Murder of Betsy Aardsma

[16][17] On the afternoon of November 28, 1969, Aardsma and Brandt left their residence to visit Penn State's Pattee Library to obtain research material for her English paper.[18] En route, the two parted company, having formed plans to reconvene later that afternoon to watch either Easy Rider or Take the Money and Run at a movie theater that evening.Approximately ten minutes later, another witness, Richard Allen, overheard a conversation between a male and a female in the general direction of where Aardsma stood as he operated a photocopier.[21][n 5] At some point between 4:45 and 4:55 p.m.,[22] Aardsma was stabbed a single time through the left breast with a knife while standing between rows 50 and 51 in the dimly lit Stack Building of the Pattee Library.This individual led Uafinda and Erdley into the Core, where he pointed toward the prone body of Aardsma lying between scattered books and metal shelves which had also been knocked loose.[24] Subsequent police appeals for the man or men who spoke these words to Uafinda and Erdley before fleeing from the library to come forward were unsuccessful, and the individual has never been identified.Aardsma was quickly placed on a gurney and removed from the library via a service elevator, to be taken to the Health Center, as the paramedics continued to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) upon her.[26] Very shortly after Aardsma was transported to the Health Center, a more senior medical individual observed blood seeping through her clothing as the two student paramedics continued to perform CPR and immediately ordered the two to stop before locating the single stab wound.Magnani concluded Aardsma had been killed by a single stab wound which had penetrated her breastbone, piercing her heart and severing her pulmonary artery, causing extensive hemorrhaging into her chest cavity.These troopers were assigned usage of the Boucke Building as a temporary command center as they conducted inquiries, and hundreds of students were interviewed in the weeks following her death.[n 7] The entire campus was unsuccessfully searched in an effort to locate the murder weapon,[n 8] and a $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to the arrest of Aardsma's killer.Several factors in the circumstances surrounding Aardsma's death led police to believe she had likely known her murderer, as she had evidently been approached from the front by her assailant within a row too narrow for one individual to pass another unless one of the two turned sideways, and had made no attempt to scream or flee.[n 9] Exhaustive research and questioning also led investigators to discount any possibility she had been stalked, and she had not been expected to be at Penn State that day, but with Wright, who was quickly eliminated from the inquiry.[8] Other theories investigated have included the possibility Aardsma may have stumbled upon a homosexual encounter, an exhibitionist, or a man engaging in masturbatory fantasies,[34] and had been murdered to ensure her silence.Police quickly dismissed Spencer's claims, as he and his wife had relocated to Pennsylvania just weeks prior to Aardsma's murder, thus offering little time for the two to become acquainted.[n 12] Haefner resided across the courtyard from Aardsma at Atherton Hall at the time of her death and was widely known for engaging in erratic behavior, including periodic bouts of explosive anger, and the suspected theft of several specimens from the university's rock and mineral collection.He freely admitted having become acquainted with Aardsma in late October, and to have occasionally socialized with her, although within approximately one week she had terminated their budding friendship, stating she wished to remain committed to Wright.Haefner further claimed to have never set foot in the library, as he invariably obtained research material from the Deike Building, where literature related to geology was stored.[50] According to this individual, the conversation had occurred shortly after Haefner's 1975 arrest, and his mother had expressed her concerns as to whether police suspected him of having "killed that girl" at Penn State.Her casket remained open throughout the ceremony prior to her interment, with the Reverend Gordon Van Oostenburg reciting a poem Aardsma had written in 1965 titled "Why Do I Live?"The years prior to her death had seen an increase in violent crime, sexual assaults, and raucous student protests at the university, which had only a campus patrol to provide immediate law and order.