Hey there, DETECTIVES! DETECTIVE WRITER here to tell you all about an unsolved case that occurred in 1969, Pennsylvania, the murder of Betsy Aardsma. TRIGGER WARNING: I will be discussing an unsolved case that may be a little graphic, so if anyone is uncomfortable, please feel free to skip ahead DETECTIVES!
Betsy Aardsma was a 22-year-old young woman who was a grad school student at the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in University Park, Pennsylvania. She did well in school and decided to enroll in graduate studies to be with her boyfriend, David Wright, a med student who would also be attending the university. She had only been studying there for 8 weeks at her death.
Although she was a good student, by the time Thanksgiving 1969 rolled around, Betsy was already stressed and exhausted. On November 27th, her boyfriend drove her to a nearby bus stop so she could meet with her professors for research paper advice.
On November 28th, after speaking with a few friends, Betsy was in the Pattee Library of Penn State and walked down a flight of stairs by 4:30 P.M. About 10 minutes later, a witness named Richard Allen claimed to have overheard a man and a woman talking. He soon heard a crashing noise and saw a male individual who he said looked like a student running past him.
At either 4:45 or 4:55 P.M. EST, Betsy was stabbed one time with a knife through her left breast, which severed her pulmonary artery and pierced directly through the right ventricle of her heart. She immediately fell to the floor and pulled down several books with her, causing minor bruising and abrasions around one of her ears. Although other students tried to help her with one individual chasing her attacker, within 5 minutes, Betsy was dead.
The murder had a few suspects including one geology professor at Penn State, Richard Haefner who died in 2002, the case remains unsolved to this day and is now considered cold. If anyone has any information, they are asked to call the Pennsylvania State Police at (717) 783-5599.
I hope you are intrigued by this storytime as much as I am, DETECTIVES! Please let me know in the comments if you want more storytime!
Have a great day, night, afternoon, or evening, DETECTIVES! Stay tuned for a future post; until then, keep on sleuthing, DETECTIVES!
Detective Writer 