MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Over 50 years ago, two freshmen coeds at West Virginia University, Mared and Karen, went missing afterwards attempting to hitchhike aback to their abode from Aerial Street. Aback badge begin the pair, they were decapitated, and their assassin has never been found. West Virginia authors Geoffrey Fuller and S. James McLaughlin afresh arise a book with what they begin during their decades-long investigation.
Q: What is the book about?
SJM: The book starts out with the dematerialization itself and all of the Morgantown badge and the West Virginia Accompaniment Badge captivation with that up until aback the girls are found, and again it focuses on the trials, one and two, with Eugene Clawson, and we allocution about the possibilities of ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ in that. I anticipate it’s fair to say we both don’t anticipate that he did it. And then, we alpha talking about some added accessible suspects that there ability be. For anyone who has listened to the podcast, there are some added suspects that we didn’t accept abundant time to allocution about on the podcast.
GF: And a lot added capacity than we could allocution about on the podcast about all the suspects.
SJM: Right. So, afterwards we go through those suspects, again we allocution about our adventures alone and again aback we started alive together. So, that’s affectionate of how the book progresses.
Q: What got you absorbed in alive on this case?
GF: I was actuality aback it happened, and so I, of course, heard all the account about the missing girls and all that affectionate of thing. Then, aback I was in aerial school, I abounding Clawson’s aboriginal balloon in ’76 with my girlfriend. We skipped school. And, we were appealing assertive that he didn’t accept annihilation to do with it. We were affectionate of afraid that he got bedevilled because there was no affirmation to allege of except his confession. And, in reality, aback we dug into it, he accepted a agglomeration of times, fractional confessions, and alteration things all the time.
SJM: He was acquirements disabled, so in his mind, he had this plan to be accurate that it wasn’t him that dead Mared and Karen so he would be confused to addition ability that was afterpiece to breadth his mother lived, and it aloof wasn’t absolutely ashore in reality.
GF: He additionally said that he anticipation he would be let apart if he was not bedevilled in Morgantown. He would appear to Morgantown. They would accord him Sodium Pentothal, and they’d prove that he didn’t do it. And then, they’d let him go, so he’d get out of bastille in New Jersey. For some reason, he anticipation that was the plan.
SJM: I assumption he anticipation they’d abbreviate his book in New Jersey.
Q: What about you, Sarah? What got you absorbed in this case?
SJM: It’s such a awe-inspiring adventure because it wasn’t planned at all, but my husband, aback he was my fiance, he was activity to Spain for two weeks. Friends of his were accepting a wedding. And, I don’t know, I aloof got this abstraction in my head. I remembered aback my parents had talked about Mared and Karen, and I capital to attending into it because it aloof seemed so surreal. So, I started to do some analysis into it, and I begin out there’s a accomplished lot to the adventure that I had never alike been told.
I did a write-up. I put it on Reddit’s Unresolved and I met Kendall afore I met Geoff, and we were continuing on Kendall’s porch, and I said, “Hey, you aloof bought this house. Would you like to apprehend about the affliction abomination that’s anytime happened in Morgantown?”
So I gave him the briefing on it, and he said, “Do you appetite to accomplish a podcast?” I’m like, “Sure, what’s a podcast?” [laughs]
And then, the commodity that I wrote did its rounds. It was on Facebook, it got the absorption of Geoff, and we were able to connect, and we had banquet and discussed the murders, and he’s like, “Do you appetite to address a book?” I’m like, “Sure, what’s a book?” [laughs]
So, it all came calm at about the exact aforementioned time, and it’s been appealing serendipitous.
Q: Given that it happened so continued ago, was it difficult award advice on this case?
SJM: Yeah, it’s absolutely added difficult. I anticipate the Morgantown Badge Department doesn’t accumulate any files earlier than 1980. So, it was aloof accident that he had been shadowing addition who had the absolute files, or otherwise, it would’ve been destroyed. There wasn’t abundant advice online except what [Geoff] was posting, and that was one of the affidavit that I capital to get a authority of him. He seemed to apperceive a lot about the case.
GF: I adumbral a accompaniment trooper, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hall, aback in 2006 to 2009 or 2010, and he was investigating the case. He had an captivation in the case. Actually, he took Clawson’s acknowledgment and was beatific up there to approve his acknowledgment and get his activity about the guilt, and he said that Clawson was lying. But, apparently, a lot of added accompaniment troopers didn’t feel that way. And there was, of course, the prosecutor in Morgantown, so Clawson was convicted, but Richard was still abiding that he didn’t do it.
SJM: He was bedevilled twice.
GF: Yeah, bedevilled in ’76 and ’81.
Q: Did WVU accomplish any changes to campus as a aftereffect of this case?
SJM: I’m not absolutely abiding that they fabricated any assurance changes. I mean, the PRT did appear into existence, but we can’t acquisition any affirmation that there’s any alternation amid the two.
GF: And I went through three boxes of Samuel Elias’s papers. He was the one who was in allegation of the PRT project, and he didn’t say annihilation in testimony. He testified afore Congress, all kinds of things. There was no affirmation that it had absolutely appear because of the babe murders. That seemed to be aloof alone a WVU busline botheration because of the two campuses.
Q: So there was little done about assurance with the hitchhiking and aggregate like that?
SJM: I anticipate women in accepted chock-full hitchhiking if they could advice it, but I don’t anticipate that the university did a accomplished lot for assurance concerns. Eventually, Beverly Manor was closed. It was no best a dorm, so there was no affair with the buses not actuality able to get out there because it wasn’t a abode anymore, but added than that, I can’t say that a lot of assurance precautions were taken.
GF: About town, I hitchhiked all through aerial academy and stuff, so guys, I think, kept hitchhiking, but a lot of women stopped, and you acclimated to see dozens and dozens of acceptance [in advanced of the Mountainlair] hitchhiking, and the car would stop, and they’d all accumulation in, as abounding bodies who could fit as possible, and again they’d drive away, so it was absolute accepted for anybody to be hitchhiking, and again afterwards that, women abundantly chock-full hitchhiking apparently.
Q: What’s the best absorbing allotment about this case to you?
SJM: Personally, I acquisition the belletrist that came from Cumberland, Maryland that were active with a triangle–I acquisition that absolutely fascinating. They were beatific on to the governor, and if they hadn’t been beatific on, again we may accept never begin their bodies. But, addition had accounting these belletrist adage that they capital to advice them acquisition the bodies, and actuality was a map. They drew a map–a abhorrent map, and they said “The animals are on the move. You charge to acquisition them quickly.” And I think, what, four belletrist in total?
GF: Yeah, advance over time. There was one letter beatific on April 8th and again addition one mailed the 10th to actual bodies because whoever was autograph this–at the time, they didn’t apperceive who was autograph this. They were all handwritten, and he was aggravating to actual impressions that were advancing over the account about breadth to look, and his claims about breadth the bodies were—he said, for instance, they were abreast a beck and in the woods. And, as you know, about here, that doesn’t—
SJM: We’re actual abutting to a beck and abreast the dupe appropriate now.
GF: Yeah, so you can’t go anywhere in West Virginia after actuality abutting to a beck and woods. So, they begin Mared’s purse on March 1st, so the accompaniment badge were already starting to attending south of Morgantown afore the belletrist came. Again aback the belletrist came, they said to attending 25 afar south of Morgantown, so the accompaniment troopers collection the administration and they concluded up in city Grafton, and they said, “Well, this isn’t it.” They collection addition mile and said that there was annihilation there.
Eventually the bodies were begin eight, nine afar south of Morgantown rather than 25.
SJM: [To Geoff] But what do you anticipate is the best absorbing allotment of the case?
GF: One of the things that [Sarah] said, one of the aboriginal times we got together, was that Morgantown must’ve been absolutely alarming in the ’70s, and I thought, I grew up here, I didn’t anticipate it was alarming at all. It was scary. There was a lot of bodies accomplishing bad things, abnormally to women in Morgantown. There was a lot of adolescent abductions. There was a lot activity on that never fabricated the news, never was public. It was in letters and things. Badge were on it, but I don’t apperceive what they were accomplishing about it, but there was aloof a lot of bad bodies accomplishing bad things that I wasn’t acquainted of.
Q: Do you anticipate you had that angle because you were a man as adjoin to a woman in the ’70s?
GF: Plus, the accepted accessible had no abstraction what the badge were accomplishing because that’s all accident out of sight, and it wasn’t absolutely actuality appear that much. Sometimes, but I anticipate as Sarah acicular out, there would be an abduction or some affectionate of accident and it would get bright news, and again aback it absolutely got resolved, it was printed in a baby adventure in the aback of the newspaper, so bodies weren’t acquainted that there was a connected chase for bad bodies accomplishing bad things.
SJM: Or aback they were caught, a man was bedevilled of 12 attempted abductions, and we’re not abiding how abounding of those were absolutely coeds and how abounding were accouchement because technically anyone beneath the age of 21 was not advised an adult, so they were affectionate of aggregate together. So, 12 counts of attempted abduction, and he was put into psychiatric affliction for three months. That was his punishment.
GF: There was addition time that the court fined the guy some baby amount, 30 bucks or some affectionate of baby bulk of money for an assault. There were actual few laws adjoin accomplishing those kinds of things and any affectionate of abandon adjoin women. That wasn’t absolutely a thing, so the badge would consistently accept to cobble calm the things, but that’s a accomplished lot beneath than ideal. I don’t anticipate that absolutely started until the ’80s.
Q: Annihilation abroad that you would like to add?
SJM: I do appetite to acknowledgment that we listed the pictures that we got from Brevard County of some necklaces and bracelets that had been taken from John Brennan Crutchley’s abode in 1985, and a lot of his victims had never been identified, so if bodies appetite to booty a attending at those pictures, and maybe acquisition out if [you apperceive who these accord to], that would be great.
Geoffrey and S. James McLaughlin animate association to booty a attending at adornment begin in control of John Brennan Crutchley to see if they attending familiar. Crutchley was advised for the deaths and disappearances of 26 women in the DC/Maryland/Virginia/Pennsylvania area.
GF: We were attractive accurately for two necklaces, one of Mared’s necklaces with a religious medallion, and again Karen had a chaplet with a chic arena dangling on it, and those were both missing. So, aback we begin this Crutchley adolescent and apparent that he had a accomplished backing of necklaces, we anticipation there ability be–so, we were in advice with the advance investigator bottomward there. And, that’s on the podcast, and we accept an all-encompassing account in the book.
SJM: There’s additionally the detective magazines if anyone wants to apprehend those. We accept those in PDF form, and you can see what the magazines printed adjoin what Clawson said in his acknowledgment and what was amiss with what was printed that he was regurgitating in his confessions.
GF: Yeah, there were 30-35 mistakes in the articles, and Clawson aloof again those mistakes, and they were all absolutely wrong. That’s one of the affidavit that Richard said, “I don’t anticipate he did it.” His acknowledgment was aloof like this annual article.
John Brennan Crutchley is the being that I anticipate is acceptable to accept done it. We accept a big amplified case adjoin him. Crutchley’s sister was activity to WVU at the time and was additionally a freshman, and so I anticipate we can acquisition a affiliation amid her and Mared and Karen. But, we haven’t begin it yet.
SJM: So, if anyone has annihilation to say about that, acquaintance us.
GF: Yeah, Crutchley was from Clarksburg, so appropriate bottomward the road, and like I said, his earlier brother went to WVU med academy and his sister was a apprentice in 1970.
More advice on the WVU Babe Murders book and podcast is accessible on their website, coedmurders.com.
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