MA MA - Joan Risch, 30, Lincoln, 24 Oct 1961

[dogperson]

I think Martin did give an explanation for the bottles in the garbage. I have wondered if maybe she liked to drink, though. She put the baby down for a nap and sent her daughter next door to play, maybe she had a few drinks that afternoon? But unless she was a seriously hard drinker I doubt it caused her to fall and injure herself.

I still think Joan was alone (with the baby upstairs) when something happened to her.....medical emergency, injury, etc. The neighbor saw her outside alone and the woman seen walking along the highway by several witnesses was alone. I think she was disoriented and wandered away.

 

[liz b.]

OK, her husband said that he drank the beer when he was there, but if the trash was pretty full, why wouldn't she had emptied by then. Or could this be different bottles than what her husband had drank. Does that make sense?

I had read that Martin Risch said he and Joan drank the whisky the night before. The beer bottles had been there from when they had unnamed guests. I was wondering if Joan drank the day she went missing. And perhaps her husband felt the need to "cover" for her about the empty liquor and beer bottles left in the garbage can...jmo I meant that he might not have wanted to publicly say that Joan had been drinking that day. jmo, though...

 

[jgfitzge]

The empty beer and liquor bottles : in one report I read, the garbage container in the kitchen was described as "overflowing" with bottles. I wonder : did Joan drink on the afternoon she went missing ? Could she maybe have been inebriated ? I wonder if Martin Risch felt the need to "cover" for her by saying that they had both drank the whisky the night before, and guests had also drank the beer ? It might explain her wandering off ? IDK, jmo the bottles somehow seem "off" to me...

Yes Liz, the Miller Six pack carton is visible in one of the pictures. I believe Martin Risch when questioned owned up to the whiskey bottle, saying they (he and Joan) finished it off the night before. Hmmm, drinking on a Monday night? Anyway, he could not explain the beer bottles. On a related note, up until about 8/9 years ago, Lincoln, Massachusetts was a dry town, one of the last ones in Massachusetts. So, any alcohol had to to be bought in one of the surrounding towns (ex. Waltham)

 

[fred&edna]

Is there any mention of the book (open/down) on the kitchen table? Also, anyone know... what's the black hinged box in the corner (opposite high chair)??

I'm having trouble attaching the photo but it's the 4th/last photo here:

http://www.the-line-up.com/joan-risch/

 

[Skigirl]

Is there any mention of the book (open/down) on the kitchen table? Also, anyone know... what's the black hinged box in the corner (opposite high chair)??

I'm having trouble attaching the photo but it's the 4th/last photo here:

http://www.the-line-up.com/joan-risch/

Good question! I have also wondered about the book on the table and also all the other things that appear to be her son's that were scattered about the kitchen -- the toy truck, the overalls, the golden book...

 

[liz b.]

Re: Hastily arranged, Risch's police interview -- in the PDF linked to upthread, said he arranged the trip the day before her disappearance.

Re: Where would an business person find a hitman... hundreds of people who are considerably less intelligent and who have considerably fewer resources have figured out how to find a hitman. And the smarter ones are less likely to get caught.

Exhibits A, B, and C:
http://abc13.com/archive/9251140/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/bob-bashara-sentenced-hiring-hitman-involved-wifes-murder/story?id=17926817
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-hit-man-sentence-20140618-story.html

I'm afraid I can't offer examples of people who were not caught, since, well, they were not caught.

Re: Not remarrying. Wanting to marry someone else isn't the only motive someone might have for murder.

So I'm just now finding out that Martin arranged his trip on the day before Joan disappeared, and I'm thinking : what I don't know about this case might be a lot...sigh...

 

[Laughing]

Is there any mention of the book (open/down) on the kitchen table? Also, anyone know... what's the black hinged box in the corner (opposite high chair)??

I'm having trouble attaching the photo but it's the 4th/last photo here:

http://www.the-line-up.com/joan-risch/

The black box could be a sewing machine in the case. Wouldn't be unusual in 1961.

I can't find an image that will paste, but Googling "portable sewing machine 1961" will show you what I'm talking about.

Hope this helps someone!

 

[liz b.]

Good question! I have also wondered about the book on the table and also all the other things that appear to be her son's that were scattered about the kitchen -- the toy truck, the overalls, the golden book...

There is a comment below this newspaper article which states that 2 tradesmen were in Joan's house on the day that she disappeared. Wonder if it's true ?

 

[jgfitzge]

So I'm just now finding out that Martin arranged his trip on the day before Joan disappeared, and I'm thinking : what I don't know about this case might be a lot...sigh...

I don't know Liz, trust me, I am about as cynical and "trust no one" as they come but, I don't think it is all that unusual to arrange a pretty local (New York) sales visit the day before. He is in sales after all. Plus my reading of the Risch/LE interview is this particular customer in NY he has seen before. So, maybe this was the closing pitch or an important client. And yes, there may be a lot about this case that we don't know, perfect example is the guy who spent 90K himself re-investigating.

You and I talked about Martin before. He is not innocent in this whole mystery. But, I previously listed several reasons for my belief that he had nothing to do directly with her disappearance. No one has provided me with a motive?? Give me something....

 

[bluesneakers]

The black box could be a sewing machine in the case. Wouldn't be unusual in 1961.

I can't find an image that will paste, but Googling "portable sewing machine 1961" will show you what I'm talking about.

Hope this helps someone!

I think this is a good example of what you're talking about.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MzE0WDMwMA==/z/olEAAOSwRLZUBgEr/$_35.JPG?set_id=2

More:
https://picclick.com/Vintage-Genuine-221-1-Singer-Portable-Electric-Sewing-Machine-221315799114.html

 

[jgfitzge]

Liz, I read that as well and I assumed they meant the dry cleaner and the milkman. OK, I know..it is a clumsy term for what the writer may have intended to describe the two visitors to the Risch home...I am sure the mikman would have gotten a kick being described as a "tradesman..." If you are thinking say..a carpenter and plumber came by the house that day, i don't thin that happened. I think the way we would describe that today would be "two contracters came by the house or we would specifically say who they were. I don't think I would say to my boss, "I need to work from home a few hours this morning, I have a couple of tradesmen coming by..." So, since I never read anywhere else about carpenters, electrician's etc...coming by, I could only assume it was an odd but short way to describe them.

 

[jgfitzge]

I meant to post this before but a few observations about the crime photos...

Anyone else notice the can of Chef BoyArdee in the trash?

Anyone else find the kitchen wastebasket odd? It looks more like the pail I would fill with soap and water to wash the car and not your standard wastebasket (note the handle)

Looks like my parents old kitchen...

Oddly, yesterday I drove by the area where Joan Risch lived and possibly disappeared on the way out to visit my daughter at school in Western Mass.

 

[Skigirl]

There is a comment below this newspaper article which states that 2 tradesmen were in Joan's house on the day that she disappeared. Wonder if it's true ?

According to her husband's statement, there was a dairy delivery and a laundry pick-up.

 

[Skigirl]

I wonder what was redacted from the FBI communications. There's something about Martin Risch redacted, I think. For example, on p. 24 of the PDF (dated 10-25-61), there's an entire line redacted. Was it about Martin? What other possibilities?

And then on p. 27 (dated 11-2-61), the first paragraph says:

Joan Risch, AKA (^also known as) missing person. Rebutel instant date. Joan Risch, white, age three zero, resident of Old Bedford Road, Lincoln, Massachusetts, and wife of (redaction connected to a bunch of redacted information from the margin) whose presence (half a line redacted) has been definitely established..."

What did the redacted comments say about Martin, and why redact his name?

 

[jgfitzge]

According to her husband's statement, there was a dairy delivery and a laundry pick-up.

A "dairy delivery?" We used to call them milkmen, I never heard of a milkman or the laundry guy referred to as "tradesmen?" Hey Mom, did the tradesman deliver the milk yet?

However, as awkward as it sounded I think I know what he meant.

 

[StarrChance]

Be so interesting to get Sabra's take on Joan's disappearance, wonder if anyone ever interviewed her over the years ?... What do you think Martin knew ? TIA

From Wikipedia

With no further evidence emerging after the initial investigation, all theories of Risch's fate have remained, and the case remains open. The library history, and her difficult past, has supported Gerson's theory that her disappearance was planned as a way to escape a dissatisfying life. But Morton, the college friend who had recommended the dentist Risch visited that morning, said that was unlikely, as Risch was very content with her life as a suburban housewife.[2]

"I think Joan is almost certainly dead," Morton told the Boston Globe in 1996. "She would never have left her family on her own."

 

[liz b.]

From Wikipedia

With no further evidence emerging after the initial investigation, all theories of Risch's fate have remained, and the case remains open. The library history, and her difficult past, has supported Gerson's theory that her disappearance was planned as a way to escape a dissatisfying life. But Morton, the college friend who had recommended the dentist Risch visited that morning, said that was unlikely, as Risch was very content with her life as a suburban housewife.[2]

"I think Joan is almost certainly dead," Morton told the Boston Globe in 1996. "She would never have left her family on her own."

That being said, it's interesting that the first LEO who went to the house thought it was a suicide he was investigating, right off the bat. BB, the neighbor, was the one who called the police. Why would that LEO think of suicide, rather than an accident or a violent crime ? Did BB say something about Joan's state of mind that day ?

 

[Ozoner]

The black box could be a sewing machine in the case. Wouldn't be unusual in 1961.

I can't find an image that will paste, but Googling "portable sewing machine 1961" will show you what I'm talking about.

Hope this helps someone!

A sewing machine seems like a good bet. It could also have been a portable typewriter or a toolbox.

 

[puzzleme]

Please refresh my memory? Was her son asleep or awake?

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[liz b.]

Please refresh my memory? Was her son asleep or awake?

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Great question ! IDK...