Deceased/Not Found PA - Karen, 11, & Michael Reinert, 10, Ardmore, 22 June 1979 *W. Bradfield guilty*

[AGettler]

I think it is done but how much money will they get from two inmates?

Yes indeed, and then what if there is a family left behind, now having to foot the bill? I am thinking the inmates should have to work while incarcerated.

 

[Fede]

A good and detailed account of the case: The Main Line Murders — Unresolved

 

[shanda3434]

I’m not sure if I missed something, but how do we know the children died?

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I’m not sure if I missed something, but how do we know the children died?

It has been assumed, but I guess they could be alive.

 

[Ozoner]

It has been assumed, but I guess they could be alive.

Yes, because psychopaths always have a soft spot for kids. (Groan.)

 

[J. J. in Phila]

Yes, because psychopaths always have a soft spot for kids. (Groan.)

Yet we have no evidence they are dead.

 

[Ozoner]

Yet we have no evidence they are dead.

I disagree. Their apparent non-presence in the world can be taken as evidence that they're dead. That has been the case in many no-body murder trials.

 

[J. J. in Phila]

I disagree. Their apparent non-presence in the world can be taken as evidence that they're dead. That has been the case in many no-body murder trials.

There have been cases where missing children have been raised by other people. While I will agree it is less likely than homicide, it is possible.

 

[shanda3434]

There have been cases where missing children have been raised by other people. While I will agree it is less likely than homicide, it is possible.

They could have also been sold into some type of slavery. Like they think happened with Johnny Gosch.

 

[Ozoner]

There have been cases where missing children have been raised by other people. While I will agree it is less likely than homicide, it is possible.

There have been cases of much younger children being raised by other people; I've never heard of it happening with children that old. In this case, it is not possible, given what we know about Bradfield. You might as well say that time travel is possible or that the existence of the Tooth Fairy is possible.

They could have also been sold into some type of slavery. Like they think happened with Johnny Gosch.

I don't know who "they" are. Johnny Gosch was most likely murdered by a pedophile the same day he was abducted. Maybe his mother wants to believe a different narrative as her way of coping. So be it—but that isn't reality.

 

[shanda3434]

There have been cases of much younger children being raised by other people; I've never heard of it happening with children that old. In this case, it is not possible, given what we know about Bradfield. You might as well say that time travel is possible or that the existence of the Tooth Fairy is possible.

I don't know who "they" are. Johnny Gosch was most likely murdered by a pedophile the same day he was abducted. Maybe his mother wants to believe a different narrative as her way of coping. So be it—but that isn't reality.

The Franklin scandal is a real thing. I pray Johnny was murdered the day he was abducted. The things these people do to those poor kids is a nightmare. I tend to believe Paul Bonacci, although I could be wrong. I’m only pointing out that this is a possibility. I can’t imagine why the murderer would have left the mother’s body to be found and not the children.

 

[CCJD]

I can’t imagine why the murderer would have left the mother’s body to be found and not the children.

Susan Reinert's body had to be found. William Bradfield was the sole beneficiary of Susan's life insurance policy. No body - no payout.
True crime: The Reinert murder rocked our area

 

[shanda3434]

Susan Reinert's body had to be found. William Bradfield was the sole beneficiary of Susan's life insurance policy. No body - no payout.
True crime: The Reinert murder rocked our area

Most definitely! I also believe the kids are probably dead, I’m just looking at the full picture. I really wish we knew what the phone call was about.

 

[Ozoner]

The Franklin scandal is a real thing. I pray Johnny was murdered the day he was abducted. The things these people do to those poor kids is a nightmare. I tend to believe Paul Bonacci, although I could be wrong. I’m only pointing out that this is a possibility. I can’t imagine why the murderer would have left the mother’s body to be found and not the children.

I guess that's where you and I differ. I see him as skilled mentalist and charlatan. Whether he has any connection to Johnny's actual abductor is unclear.

 

[wendybtn]

The Franklin scandal is a real thing. I pray Johnny was murdered the day he was abducted. The things these people do to those poor kids is a nightmare. I tend to believe Paul Bonacci, although I could be wrong. I’m only pointing out that this is a possibility. I can’t imagine why the murderer would have left the mother’s body to be found and not the children.

Susan Reinert needed to be found so Bill Bradfield could get his hands on over $750,000.00 of life insurance. Remember there was a real motive here. The children being found didn't benefit him in any way. Just more forensic evidence to trap him, possibly.

 

[wendybtn]

Most definitely! I also believe the kids are probably dead, I’m just looking at the full picture. I really wish we knew what the phone call was about.

Investigators theorized at the time that Bradfield or Smith summoned her from her house at 9:30 pm on a stormy night by telling her Bradfield was sick or injured or he called her himself and said let's leave now and get married.

 

[bearfossils]

Bumping for Karen and Michael. I just finished Echoes in the Darkness and can’t believe how incredibly convoluted this case is. The cult of personality that formed around William Bradford is frightening, and the fact that so many people were sucked into his web and continued to be so entranced by such huckster is stunning. Almost as stunning as the fact that someone like Jay C. Smith was running a high school. I have no doubt that Bradford was the primary force behind the murders, and I’m fairly certain that Smith was involved – but to what degree, I’m unsure. Regardless, Bradford definitely made a strong effort to frame Smith, and all of the incompetence, confusion, and unethical behavior that steeped into every aspect of this case makes it very difficult to discern the truth of it all.

It’s sad that the murders of the Reinerts almost seem to have gotten lost in all the bizarre drama surrounding the case. Susan and her children deserved so, so much more. I very much doubt that Karen or Michael are alive, but my hope is that their bodies can be found, either by serendipitous accident or determined searchers.

 

[wendybtn]

So, I just noticed something really odd. It almost sounds crazy, but I think Bradfield was trying to send someone a message through what was engraved on his tombstone....

I was looking for more of a background on Bradfield and came across his Find a Grave profile. I saw that his gravestone has a quote attributed to Ezra Pound and wondered which poem it came from but when I searched for it nothing came up. The words on the gravestone aren't from a single poem (or even completely from Ezra Pound).

The poem on the stone is:

Thought is a labyrinth
And will fades, but the light,
the light sings eternal.
Ezra Pound




This line is not a quote from Ezra Pound. It is the last sentence of Hugh Kenner's 1971 Pound biography, The Pound Era. The full paragraph is:



The quote before "Thought is a labyrinth" - “Shall two know the same in their knowing?” is from a Pound poem, Canto 93 to be exact. The full block reads:



The last line, which I bolded, is the part that I found interesting (again, this all seems rather absurd, especially as I'm typing this out). Also interesting about the last paragraph from the book is that it refers to Ezra Pound's time in Wyncote, PA, a town that is 30 minutes from Ardmore, PA, where the Reinerts' were last seen.




I couldn't find anything that matched this but I'm going to keep looking. It just seems to defy logic that Bradfield, a self-proclaimed expert on Ezra Pound, would have a poem engraved on his tombstone that is attributed to Ezra Pound, but isn't from Pound.




This is pulled from a Pound poem, Canto 115. The complete poem (with the pertinent line bolded) being:



Wikipedia has a lengthy entry talking about the Cantos. It's analysis on Canto 115 is (emphasis added by me):



Yelling at his followers who went to Cape May with him and didn't back him up in court thus leading to his eventual imprisonment?

Can anyone else found this exact poem from Ezra Pound? Do you think the convoluted poem on the stone was a mistake? That Bradfield may not have chosen it?

I remember reading in the Joseph Wambaugh version of the case that Bradfield's knowledge of most things was a mile wide and an inch deep.

 

[Jpcjr277]

Does anyone know what became of Sue Myers?

 

[spartanx]

It is incredible where human misery can go, murdering a beautiful woman teacher and mother just to get a little money... and where are the babies? At least they would have let them live... but maybe it's better that way because they were already reunited in heaven...
rest in peace