students of anthropology would h a v e knowledge of such ceremonies, the professors told police. "They told us we were dealing with a sick man," Galligan said.

The Mitchells said they had uncovered a stone in an archaeological expedition which they gave then to Miss Britton a few months ago. Mrs. Mitchell said she recalled seeing it in Miss Britton's apartment two weeks ago, but police said it was missing.

http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/63938815/


Iodine in that amount.. it's just strange, unless it was actually liquid iodine, a bottle of disinfectant.

Why would she have had a quantity of the powder? I'm sure this was addressed upthread, I just can't find it.

I wish I knew FOR SURE more about the iodine -- to have it as a powder seems uncommon, and might be more important than we realise. On the other hand, if it was a bottle of iodine disinfectant, that's a pretty common thing for people to have lying around, especially people who travel to 'outback' regions of the world.


dropping this link here, for ease of finding it - http://worldtracker.org/media/libra...lytical.Chemistry.in.Archaeology.Jan.2007.pdf
Red ochre...I'll stand by that. I wish I could do a link to hand axes, either from the Upper Paleolithic or find one form Mesopotamia. Were I not a Luddite, I'm sure that I could find what I need.

Ausgirl, do you know where the Mitchells went after her murder? Or where the PhD candidate, David Nicholas, went after her murder? He did his his dissertation, as I mentioned above, on the same Upper Paleolithic area as Ms Britton. He was 30 when she died.

OT, And I just realized my archaeology prof was 30, fresh out of a PhD program, was born in 1937. He seemed so young

FWIW, I don't think it was Humphries. I think that he was distraught & just fled, IMO.
 
  • #338
  • #339
Here's a link to PinkPanther's post (with news links) regarding the red ochre/Jane being an amateur painter:

Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community - View Single Post - MA MA - Jane Britton, Harvard student, murdered in 1969
I really did want to see her thesis & Nicholas' dissertation. I would have been able to tell if she did her illustrations herself. She must have been able to, as she was an amateur painter. As my friend said, either go up there or pay >$150 for 2 MS.
 
  • #340
Also, a question for those with law enforcement experience:

Under what circumstances would a police department issue a statement that they "neither confirm nor deny" that a victim was sexually assaulted?

I almost always think, on reading that, "Oh well, that probably means she was indeed assaulted sexually.. but they're not saying so for some reason... " otherwise, why not simply say she wasn't, that has to be easier on the family..

It depends on the agency but generally means they aren't answering the question, as in we aren't releasing that information or, depending on context, we don't know yet.(because tests haven't been done or results of tests aren't known.)

Just my experience, it's SOP for LE to do SAFE tests on female decedents on any non natural deaths.
 

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