Labyrinth13 presents The Ghost of Betsy Aardsma by Curt Rowlett

The Ghost of Betsy Aardsma

by Curt Rowlett

Labyrinth13 is now available for purchase at Lulu.com

First publishing, August 2008. © All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express, written permission of the author.

On the afternoon of November 28, 1969, 22-year old Betsy Aardsma was stabbed to death while conducting research in the Pattee Library at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania. Her killer has never been caught. In the years following her death, there have been at least two reports of a ghostly presence in the Pattee Library which many attribute to the horrible event that occurred there.

The Murder

The events surrounding Betsy Aardsma's death are mystifying. She was well-liked, a good student, did not use alcohol or drugs, and had no known enemies. She was engaged to be married to a young medical student who was in school in nearby Hershey, Pennsylvania.

On the day that she was murdered, Betsy had returned early from a Thanksgiving dinner with her fiancé in Hershey in order to complete an English assignment. Her decision to go to the campus library was spontaneous, so police do not suspect that her killer would have known that she was going to be there at that particular moment.

After returning to the campus, Betsy and her roommate went to the library together in order to locate a book that Betsy needed to complete a term paper. Due to the fact that this was during the Thanksgiving holiday, there were less people than usual in the library at that time. At some point after their arrival, Betsy left her roommate in the main part of the library and headed down into a more isolated area known as the Level 2 Core stacks. Assistant stacks supervisor Dean Brungart would later report that around 4:30 p.m., he had seen Betsy there in an aisle, while nearby, he saw two men who seemed to be lingering down there together in what he later described as a rather suspicious manner.

It was while Betsy was alone in the stack area that she was attacked. Her assailant stabbed her once, directly in the chest, with a short bladed knife. The thrust was so vicious that the knife penetrated both her sternum and her heart completely through. (A medical examiner would later state that he felt that the killer may have had some knowledge of human anatomy as he seemed to know exactly where to strike in order to kill her instantly). After she was stabbed, Betsy fell onto the floor, knocking some books off a shelf as she went down.

Immediately after the attack, two men were seen exiting the stacks area by the upper floor desk clerk who reported that one of the men came up to her and said, "Somebody better help that girl." The two men then led the clerk back to where Betsy had fallen and then quickly departed from the library, saying that they were going to get help. Those same two men were observed by another witness who also overheard their conversation with the clerk. All of the witnesses noted that the two men seemed relatively calm. Additionally, another witness reported having seen two men talking to a girl in the stacks area just prior to the murder. Another woman who was a library employee said that she saw a single male rushing out of the library from the same area. Other witnesses reported hearing a scream and the sound of books falling onto the floor.

After the initial commotion, several people hurried into the stacks area where Betsy lay. Because Betsy had been wearing a red dress, no one realized at first that she had been stabbed. (There was so little blood that initially it was suspected that she had suffered a seizure and had bitten her tongue). She was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital approximately 45 minutes after she was attacked. The murder weapon was never found and, as no struggle had taken place, no DNA evidence was recovered at the scene.

Suspects and Theories

Had Betsy been the victim of a deranged stalker? Or perhaps a jilted lover? All of the men who were close to Betsy were at one point considered and then rejected as suspects as all had strong alibis for the time of the crime. Two of those suspects included Betsy's fiancé and her English professor, to whom she owed the term paper she had been working on. The fiancé was known to have been at his parent's home in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the time of the murder. The police also ruled out the possibility that Betsy was having an affair with her college professor, whom she had met with just hours before her fatal trip to the library. The professor's whereabouts at the time of the crime have been established (he had office visits scheduled in 30 minute time segments for the entire afternoon, before and after Betsy was there) and he was never spotted in the library by other students who were present.

The fact that her death was caused by a single stab wound seems to indicate that this was not a crime of passion, where such victims are typically stabbed multiple times by someone who has an emotional attachment to them. Rather, Betsy's murder was the result of a single, deliberate, and almost expertly executed act of violence that happened very swiftly.

Could this have simply been a crime of opportunity by a killer who had chosen the place beforehand, but not necessarily the victim? While the police believe that one man committed the actual murder, they theorize that another man may have assisted in the crime. The two men who reported that Betsy had fallen to the floor in the stacks area have never been located or identified. Among the theories that have been explored is the possibility that Betsy may have interrupted either a drug deal in progress, or possibly, may have witnessed a homosexual liaison that was taking place in the isolated stacks area while she was down there with the two men. Had the two men panicked at being discovered? Or had Betsy, as some observers have suggested, been the victim of a college thrill-killing duo similar to the infamous Leopold and Loeb? (Leopold and Loeb were two wealthy university students and homosexual lovers who, in 1924, admitted that they planned and committed a murder simply for the thrill of it).

Many rumors about why Betsy was murdered have emerged, among them, the belief that Betsy was the victim of an "alphabet killer" who chose her name out of the student directory, as her name is the first one to appear there. Police have found no evidence to support that idea. Also bandied about is the suggestion that she may have been a victim of serial killer Ted Bundy. It has been reported that in 1969, Bundy discovered that his natural father, whom he had never met, lived in the Philadelphia area and that Bundy traveled there to meet him. (Bundy was known to have chosen many of his victims from college campuses). Police also rejected this idea as Bundy's movements have been well-documented and it is now known that he was not in the area at the time.

An Ominous Shrine to Death

On November 28, 1994, between the hours of 4:00 and 5:00 p.m., exactly 25 years to the day (and almost to the minute) after Betsy's death, library supervisor Tom Whalen, while walking through the stacks area, discovered a burning candle that had been placed in the same aisle where Betsy had been murdered. Near the candle, someone had scattered about several original, 25-year old, yellowed newspaper clippings about the murder. And on the floor in the aisle, someone had used a red marker pen to write, "R.I.P Betsy Aardsma, born July 11, 1947, died November 28, 1969. I'm back."

Prior to the discovery of this shrine, the area where the actual murder had occurred had been rearranged over the years. Whomever had left the items that were discovered by Tom Whalen would have had to have known the correct aisle and location where the crime had been committed. Subsequently, it is believed that the items and message discovered were left there by the actual killer.

On November 28, 1999, the 30th anniversary of the murder, a student studying in the library noticed a man who seemed to be loitering without purpose in the general area of the aisle where Betsy was murdered. After several minutes, the lurking man left the area. Upon inspection, a burning candle was found, along with another "Rest in Peace Betsy" message written on the floor in blue ink.

This time, the area where the candle and writing were discovered had not been placed in the exact spot of the murder. Accordingly, it is believed that this second attempt to commemorate the murder of Betsy was either done in haste or possibly, was simply a copycat hoax.

Urban Legends and Ghostly Appearances

The murder of Betsy Aardsma became somewhat of a Halloween scare story that was repeated to arriving freshmen at Penn State. But what really seemed to chill the blood for those who heard the tale occurred when they learned that the event actually happened. (Other rumors about the Pattee library stacks area that are passed around by students include stories of sexual escapades and even a "phantom" pie thrower).

Later, the tale of the murder of Betsy Aardsma would take a decidedly paranormal turn.

One August night in 1995, library employee Kelly Burns was working alone in the stacks area of the deserted library. While engaged in her work, Kelly noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. When she looked up toward a window, she saw a girl standing about 20 feet away who met her gaze. The girl was wearing a red dress and seemed to be just standing there very calmly with her hands straight down at her sides. It was then that Kelly noticed that the girl's shoes were not touching the floor and that she could actually look through the girl and see the wall behind her where she was standing. In her fear, Kelly simply stared at the apparition and noted that the girl's expression had changed into one of utter sadness and despair. The apparition lifted her hand to wave and then disappeared. Kelly never spoke to anyone about the experience until four years later when she was shown a picture of Betsy Aardsma and knew instantly that Betsy was the ghostly person she had encountered in the library.

In a 1998 incident, a young woman reported that something grabbed her while she was in the library looking at "occult" books in the stacks area. This woman also claimed that after she left the library, she felt as if something had followed her home. Later that night, she awoke to a feeling that she was being strangled and could not scream out to alert her roommate. Afterward, the woman refused to ever set foot in the library again.

Sources:

The Last Reason, article by Sascha Skucek, State College Magazine.

The Ghost, article by Sascha Skucek, State College Magazine.

Timeline of the Betsy Aardsma Murder, State College Magazine.

Haunted: Penn State legends include haunting tales of Pattee stacks, article by Bryan Farrell, The Daily Collegian Online.

Betsy Aardsma Murder, Penn State 11/28/1969, thread located at the Websleuths message board.