The case of Betsy Aardsma, murdered in the campus library of Pennsylvania State University on Friday November 28th 1969, has continued to resonate throughout the last 44 years, and as of writing, remains frustratingly unsolved. There have been many suspects in the case including Richard Haefner, but never enough tangible evidence has ever emerged to bring the perpetrator to justice. Betsy Aardsma had been attacked in the campus library between 4:30 pm and 4:45 pm, with one single but fatal knife wound to the heart, believed to be from a hunting knife 3-4 inches in length. When she was initially discovered the true extent of her injuries were not apparent, as her heart wound had bled into her lungs, with any residual blood having been masked by her choice of attire - a red dress. She lay on the floor between rows 50 to 51, with books scattered on the floor, apparently dragged from the shelves as she fell. No weapon was ever retrieved and the killer had escaped almost unnoticed.
| Are their any reasons to believe this crime could have fell into Zodiac territory? Possibly a few, but they by no means sway the balance towards a substantial argument in favor. Nevertheless, we shall examine the slim pickings and show what has been observed over the years to contemplate such a link. It was believed the Zodiac Killer may have been driven by dates - although this is speculative. The attack at Blue Rock Springs Park was one year prior to the murders of Thomas Victor Dolan (17) and Homer Clyde Shadwick (19) in Santa Barbara. The Melvin Belli letter was received exactly one year after the Lake Herman Road double murder. The murder of Betsy Aardsma was nearly three years to the day after the 'Confession' letter, mailed by the alleged murderer of Cheri Jo Bates on November 29th 1966, if indeed this was genuine Zodiac correspondence. And Joan Webster disappeared on November 28th 1981, exactly twelve years after the Pennsylvania library stabbing. These dates taken in isolation mean very little from the standpoint of evidence, so let us take a look at the Riverside Desktop Poem, discovered sometime in the December of 1966, just teo months after the Bates murder. It read "blood spurting, dripping, spilling all over her new dress. Oh well it was red anyway." |  Betsy Aardsma |
Betsy Aardsma was wearing a red dress on the day she was killed, that temporarily disguised the severity of her injury. Was this poem a dormant fantasy by the killer that he later enacted? This is a curious association, albeit, given enough time between crimes the possible links inevitably begin to multiply. Investigators toyed with the idea that the murderer may have had military connections, as they did with Zodiac, because of the clinical nature of the wound which was inflicted with an extreme downward motion - not a frenzied attack that is sometimes exhibited by killer's who have an extreme hate for the victim. This was an audacious crime committed in a very public place at approximately 4:30 pm, so the murderer appeared to have wanted to remain in the library for as little time as possible. Both Cheri Jo Bates and Betsy Aardsma were intelligent college students, similar in appearance, and in both instances, the library connection was apparent. But again, these inferences are subjective and fail to move us forward to any great degree.
A highly controversial letter mailed in 1978, alleging it was from the Zodiac Killer, began with the words "This is the Zodiac speaking I am back with you". On November 28th 1994, exactly 25 years after the Betsy Aardsma murder, an employee of the library found a candle had been lit and placed in the location of the murder. A message written on the floor using a marker pen read "RIP Betsy Aardsma, born July 11th 1947, died November 28th 1969. I'm back." Additionally, a postcard had been mailed to police sometime in the 1970s with the wording "You never did catch the guy who killed that c**t in the library". But these were considered malicious hoaxes - and not considered to have been authored by the killer.
A highly controversial letter mailed in 1978, alleging it was from the Zodiac Killer, began with the words "This is the Zodiac speaking I am back with you". On November 28th 1994, exactly 25 years after the Betsy Aardsma murder, an employee of the library found a candle had been lit and placed in the location of the murder. A message written on the floor using a marker pen read "RIP Betsy Aardsma, born July 11th 1947, died November 28th 1969. I'm back." Additionally, a postcard had been mailed to police sometime in the 1970s with the wording "You never did catch the guy who killed that c**t in the library". But these were considered malicious hoaxes - and not considered to have been authored by the killer.
 Composite sketch was drawn up on the eyewitness testimony of a desk clerk at the library, after observing a person of interest exiting the scene. The Betsy Aardsma murder occurred exactly 48 days after the last confirmed murder by the Zodiac Killer - that of Paul Stine on October 11th 1969 in Presidio Heights. The next letter mailed on December 16th 1969 claiming to be Zodiac, was the disputed Fairfield letter, mailed inside of one month after the young woman's death, depicting a knife dripping with blood and the wording "The Bleeding Knife of Zodiac". The 340 Cipher and 'Dripping Pen' card on November 8th 1969, followed by the 'Bus Bomb' letter one day later, opened up with the line "This is the Zodiac speaking up to the end of Oct I have killed 7 people". The Melvin Belli letter, known to be authentic, was mailed on December 20th 1969 with the lines "I am afraid I will loose control again and take my nineth and posibly tenth victom". So, by inference, he had already claimed victim number eight sometime between November 9th and December 20th, with the Betsy Aardsma murder pretty much bisecting these two dates. However, the Zodiac would make no direct mention of this crime in any of his remaining correspondence over the next five years. The murder was committed on a Friday, one day after Thanksgiving. Could the Zodiac have been visiting relations during the holidays, providing him with the opportunity to take his murderous campaign further afield and "change the way the collecting of slaves. I shall no longer announce to anyone. When I committ my murders, they shall look like routine robberies, killings of anger, + a few fake accidents, etc". Admittedly, the Betsy Aardsma case is one of the weaker Zodiac associations, as there is clearly little or no evidence linking Northern California's most elusive killer to the Penn State University on that fateful day - although it is most certainly not beyond possibility. Please watch this informative Youtube video by David DeKok, a reporter for the Patriot News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. |
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