Girl Murdered In University’s Library

Betsy Ruth Aardsma, born on July 11, 1947, in Holland, Michigan, graduated from Holland High School with honors. She attended the University of Michigan, where she studied art and English, and enrolled at Pennsylvania State University in the fall of 1969.

She was in a relationship with David Wright, a Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center student.

On November 28, 1969, Betsy went to the university’s library to research for an English paper. Just before 5 PM, while she was in the library’s basement surrounded by stacks of books, she was stabbed once in the left breast. The knife severed the pulmonary artery and pierced the right ventricle, killing her within five minutes.

Because it was the day after Thanksgiving, there were merely a hundred students in the library — normally, there’d be several hundred. No one saw Betsy get stabbed or heard anything.

Two men were seen leaving the area, one of them told the desk clerk, “Someone better help that girl” and left.

Someone went to check the basement and found Betsy’s body slumped to the ground among the stacks of books.

When first responders arrived, they thought Betsy was suffering from some sort of medical condition, such as a seizure. It was only at the hospital that the one-inch wide and three-inch deep stab wound was discovered — there had been very little blood loss and Betsy was wearing a red dress.

The 22-year-old was pronounced dead shortly after she arrived at the hospital.

It is believed that Betsy was killed from behind as she had no defensive wounds. She was not sexually assaulted.

One of the men seen leaving the area moments before the discovery of her body came forward and was cleared by authorities. The other man, who alerted the desk clerk, has never been identified.

Nevertheless, there are several theories.

Medical Student:

David Wright, Betsy’s boyfriend, was questioned hours after the murder. Since Betsy’s stab wound was precise and seemed to show the killer had knowledge in anatomy, David, a medical student, was automatically suspected.

He claimed he had been studying with friends during the murder. His friends were interviewed and David was cleared by authorities.

Ted Bundy:

The infamous serial killer spent a lot of time in Philadelphia as a young man, even attending Temple Univerity the same year Betsy was murdered. This lead to theories that he was Betsy’s killer, however, his modus operandi was very different. He preferred to bludgeon and rape his victims.

A Fellow Student:

Known for his explosive behavior and being especially abusive towards women, Richard Haefner attended Penn State at the time of the murder.

Richard and Betsy briefly dated but she ended their relationship because he frightened her.

Interestingly, before news of Betsy’s murder was made public, Richard spoke to his academic advisor about how upset he was over her death. His advisor was immediately suspicious because he knew of Richard’s violent tendencies and that he carried a knife for protection.

Richard eventually became a geologist, being selected as the new head of the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. However, after a string of sexual abuse reports, mainly from young boys, and an arrest after he violently beat a woman, his career was ruined.

Richard died in 2002. His nephew, along with many others, believes he is guilty of killing Betsy.

Mystery Man:

After Betsy was murdered, a close friend of hers commented on how it was odd the way she was dressed.

On the evening of her death, Betsy had been wearing a nice, red dress which was out of character. Betsy tended to wear casual clothes, especially if she was going to the library to write a paper on a chilly November day.

It has been suggested that she was meeting someone at the library, however, no one knows who.

Stumbled Upon the Wrong People:

After Betsy’s murder, a black light was used to look at the crime scene. It revealed a large amount of semen. There were also about 30 pornographic books hidden within the stacks of books.

It has been theorized that Betsy accidentally caught a gay couple who was scared she was going to reveal their secret.

Others have suggested that Betsy was killed after stumbling upon a drug deal.

A Professor:

Robert G. Durgy had been a teaching assistant at the University of Michigan while Betsy was a student. In the fall of 1969, when Betsy started attending Penn State, Robert started teaching English there.

It is unknown if Betsy ever attended one of his classes, but authorities investigated the professor. Three weeks after Betsy’s murder, 27-year-old Robert died by suicide after he crashed his car into a bridge abutment in Michigan.

According to his widow Martha, he had been dealing with depression and had previously been hospitalized due to suicide attempts. She does not believe Robert killed Betsy and says they left Penn State for Michigan the day before the murder. Robert’s mental health was deteriorating and he was on medical leave.

Despite authorities interviewing thousands of people, Betsy’s killer has never been identified. A motive for the killing has never been established.

Betsy’s mother believes her daughter would have become a writer and joined the Peace Corps had she lived.

Sadly, Betsy Aardsma’s murder remains unsolved 49 years later.