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

[fred&edna]

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!

: )

I'm assuming macoldcase is not a family member?

Also, does anyone know if there was any type of campus security at the time this occurred?

 

[fred&edna]

jmo...

If RR was a true suspect in this case then he was too well-connected through his father and other high-ranking individuals of various countries (and/or drug lords) to be truly investigated... and likely the real reason for the blackout. Even after 44 years I doubt anyone is gonna' "talk"... and that is a horrible, horrible shame. I'd like to be wrong though.

 

[macoldcase]

Hello everyone - sorry for my absence (I've been traveling) and thank you so very much for all of the time and effort that you have continued putting in to this case! I think it will probably take me a couple of days to catch up on everything and process it all mentally, but I will add a couple of things quickly:

I am not a relative of the family, and have not contacted anyone myself (other than an unanswered email to the Cambridge police department a couple of years ago and a phone message that I left with someone in their office that was never returned - I never even got the name of an officer who might be responsible for cold cases there). If someone else would like to try to contact them again - especially if anyone has any experience speaking with law enforcement - I am totally fine with that; I am also ok with calling them myself as I am in the US.

As far as the "burning" questions in my mind:

- I'd really like to know the name of the young man who had wanted to date her but was turned down. I'd also like to know how many of the 100 or so students in the anthropology department were actually interviewed - a couple of the articles mentioned that it all had to be done quickly because many of them were leaving the country for fieldwork. Did they miss anyone? Were they able to follow up with everyone?

- Has evidence from this case ever been revisited? The end table is one interesting angle, but one article also mentioned fingerprints in her apartment. Were those prints ever identified? Were they ever run through a national database?

- I'm also curious about Ada Bean. Do the police think the cases are related? In which department did she work at Harvard as a research secretary, and when? How many of the suspects would have known both victims?

Thank you all again!

 

[Ausgirl]

Welcome back, macoldcase! Hope your travels went well.

I think there's still a ton of information we could dig up here. I do think Ada's killer and Jane's may be the same person - so perhaps sleuthing both women together would be a good call. I'm currently attempting to find out what dept of the University Ada worked for.. not easy, since Harvard's had so many thousands of employees. I did wonder whether she has any rellies still around that might offer some more insight, since there's really not very much about her in the papers.

It seems Ada's building was not as wide open to entry as Jane's, there being at least a little security by way of a punch-code lock on the main door, iirc, and her employer needed a "pass key" to get in. So while Jane's murder was feasibly (tho I don't think so) random opportunism, I am not so sure Ada's was.

I wonder if both women attended Jessie L. Gill's housing union meetings?

 

[Ausgirl]

Cambridge Slay Suspect's Picture Drawn
Pay-Per-View -
Boston Globe - Feb 9, 1969
... police distributed throughout New England yesterday composite drawing of man wanted for questioning in the bludgeon slaying of Mrs Ada Bean The suspect ...

!!!! I want to see that picture!!!!

There was also a series of fires lit in the basement a week after Ada's death - six of them, one after another. All the best info seems to be from Boston Globe, which is all ppv of course.. :\

Should we have another thread for Ada?

 

[Ausgirl]

Link to article mentioning Peruvian bf.

Jessie Gill lived in Jane's building. I'd really like to find her.. I bet she knew a lot about what went on in the building.

Might be nothing.. but Beverley Samans' killing a few years before was also possibly linked to murders in NY - one of the NY victims was a former Cambridge resident, who lived not far from Jane's building:

Article here.

Note than none of the three victims was sexually assaulted.

ETA: Ooh.. found a description of the man wanted in connection to Ada's murder ( article here ) :

Yesterday Lieut. John Norton issued three slightly different drawings of the suspect, based on the description which three witnesses gave the police. Norton refused to specify where or when the witnesses saw the suspect.

All three descriptions state that the suspect is a slender man of light brown complexion, between 24 and 26 years old, 5' 10"-5' 11", and 150-160 pounds.

 

[Robin Hood]

I have requested the photograph of the suspect from the Crimson news, fingers crossed.

The distance between Ada's apartment and Jane's is 1.1 miles, 19 min walk or 5 min car ride.

I would wait to set another thread for Ada. As soon as we have something to post in quantity anyway JMO.

 

[Robin Hood]

I have started to look at crimes that may be related, if anyone wants to make a start on finding if they were solved or unsolved I would be grateful of the help. Here's a few links to look at, they may not be significant but who knows.

March 1968

Linda Marshall, 25, was attacked at 11:50 p.m. when she returned from a friend's room upstairs in her Centre St. apartment house. Police think the assailant entered through the bathroom window and hid behind the bedroom door.
NB- 0.8 of a mile from Jane's apartment, 17 min walk

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1968/3/27/teacher-murdered-in-cambridge-apartment-pa/

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PPV- Boston Globe Nov 27, 1973

Three Cambridge women yesterday said a police sketch of the murderer of Radcliffe Institute fellow Ethel P. Higonnet is "a very good likeness" of a man involved in separate incidents of public sexual display

------------------------------------------------------

March 1963
Negro - Roy Smith aged 35 arrested, denies murders.

9 victims. Much more in archive news.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=5015,2213258&dq=murder+in+cambridge&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=3070,3379573&dq=murder+in+cambridge&hl=en

-----------------------------------------------------

PPV- Aug 1971 - DISREGARD - Murdered in Switzerland

Clerk sought in Cambridge girl's murder in Switzerland

A blonde American ballerina whose knifed body was found in her apartment on Monday apparently was the victim of a psychopath, police say.

free link http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...T8FaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dlcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3739,288578

------------------------------------------------------

Feb 1973 -Boston man indicted in murder

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=5849,1731892&dq=murder+in+cambridge&hl=en

 

[Robin Hood]

Two attacks on secretaries in one week. Dec 1973

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/12/1/two-tragedies-in-a-week-ptwo/

Ausgirl, here's your firesetter and ANOTHER stabbing

The man who stabbed a Radcliffe sophomore in Jordan J. Monday night has still not been found, Captain Walsh of the Harvard University Police said yesterday.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/2/28/five-fires-set-on-linnaean-st/

Woman named
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/2/25/bulletin-pba-radcliffe-sophomore-was-stabbed/

 

[Robin Hood]

This is interesting- March 5, 1969

''And in January two men walked into eight rooms in Moors during the night and stole wallets without waking anyone up. Both times, the men escaped long before police arrived. There have been many other instances of theft and strange men in dormitory rooms at all hours, some of which are never even reported to police''

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1969/3/5/insecurity-at-the-cliffe-pbibn-the/

 

[Robin Hood]

Link to article mentioning Peruvian bf.

Jessie Gill lived in Jane's building. I'd really like to find her.. I bet she knew a lot about what went on in the building.

Might be nothing.. but Beverley Samans' killing a few years before was also possibly linked to murders in NY - one of the NY victims was a former Cambridge resident, who lived not far from Jane's building:

Article here.

Note than none of the three victims was sexually assaulted.

ETA: Ooh.. found a description of the man wanted in connection to Ada's murder ( article here ) :

Have a read here

Career Girls Murders - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just to add - ''Jessie L. Gill, the FBI informer...

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1973/4/24/gill-says-intelligence-groups-were-ineffective/

''Jessie L. Gill informed on Harvard and Cambridge SDS for the FBI between 1967 and 1970''

http://wwww.thecrimson.net/article/1973/4/24/a-conspiracy-plays-with-cambridge-pbcbruelty/

A good reason for a news blackout ?

 

[fred&edna]

This article states that Jane's body was found,

"... after police received an anonymous telephone tip from a male caller."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_Z9IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x3sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6207,4905353&hl=en

It seems odd that it was an anonymous tip... could this be true?

 

[fred&edna]

This article is about the murder of Maralynn Skelton, but the last few paragraphs mention Jane Britton and Ada Bean.... along with "David Parker".

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...CZPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qgEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6649,3636021


In another article somewhere (can't find link at the moment) I read that this David Parker was a student at Harvard during 1969.

I believe Maralynn Skelton was murdered by someone else, but there is a lot about this David Parker (associated with DeSalvo/Boston Strangler)

 

[Ausgirl]

Robin, a couple pages back there's a few links to info on the SDS and all, the communist-sympathetic group whom Jessie was supposed to be informing on.. though I really do wonder whether she also informed on drug dealers.

Good find, F&E on the 'anonymous caller' - it's a bit confusing, as the article later mentions how JH 'found' the body. It changes things a bit, if there was a caller.. and yeah, the David Parker thing had me really sit up a moment, there. I've been reading a heap on the Strangler/De Salvo and I am not convinced De Salvo was the killer at all.

 

[Pink Panther]

This article states that Jane's body was found,

"... after police received an anonymous telephone tip from a male caller."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_Z9IAAAAIBAJ&sjid=x3sDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6207,4905353&hl=en

It seems odd that it was an anonymous tip... could this be true?

It's quite possible that this information was released by the police as they also do not mention J Humphries' name when they state that Jane's "male friend" is the one that found her. I think he called into the police but they were not ready to release his name when this article was written.

JMO

Re - Tying in Jane's murder with many, many other Boston Strangler/related cases...I just don't see it. If one goes down that path...There is no answer in sight. Jane's murder was very personal and deliberate and I see very few similarities between her murder and most of the other MO's.

Again, JMO.

 

[Ausgirl]

PP, I don't think Jane had anything to do with the Strangler crimes... but it's an incredible tangent that has me wanting to follow it, once I've gathered as much as I can on Jane and Ada.

Might be very worth digging stuff up on 'David Parker', though. Good call!

Can't find much about Ada Bean, by the way. Only that she was a 'research secretary' in the past, had a similar job in the private sector at time of death, lived alone, being widowed, and had grandchildren. Anyone else finding anything on her?

 

[fred&edna]

It's quite possible that this information was released by the police as they also do not mention J Humphries' name when they state that Jane's "male friend" is the one that found her. I think he called into the police but they were not ready to release his name when this article was written.

JMO

Re - Tying in Jane's murder with many, many other Boston Strangler/related cases...I just don't see it. If one goes down that path...There is no answer in sight. Jane's murder was very personal and deliberate and I see very few similarities between her murder and most of the other MO's.

Again, JMO.

I agree that it's possible the police didn't want to disclose any names but "anonymous tip" sounds ominous. I blame faulty reporters.

My posting of the link wasn't to suggest associating Jane's death with the Boston strangler. And, I agree... Jane's murder was personal. I'm not even sure it's tied to Ada Bean. But, to close the door on possibilities... is limiting. (jmo)

 

[Ausgirl]

It's actually something I'm expending a great deal of energy on atm - the question of whether Jane & Ada's murders were related. Could be an incredible coincidence... or a copycat.. or there was a serial killer... or someone was desperately trying to have Jane's murder look like something it wasn't..

 

[Robin Hood]

This article is about the murder of Maralynn Skelton, but the last few paragraphs mention Jane Britton and Ada Bean.... along with "David Parker".

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...CZPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qgEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6649,3636021


In another article somewhere (can't find link at the moment) I read that this David Parker was a student at Harvard during 1969.

I believe Maralynn Skelton was murdered by someone else, but there is a lot about this David Parker (associated with DeSalvo/Boston Strangler)

Many, many years ago I read a book called the Michigan murders, the name of the perp had been changed (don't remember what it was now) However it was about John Norman Collins.

See here - http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/collins-john-norman.htm

It lists Maralyn Skelton as one of his victims along with this

''Although the police command post was flooded with hundreds of tips and a few false confessions, they received a call after the fourth murder that alerted them to an interesting lead. The front page of the Ann Arbor News had run a photo of a group of people forming a rent-strike protest against owners of off-campus housing. A leader of that group was named who had been one of the principal suspects in the Boston murders, ultimately pinned on Albert DeSalvo. A former Harvard student, this man in his mid-twenties was now a graduate student at the University of Michigan with an IQ in the 155-170 range (which is exceptional). He also had a history of drug abuse, petty crime, and mental illness, and had been a patient at Bridgewater State Hospital where DeSalvo had been examined. He was diagnosed as psychotic-he claimed he was Othello and showed other signs of schizophrenia. Initially, he had been arrested for abusing his pregnant wife, who claimed to be afraid of him. She said he once had tried to strangle her. He had been without a father for the first three years of his life and had been raised by women. Friends said that he was subject to wild fits of violence and intense anger, and he claimed he would save the world by destroying its women.

The person who noticed his picture was none other than the psychiatrist who had examined him, Dr. Ames Robey. He was now the director at the State Center of Forensic Psychiatry in Ypsilanti, and had formerly been the director at Bridgewater. He had examined both DeSalvo and this young man, named in Gerold Frank's book, The Boston Strangler, as "David Parker." Robey did not believe that DeSalvo was the right man-and in fact DeSalvo was never tried for the murders themselves-but he had strongly suspected that Parker was, to the point of alienating police by his insistence that they had the wrong man. He thought two of the recent victims showed the signature of the Boston murders-stockings tied around their necks. Robey also had recalled that Parker had once tied his shoe with a knot that was characteristic of the Strangler's method''

 

[Robin Hood]

This may be the rent strike photograph - move to the left for another close up.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...g=2021,2342631&dq=ann+arbor+rent+strike&hl=en

A few more names to throw in the hat- This is the Newspaper where the name and photograph appeared.

http://oldnews.aadl.org/node/80784