OH OH- Mary Petry, 20, & William J. Sproat, 22, bound w. metal coat hangers, S.A., stabbed & bludgeoned w, bowling ball, OSU, 28 Feb '70, *DNA, REWARD*
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A former LEO from that neighborhood during 1970 was interviewed. He said there was a lot of crime there, quite a few rapes. He said there were really shady people not from the area, not students, too. It's a shame they didn't try to police that neighborhood better, considering there were a lot of young women living off campus there.
I think it was one of Mary's brothers who later worked for campus police at OSU. He tried to look into the progress of the case, but heard pretty much the same info. He said campus police tried to keep an eye on the off campus areas that were close to campus. He, too, said there were a lot of shady non-students who came on campus to commit crimes. They would patrol the border of the campus to keep them from getting in.
Attending college in the early to mid 70's there were frequently creeps who would hang around campus or try to go to off campus parties held by the dorms. You learned very quickly to stay away from men who weren't students there. I'm sure the girls at OSU did the same, unless it was a friend or brother of someone you knew personally.
A reporter from The Lantern newspaper lived in the area. Quote from their article
www.thelantern.com
The tragedy of Bill and Mary: an Ohio State cold case, revisited
The Independent Student Voice of Ohio State
www.thelantern.com
fred&edna
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I've been thinking about the possibility that Mary's arrival interrupted Bill's murder in progress. Was there mention of Mary having a small overnight bag or similar? If so, was it opened or closed? If opened, had the contents been shuffled through?
Police didn't mention the bag specifically, but said they searched the entire apartment. They only found that Bill and Mary had each been robbed of their money. It wasn't a significant amount. Nothing seemed to be missing from her overnight bag.
What would their killer have wanted from her overnight bag?
ETA: By all accounts, from family, Deans at their Catholic Uni's, friends, etc. Bill and Mary were very high achieving, bright students. In the top of their classes. Bill was going to grad school at OSU, with the goal of teaching college. Mary, too. They weren't doing drugs, though according to a friend, Bill liked his beer. Bill's roommate was also a grad student at OSU. He and bill had both been top scholars at their undergrad school - Xavier University.
The tragedy of Bill and Mary: an Ohio State cold case, revisited
The Independent Student Voice of Ohio State
www.thelantern.com
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cenazoic
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Interesting thought. According to the police reports posted upthread, Bill’s roommate left around 6, and reported that Mary had called and said she’d be at the apartment around 615. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t leave much time for someone to get in, find knives, and clothes hangers, and then untwist the hangers to bind Bill with (one newspaper article I read said the police thought the killer must have used pliers to do this since the wires were cinched so tightly.)
The use of household items to bind and kill the victims doesn’t often seem to be remarked upon. How did the killer dig up the bowling ball? Was it out in plain sight, or in a bag stuffed in a closet? Had he been there before?
The amount of time it might have taken - to find the items used, to corral two adults, to use the items he found - makes me wonder how long he was there. How did he immobilize one while retaining control of the other?
Do we know whether Bill was bound (and killed?) first?
fred&edna
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Police didn't mention the bag specifically, but said they searched the entire apartment. They only found that Bill and Mary had each been robbed of their money. It wasn't a significant amount. Nothing seemed to be missing from her overnight bag.
What would their killer have wanted from her overnight bag?
ETA: By all accounts, from family, Deans at their Catholic Uni's, friends, etc. Bill and Mary were very high achieving, bright students. In the top of their classes. Bill was going to grad school at OSU, with the goal of teaching college. Mary, too. They weren't doing drugs, though according to a friend, Bill liked his beer. Bill's roommate was also a grad student at OSU. He and bill had both been top scholars at their undergrad school - Xavier University.
The tragedy of Bill and Mary: an Ohio State cold case, revisited
The Independent Student Voice of Ohio State
I wasn't thinking the killer sought anything specific in or about her overnight bag. I'm mostly thinking about the timing. IF Mary had been at the apartment for awhile before the killer arrived she might have carried the overnight bag to the bedroom (and possibly opened it on her own... setting out some personal items, etc maybe?). However, IF her bag was unopened and/or found nearer the entrance (either open or shut) then this lends to the possibility that the killer was already in the apartment when she arrived.
Edit by me... I keep making errors, lol
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fred&edna
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The theory of the killer already present in the apartment before Mary arrived was suggested in the NPR podcast (link in post 4). Also, in the podcast it's mentioned that the bowling ball was (cleverly and humorously) used as an "umbrella holder" by Bill and his roommate.
"According to Lantern archives, the slayings were the second and third in the area in the previous three months.A reporter from The Lantern newspaper lived in the area. Quote from their article
The tragedy of Bill and Mary: an Ohio State cold case, revisited
The Independent Student Voice of Ohio State
The first Lantern article about the murders also mentions a girl who was reported to have fought off a man who tried to force his way into her apartment the Saturday Sproat and Mary Petry were found. She lived half a block away."
"In addition to Sproat and Mary Petry, Mary Margret Andrews was murdered in 1962, Teddy Ray Selvage was murdered in 1969 and Susan A. Clark was murdered in 1970. All but one remain unsolved."
So, this may have been a serial killer?
The article also mentions new DNA techniques but doesn't go into detail. This might be a good case for @othram.
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fred&edna
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The theory that the killer could have been inside the apartment and had restrained Bill before Mary's arrival does seem to make it easier to control/murder both. However, it's not impossible for serial killers to restrain, torture and kill couples, and a good example would be James DeAngelo (Golden State Killer).
I really do think this is the most plausible scenario. I also think it was personal (maybe not super-personal, but Bill knew the killer), and Bill was the target-Mary did not live there.
I finished the podcast late last night and thought it was very well presented.
I so want to meet Martha. I loved her right through my ear buds!
Columbus PD seems very protective of their investigation
If Bill was the target, why the sexual assault, stabbing and strangulation of Mary? Usually, when an innocent person walks in on a murder in progress, they're killed fairly quickly to prevent them calling for help.
Unless the killer followed Mary to the apartment. If he threatened Mary, Bill may have complied to protect her.
LE questioned the cab driver who drove her from Grove City, OH (where she was dropped off with a friend, whose dad was an FBI agent). It had been the friend's father who recommended the girls use a suburban Columbus hotel lobby as a place to be dropped off, actually a good idea. IIRC, the fellow student driver was traveling farther on to get home.
As info, this was typical for a lot of students in college in the 70's. You put a notice on the dorm or cafeteria bulletin board and other people driving your way would give you a ride. You would give them some money for gas, I always made sure it was another student from school, preferably another woman student.
According to the podcast, the FBI agent whose daughter had traveled with Mary that weekend later also speculated that Mary walked in on the killer attacking Bill.
I also came across an article in the Chillicothe Gazette that mentioned police were comparing Bill and Mary's murder to the fatal stabbing of a Mrs. William Baines a few weeks prior. She was stabbed after going to Cappy's Carry Out the morning of Jan. 20, 1970. She was also stabbed repeatedly. Cappy's Carry Out was not far from Bill's apartment. Police said Mrs. Baines was stabbed 27 times in the back. Bill and Mary were each stabbed about 20 times in the back.
Article clipped from Chillicothe Gazette - Newspapers.com™
Clipping found in Chillicothe Gazette published in Chillicothe, Ohio on 3/2/1970.
www.newspapers.com
There were some very dangerous criminals around the OSU campus then, yikes.
fred&edna
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I'm going way out on a limb here but could a male have been interested in Bill... thus, jealous of his deepening relationship with Mary? Bill could have been completely unaware of this interest but knew him as just an acquaintance. Maybe Bill had even offhandedly mentioned Mary would be in Columbus? IIRC Bill attended/graduated from an all-male school previously... maybe someone he knew there? Anyway, I could just be complicating the murders with this idea... but tossing it in the mix.
Here's the Billboard Top 100 songs for that week in 1970. Number one song was "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkle.
For college students, many would be concerned about the Vietnam War. Many of these young men were subject to being drafted into military service. Nixon had been elected with a promise to end the war, but he ended up escalating it by invading Cambodia. Many of the students at OSU probably had friends or family who were serving. Many also probably knew someone who had been killed.
Two months after Bill & Mary's murder, the Gov. Rhodes called out the Ohio NG to the Kent State University campus, where students were demonstrating about Nixon's invasion of Cambodia. The ONG began shooting live rounds into hundreds of unarmed students on the campus. Four students were killed and 9 others were wounded during the Kent State Massacre. One of the wounded was paralyzed from the waist down.
May 4, 1970 | Kent State University
May 4, 1970 | The History of May 4 The tragic events of May 4, 1970, had a profound impact on Kent State University, the nation and the world. In the ensuing years, Kent State's learning community has honored the memories of Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer and William Schroeder...
OSU had already had an anti-war demonstration, that was stopped fairly quickly. After the Kent State Massacre, OSU shut its doors for 2 weeks. Like Kent State students, most were forced to go home, any way possible, without finishing the semester.
Spring of Dissent | 1970 Ohio State Student Demonstrations
At Kent State, the professors mailed grades to students' homes that summer. Many had to leave with little notice. In the Kent State May 4 archives, many talked of how they had to grab their things and hitchhike home, often hundreds of miles away. There were no cell phones and few pay phones back then. Some reported that, trying to go through downtown Kent, they were attacked by local residents and had to escape through alleyways to the nearest highways.
JMO, none of this anti-war activity had anything to do with Bill & Mary's murders.
LadyL
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Missing since 28 February 1970...
Mary Jane Petry (20) and William Joseph Sproat Jr. (22)
missing? i thought they were murdered
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