PA PA - Betsy Aardsma, 22, murdered in Pattee Library, Penn State, 29 Nov 1969

[littlehorn]

I wondered about that..I even wondered if one of the murders littlehorn posted the website to on here was related.

www.lindyandchristy.com

Definitely possible...Although the dates would almost make Lindy the only possible victim, as Christy Mirack was killed in 1992, which would make the killer +/- 45 years old. Not impossible, but typically a serial killer type will mellow out over time.

 

[littlehorn]

I can't figure out why I missed it when it happened; her murder surely would have been in the Pittsburgh papers.

In one of the articles, a police spokesman said that the solution to the case was in the information they already have--which goes to support littlehorn's wish to look at those files. It would be nice to see a top-flight cold case unit take a shot at it, along with Vidocq. You know how easy it is to have an answer right in front of you but you can't see it. I am so glad that littlehorn started this thread.

I think with the amount of extra information available to police today, there's a shot at solving it. That's why I've been pushing it pretty hard, both in person with PSP, and on the website.

Just think, back then there was no DNA, less forensic information, no NCIC fingerprint database, etc.

Anything that they still have could be analyzed and compared to existing records from the last 40 years.

 

[littlehorn]

First are the murders of two female college students 5/30/69, 6 months before Betsy, in Somers Point, New Jersey. Elizabeth Perry was killed by a stab wound to the lung, Susan Davis by a slashed larynx. Susan was from Camp Hill, Pa. The article I read implied that Elizabeth's stabbing involved a single wound, but I never trust the internet unless I know the source. This case may have suggested the Ted Bundy link, as he has been named as the killer. I read other accounts that dispute Bundy's guilt in this case. Littlehorn has said that Betsy's case does not follow Bundy's modus operandi, so he know doubt will no more about the Perry/Davis case.

As littlehorn would say, my pattern-forming brain notes that all three of these killings happened at the end of a month. In two of three, there was at attempt to "take credit" for the murder and sex in the usual sense was not the motive. (I don't yet know enough about the Perry/Davis case to reach a conclusion about that one.)

What I am more and more convinced of is that this was the work of someone who thinks like a serial killer. Perhaps he didn't continue because he was stopped ( he died or developed an illness that precluded serial killing, he was arrested for another crime) or he continued with a different method or in a different location. Or he moved from location to location.

The other thing I found was a site for Overbrook Press which shows a book about Betsy's case: Murder In Happy Valley, by someone named William M. Earley. There is an image of a book cover, but no expected release date or ordering information. The book promises '"startling information" or some such thing. There is something posted that might be part of an introduction to the book or in the book.

I am up way past my bed time!

Thanks for that information! I did not know about the first set of murders. Is there a good link for more information on that?

I would be surprised if Bundy had committed those crimes; not only does it pre-date his spree, but it seems like after Bundy, there was a tendency to link every evil act that occurred prior to his execution in 1989 to "Ted."

I had heard of Cheri Jo Bates, and always assumed she was correctly listed as a Zodiac victim. Interesting that you mention that they occurred at the end of a month and the other patterns.

Interesting story behind that book. I have heard it is going to be out in June -- according to emails to the publisher. I'd love to buy a copy. We'll have to wait and see, apparently it has been delayed several times over the past couple of years.

 

[littlehorn]

It kind of makes you want to go :banghead::banghead: doesn't it?? Some words written on some papers buried in a file could solve this.

I agree about littlehorn, I cannot praise him enough. He is helping Betsy have a 'voice'.

Thank you, I appreciate that. I don't know what drew me to this case but it just seemed like someone had to do something to push it along. Betsy's parents are both dead and her siblings are pushing the age that she would be by now. No one seems to really stick up for her. And I hate to see her life reduced to a punch-line for a PSU Halloween story.

 

[littlehorn]

Yes.
In my mind you hit the nail right on the head as far as a stalker being the perp.
Thats one thing that doesnt change for me.
Anyone with that kind of emotional investment obsession should have left a trace in her life for investigators to pick up on.
Which is baffling because it would be real easy to visualize a Robert Bardo type,the freak who killed actress Rebbecca Shaffer doing something like this.
He just walked up to her apartment in broad daylight rang the buzzer and shot her when she came to the door then walked off.
However...he wrote to her numerous times ,tried to get into the studio where her TV show was filmed and asked numerous people who remembered him how to locate her.
He also talked about her to friends and family incessently and was found after the crime back home in Arizona wandering around in traffic.
(Im happy to report by the way that quite recently one of Bardo's fellow inmates very nearly turned him into a Julienne Fry with a homemade shank.)
Anyway...how do I keep getting off on these tangents?
Boy, you are also right about the legacy our killer left at that college.
It makes me mad that he hijacked Betsy's whole essence and turned into that.
Im sure the legacy that she would have made with her life, while probably not as infamous would have been of much finer stuff.
She should have had that chance.
Also I think you guys are very probably right on about the shrine being a memmorial to the crime not to Betsy.It was probably the watershed moment of the killers worthless existence.
Must be something to bench mark your life as before and after you snuffed out an innocnet girls whole existence.How sick.

I agree with you completely. I have pretty much ruled out "Stalker" as a motive for those reasons.

I also hated to see Betsy's life reduced to a cautionary tale -- "don't spend too much time studying in the library -- it'll kill ya!" She seemed capable of so much more, but never had the chance to achieve it. Even simple things that I do, I think about how she never had the chance -- mowing the lawn at her own place, seeing the amazing technology, etc., that has developed in our lifetimes.

I will keep working on this and try to come up with something. I'm going to go check out the Perry/Davis murders and see if they could be related in some way.

 

[MaryLiz]

Definitely possible...Although the dates would almost make Lindy the only possible victim, as Christy Mirack was killed in 1992, which would make the killer +/- 45 years old. Not impossible, but typically a serial killer type will mellow out over time.

Right, Lindy would be the only one probably. Although you're right when you say it's not impossible..Look at Dennis Rader (BTK). Allegedly, his first victims were in 1974 and his last in 1991. But I seriously thought about Lindy's murder being related to Betsy's when I first read about it.

I agree about littlehorn, I cannot praise him enough. He is helping Betsy have a 'voice'.

Ditto..:clap:

 

[littlehorn]

Right, Lindy would be the only one probably. Although you're right when you say it's not impossible..Look at Dennis Rader (BTK). Allegedly, his first victims were in 1974 and his last in 1991. But I seriously thought about Lindy's murder being related to Betsy's when I first read about it.

The one thing that bothers me about hers is that it's classic stalker/obsession and I don't know that our guy fits that profile. I'd love to know what his motive was. That would clear up so much confusion.

Lindy had been mentioning that she felt she was being watched/followed/etc. and felt afraid.

That site, and Christy's brother, who I spoke to over the phone, were the inspiration for me to follow through with www.whokilledbetsy.com.

Derek

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Thanks for that information! I did not know about the first set of murders. Is there a good link for more information on that?

Here's the link to the story on Cheri Jo Bates. There are other sites but this one seems to be the best. A passage follows the link. This site also includes the original newspaper story, crime scene photo, and a picture of the desk-top poem.

http://www.zodiackiller.com/Bates.html

“Zodiac was first considered a suspect in the Bates murder in October 1969, when the Riverside Police Department noted similarities between the Bates case and Napa County's Zodiac killing of Sept. 27, 1969. By November 1970, the news media had gotten wind of the possible Zodiac-Bates connection and both the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times published lengthly stories. Zodiac sent a letter to the Los Angeles Times postmarked March 13, 1971, accepting responsibility for the Bates crime. However, he might have been falsely taking credit. As in the known Zodiac attacks, the Bates case saw police-taunting letters written to the newspapers. A confession letter was mailed anonymously from Riverside on Nov. 29, 1966 (Tuesday) to both the Riverside Police Department and the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper. However, it wasn't necessarily written by her killer. Although this confession did contain details of the crime that weren't widely known, it's quite possible that the letter was simply the work of a hoaxster. In December 1966, a desk with a morbid poem scratched into the surface was discovered in the college library. The writing was eventually attributed to the Zodiac killer. Additionally, three other letters sent anonymously from Riverside on April 30, 1967 to the above recipients, as well as to the victim's father Joseph, have been attributed to the Zodiac. (In November 1967, yet another suspicious letter was received by the local newspaper, however its origin is unknown.)”

 

[pittsburghgirl]

In regard to the murders of Susan Davis and Elizabeth Perry (the two college students murdered on 5/30/69, there is a websleuths thread. I bumped it up; it's short and worth a read. The person who posted the thread originally said that he or she got most of the material from newsarchives.com, a pay site. I wasn't willing to fork over the $3.95, when I can go to the library at work and get the NY Times article from the microfilm for free. And the librarian will happily load it because she knows I am a threat to all mechanical devices.

Here is a link to an article that discusses the belief that Bundy killed these girls:

http://athepoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/parkway-murders-revisited.html

Websleuths cold case expert Richard had some good comments on the original thread. It may be worth sending him a PM to see what else is in his very smart cranium.

 

[Talisman]

Yes, indeed.

Now, I noodled around on Google and turned up a few tidbits that littlehorn no doubt knows but are worth dragging out to look at.

First are the murders of two female college students 5/30/69, 6 months before Betsy, in Somers Point, New Jersey. Elizabeth Perry was killed by a stab wound to the lung, Susan Davis by a slashed larynx. Susan was from Camp Hill, Pa. The article I read implied that Elizabeth's stabbing involved a single wound, but I never trust the internet unless I know the source. This case may have suggested the Ted Bundy link, as he has been named as the killer. I read other accounts that dispute Bundy's guilt in this case. Littlehorn has said that Betsy's case does not follow Bundy's modus operandi, so he know doubt will no more about the Perry/Davis case.

pittsburghgirl,

I am so glad you are with us and did some 'noodling' --thank you!! Looks like I have some reading to do tonight!

 

[littlehorn]

In regard to the murders of Susan Davis and Elizabeth Perry (the two college students murdered on 5/30/69, there is a websleuths thread. I bumped it up; it's short and worth a read. The person who posted the thread originally said that he or she got most of the material from newsarchives.com, a pay site. I wasn't willing to fork over the $3.95, when I can go to the library at work and get the NY Times article from the microfilm for free. And the librarian will happily load it because she knows I am a threat to all mechanical devices.

Here is a link to an article that discusses the belief that Bundy killed these girls:

http://athepoint.blogspot.com/2008/02/parkway-murders-revisited.html

Websleuths cold case expert Richard had some good comments on the original thread. It may be worth sending him a PM to see what else is in his very smart cranium.

I will try to drop him a PM. Interesting reading, that link. I was a member of NewspaperArchives, but I found in a lot of cases I got a lot of gibberish from them, so I let my 10-day pass lapse.

It certainly sounds like Bundy may have been involved in that one, although the reluctance of anyone to link it to him seems a bit like too much pride to me. Why wouldn't you want to solve it, despite the fact that it may reflect badly on the Dept.?

Thanks for the link and the heads up! It definitely also puts Bundy on the east coast WELL before Betsy's murder. So it rules him out that way, too.

Derek

 

[pittsburghgirl]

pittsburghgirl, Looks like I have some reading to do tonight!

We're in the same boat! I'm just convinced that the evil narcissist that committed this crime killed others, too. Maybe the only way to solve this one is figure out what else he might have done.

Oh what we'd give for DNA in this case.

 

[cbcrime]

I've been busy and just got a chance to catch up on the thread. I'm going to have to do some reading. Darn work - it just got in the way.
I agree that this crime seems to fit with the random - and serial killer type scenario.

As someone mentioned earlier he either committed more murders or if he didn't something else caused him to stop.

The conundrum for me is this. The type of person to kill a random person for whatever reason (usually one "normal" people would not understand) is not the type to just stop.

To kill just one person usually is to remove a problem. Generally you are going to know the person and their murder solves your problem. Once your problem is solved - you may never kill again.

So what caused this person to stop - or who else did he kill?

Though one other question. Early on Littlehorn you mentioned someone that was angry at the University. Do you think this person could have killed Betsy as a warped getting back at the University and then never killed again?

Thanks for your search Pittsburghgirl. I am going to go back and read the details on what you found.

 

[cbcrime]

I was just doing some searches and caught a statement about Ray Gricar being interested in Betsy's case. Littlehorn do you know anything about this. The Gricar case is another case that hooked me.

 

[littlehorn]

I was just doing some searches and caught a statement about Ray Gricar being interested in Betsy's case. Littlehorn do you know anything about this. The Gricar case is another case that hooked me.

As far as I know, Ray Gricar was very interested in the Aardsma case, and had hoped someday to solve it/prosecute it as Centre County DA. He had encouraged an author to write about the case in the 1980s, but she found that there wasn't enough factual information available outside of the police files (which no one has been allowed to access) to support a nonfiction book about the case, so she wrote a sci-fi book called 20/20 Vision, which is now out of print, but available occasionally on Ebay.

As far as I know he simply was interested in it from a professional standpoint and had read up on it extensively during his time in Centre County.

Derek

 

[littlehorn]

As someone mentioned earlier he either committed more murders or if he didn't something else caused him to stop.

The conundrum for me is this. The type of person to kill a random person for whatever reason (usually one "normal" people would not understand) is not the type to just stop.

To kill just one person usually is to remove a problem. Generally you are going to know the person and their murder solves your problem. Once your problem is solved - you may never kill again.

Though one other question. Early on Littlehorn you mentioned someone that was angry at the University. Do you think this person could have killed Betsy as a warped getting back at the University and then never killed again?

Well, there is the theory that perhaps Betsy stumbled upon a SINGLE person doing something which may have led them to feel that she needed to be silenced. What if you were a grad student or citizen who had a lot to lose, but enjoyed risky behavior like exposing yourself in the library, etc. If she came down at the wrong time it's possible in the killer's mind, he THOUGHT she had seen him, when in reality she hadn't. He waits until she goes about her business, and bam...endgame.

Look at the Stanley Pringle thing, where he was caught allegedly masturbating in the library. That girl pretended to ignore it but reported him later. How might things have turned out if Stanley Pringle was a little less hinged or had a little more to lose? Especially on a day when there were less people present.

I have trouble with the two-man theory because typically one will end up confessing later, whether out of guilt or to save their own skin.

There was one man I have heard about who was upset about an employment issue with the college at the time. He was later cleared by police, partly due to the fact that he was not tall enough to have been the "Somebody better help" Guy. However, I'd still love to talk to him about his feelings, etc. as well as his whereabouts that day. I don't have a name for him and I have been unsuccessful at tracking one down.

It is plausible to me that someone who was mad enough at the college for whatever reason -- job issues, maybe they flunked a class, causing them to drop to part-time student and fall out of protected status and perhaps risk being drafted, etc., that they might take it out on an innocent 3rd party.

 

[cbcrime]

I don't know how I feel about two people committing this murder. The only problem I see about her seeing something in the library - would this type of person have a hunting knife on them. My understanding is that the weapon would be similiar to a hunting knife. Usually weenie wagers don't carry knives on them. But there is always an exception. Unless the incidents were days apart and the murder planned. Though that would entail some planning and following - finding Betsy.

I should also say that she could have witnessed something other than weenie waging. And depending on what she saw and who it was - it could be very detrimental. And that could be a reason to kill her.

What I find so interesting is that the two men leaving the stacks and one saying "someone better help that girl" were never found. Since the girl this was said to was in the English 501 class - it would seem he was not a member of the class. I'm sure that she would have recognized him.

But why were neither of these two men found? If neither one of them were involved - why not come forward. I can see not coming forward if the reason you were there was illegal or inappropriate. Were these two men together? The articles don't seem to be clear on this.

Also - the one article states she was in her Sunday best. I graduated from High School in 1969. That was the first year a female could wear pants to school. And it was very restricted only certain days etc. And I was in California which was pretty liberal. So Betsy would have been use to wearing a dress to class and if she knew she was having a meeting with a professor - I can see her in a dress. So I am not sure that her attire has any hidden meaning. Though I think it is important to keep an open mind.

Oops sorry that this post is so long.

 

[littlehorn]

I should also say that she could have witnessed something other than weenie waging. And depending on what she saw and who it was - it could be very detrimental. And that could be a reason to kill her.

What I find so interesting is that the two men leaving the stacks and one saying "someone better help that girl" were never found. Since the girl this was said to was in the English 501 class - it would seem he was not a member of the class. I'm sure that she would have recognized him.

But why were neither of these two men found? If neither one of them were involved - why not come forward. I can see not coming forward if the reason you were there was illegal or inappropriate. Were these two men together? The articles don't seem to be clear on this.

Also - the one article states she was in her Sunday best. I graduated from High School in 1969. That was the first year a female could wear pants to school. And it was very restricted only certain days etc. And I was in California which was pretty liberal. So Betsy would have been use to wearing a dress to class and if she knew she was having a meeting with a professor - I can see her in a dress. So I am not sure that her attire has any hidden meaning. Though I think it is important to keep an open mind.

Oops sorry that this post is so long.

Just curious, what other theories do you have as to what she might have witnessed? I am kind of stumped there myself, as I'm trying to think what you could REALLY be doing in a college library that would be so detrimental that it could justify murder. If there are some other theories you have, I'd love to hear them.

I also agree with your position that the "Sunday best" statement may be a bit overplayed. To me having read the coroner's report, etc., it doesn't indicate Sunday dress, especially in State College PA, which is about 10 years behind the times in the rest of PA, and also with a girl who came from a very religious upbringing. I think that statement has led to a lot of the speculation that she was meeting someone there, which I have never proven and believe to be idle chatter.

I'm doing some testing and I'm starting to think that perhaps the murder weapon was not a hunting knife. Based on the wounds, it's possible it was a folding knife of some sort. Which would open the possibility that the killer ALWAYS had it with him -- just as I always carry my own pocketknife, having worked many jobs where it was useful for opening boxes, cutting a cardboard or tie strap, etc.

One article indicates that an African student followed or chased one of these men until he got outside the building and got away. I have thought about this a lot. It's plausible that one guy might not come forward if:

He feels he has witnessed something amiss.
He suddenly notices himself being followed by *gasp* a black student -- probably one of the few in SC at the time.
He wonders in his head if the black student had some part in whatever he saw, and he outpaces him and feels he has gotten away.
He goes home on break or leaves college for the military or transfers out and does not realize that he saw a murder victim -- OR he spends the rest of his life worrying that the black man WAS the murderer and he narrowly escaped. He has a great story to tell his grandkids about "the day he almost got murdered in the library."

If he ever did come forward perhaps his testimony was such that police kept it from the press in order to further their ends with regards to the case.
OR: Guy was doing something untoward in library.
Sees girl on floor, goes and asks for help.
Reads later that it was a murder and realizes: "Oh crap, if I go to talk to police, I will have to explain WHY I was there."
Realizes he may be a suspect WHICH at that time was a rather heavy stigma, as mentioned in one of the newspaper articles.
Realizes he has no further information that is useful and remains quiet.

Just some possible scenarios I have thought of to try to explain that.

2nd guy, could be someone he just passes, mentions that he is going for help, and second guy goes for help and does not feel he has anything to contribute to police, same deal. Or the second guy is uninvolved...Or certain witnesses are mistaken in remembering two guys, as this is a somewhat contested point.

So many possibilities, so little facts.

 

[cbcrime]

Quite honestly I have a hard time thinking of anything that she could have witnessed in the library that someone felt they had to kill her. It sounds like there may have been some homosexual activity. But wasn't that first floor bathrooms. Hardly likely that she would witness any of that. And if something like that was going on - I think in order to be a threat it would have to be someone who could lose a lot. Wouldn't that be a recognizable person? Of course with the delay in investigating this - I guess it could happen.

The biggest threat I can think of would be a drug deal. Would that happen in a library? It could - but how safe is that? That would be a definite risk taking. Though Betsy's murder really could be considered risk taking.

I guess she could have overheard a meeting between two people - that was criminal - but I just don't know. Because I would say anything in possible. Especially with a lack of facts. The police file would be interesting!

The confusion on the two witnesses - is enough to drive a person crazy. The one article mentions a black man and that is the last you see mentioned in any articles.

I think sometimes my mind runs all over about how and why this happened.

 

[Trino]

The biggest threat I can think of would be a drug deal. Would that happen in a library? It could - but how safe is that? That would be a definite risk taking. Though Betsy's murder really could be considered risk taking.

Drugs were different in 1969. To college kids it was beer and marijuana. Coke just hadn't made the college scene yet. To murder someone because of pot just wouldn't be worth it, since it was so easily obtained.