Chalkboard Thoughts

           Working on this project has led me to many conclusions.  One conclusion that I have come to is that a whole lot of people got away with murder in the 1970’s. This case is sadly no different. We might not be able to bring any Justice to the victims but we can remember them. Just thinking about these women and  speaking their names is still an important act.  Janice Sanders and her children.       On July 21st 1973 Janis Sanders of Niles, Michigan disappeared. Later that year on November 7, 1973 Janeice L. Langs of nearby South Bend went missing. Other than the sound of their first names and that they both lived in the “Michiana” area; what else did they have in common? They were both dating Gerald Casimer Libertowski when they disappeared.      Gerald Casimer Libertowski was described as a “Lothario”.  He had a string of girlfriends. He was known to be cruel and...

       Steven Timothy Judy grew up in an extremely violent household and was an aggressive child. His parents were alcoholics who fought constantly. At ten years old, he would push high school girls down and try to molest them. He had been in and out of trouble with the law since he was 12. What was his crime at 12 years old?     In 1968 Steven Judy pretended to be a Boy Scout and conned his way into a woman’s home. He was found guilty of beating and raping her then bludgeoning her with a hatchet causing skull fractures. As he was swinging the ax she was trying to protect her head. This resulted in Steven Judy cutting off her finger.  The attack was only labeled “aggravated battery” by prosecutors. They didn’t consider this anything more than aggravated battery. Remember, rape was not considered a violent crime by the all male lawmakers then.      Steven Judy was sentenced to six months in a juvenile detention cente...

       I think he liked seeing the damage he had inflicted. I think that might be a central reason why he killed.       After he strangled and stabbed his co-worker, Stephanie Wagner, in 2006; he went to work the very next day. He walked right into that restaurant like nothing was wrong.  I think he wanted to be there to witness the reactions people would have when the calls started coming asking if anyone had seen Stephanie. I think he liked seeing the devastation.    After he shot Nellie Mikesells through her window in the fall of 1974, he broke into her home. He didn’t steal anything. Police theorized at the time that he broke in to see what his bullet had done.    He shot Lela Hildebrandt as she drove by one night in October 1975. The shot to the left side of her face would cause her to veer off the road and total her car. Her injuries were first thought to be caused simply from the car accident....

         On Wednesday February 5th, 1975 Mrs. Barbara Sue Menzie, 19, was at home at 711 ½ Jackson Street.  Her two year old daughter, Amy Lynn, was in a crib nearby.     It should have been a quiet day at home. But sometime that day someone entered the home and murdered Barbara. There were no signs of forced entry to the home. There were signs of a struggle. Barbara fought for her life. A few dresser drawers were opened. Police thought robbery might have been a motive.     Barbara was strangled and stabbed multiple times in the face and chest. She died within ten minutes of collapsed lungs and blood loss according to her death certificate.    Her toddler, Amy Lynn, was unharmed in her crib.   Her husband Kenneth Earl Menzies returned home from work at the end of the day and found his wife’s body. What a terrible and traumatic thing that must have been.    Investigato...

         Lillie Mae Ritchie was born in Kentucky. She was living a peaceful life in a Dewart Lake cottage near Warsaw, Indiana, 6 miles south of Syracuse in 1969.  It’s a lovely little lake with houses and trees almost all the way around it these days.  Lillie worked at a factory that manufactured mobile homes. Her sister and brother-in-law lived in nearby Millersburg, Indiana. Lillie had been divorced for about two years and her ex-husband now lived in Arizona.     The newspapers made quite a bit about her being a divorcee. This is another example of victim blaming. In 1969, a divorced woman was assumed by misogynistic minds to be sleeping around with all kinds of men. Any woman who was single was assumed to be responsible for her own murder according to those misogynistic minds as well. They forget that only the murderer is to blame here and no one else.    She carpooled with a man to work and when she failed...