Journal and Courier from Lafayette, Indiana • 6

'Lady i By SHERRY BROWN Regional Reporter Officially been no prog ress in the case of the still uniden tifed body of a woman found in a cornfield near Otterbein in October 1976 But unofficially some people just seem to forget the case of the in the A drawing of the woman which accompanied a 1977 Journal and Courier article particularly haunts a 37 year old Lafayette woman named Marilyn It haunts her because she thinks she saw the woman sitting on a La fayette street comer the summer of 1967 or 1968 The woman she saw had such un usual characteristics that did a double Marilyn said just sort of struck me as having a Neanderthal look and I know if ever seen anybodyiwho looked quite like that just forget her she said Marilyn prefers not to have her full name used because she want calling me And my in box' case haunts woman family my husband and kids well they kind of teased me about She is also aware that the public might question the credibility of a person who says she can remember a face from 10 years in the past the reason I remember and I guess the reason I noticed in the first place is that I went to art school for awhile and we studied bone structure from the inside tend to notice bone structures and her bone structure just struck me as so she said The woman Marilyn says she saw was seated on a in front of Budget Store i It was just hotter than blazes and I was stand ing inside the store while my hus band was taking care of something I was just waiting and then I saw this woman was well she was just homely She had ears that just stuck straight out of a pixie type hairdo Her hair was a reddish brown maybe lighter than chest had a strong indentation on her nose and Marilyn The murder victim who had unusual facial features may have been in Lafayette several years ago said tracing half moons under her own eyes with her fingers also noticed her arms were really rounded and she had big legs She just seemed to have gen erally big bones although she i li A Draw I no bv Sherry Brown LADY IN BOX seem too she continued The woman left a general im pression of poor She had stringy hair and an old housecoat on you know the kind you used to be able to buy at 10 cent stores She looked 40 or 50 years old but I really think she was that old Her skin looked younger than that kind of like the kind of skin that would burn The dead wom age was estimated at 60 or 65 in autopsy reports Marilyn a housewife who admits she was reluctant to talk to police said the woman she watched be haved curiously there were two little boys sitting next to her and she just seemed oblivious to them I know if they were hers or not And it was just such a hot day She just sat there and kept staring up the street toward I figure out why somebody would sit in that hot sun that Marilyn turned away from the woman eventually because star ed so intently at her I was afraid she would turn around and look at me through the But was she the woman who was murdered packed into a box and dumped in that cornfield? There are two discrepancies in story when it is com pared with police reports and the arrangment of the store front 10 years ago The murdered woman was esti mated to be only 5 feet 2 inches The woman Marilyn saw ap peared to be about 5 6 And a spokesman said there was no bench in front of the store 10 years ago last ben ches in front of the store even before it was were there way back when it was a streetcar transfer The spokesman said however that people frequent ing the downtown areaoften use a ledge on the store front as a seat ledge is where the old steps used to be a lot of people sit on he said But Marilyn is still adamant about the woman she saw thought of that woman as soon as I saw the drawing If going to remember someone going to remember somebody like her just never seen anybody else who looked like Marilyn said saw the woman again In fact after I turned away from her and turned back again she was MOTHERLY PROTECTION OR COLT I in rixet4Wr i II 771T XX'4 ZB 4 1 hi fl 1 I I I IliillilMi'li i 4 4 4h 'a "Be 4 4 IB i 444A 4X4XB? f' it 1 I i 'X i Spring on the farm involves hard work new life old trouble ROSSVILLE Spring is the traditional time for the rebirth of dormant interests or in some cases a new birth entirely i The arrival of spring is exceptionally welcome this year because it is taking so long to come and follows such a vicious winter Gene Kelly gives a hearty laugh even though he is working on a balky mower without any thoughts of the ensuing drudgery that may evolve Sabrina the farm cat finds that she can once again scour the fields in search of mischief or mice But the mare is more concerned with the maternal instincts of protecting her newborn colt from invading strangers The unconcerned colt just wants to explore the new world in between mouthfuls of food of course But the spring of 1 978 is bringing its own set of prob lems The combination of the melting snow and spring rains have caused some serious flooding and wet farm land i Kelly has a small farm on County Line Road in north ern Clinton County and what was going to be his 10 acre cornfield is now part of a 30 acre four feet deep lake that stretches across the road In fact he says that last year's bean crop is still down under there some where Kelly says that his income doesn't depend on spring planting but that many farmers are beginning to get apprehensive about the delays Story Photos by David Snodgress Regional Reporter GENE KELLY TAKES A WORK BREAK 's JgL I 4 a ShSmsI if vW wMI vfe I 'I? iiitibi if if g' 1 CWUOUS ARM CAT ecjionaisiaie i Tues April 25 1978 Robinson cleared in heiress' murder INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Deputy Prosecutor John Schwartz said he was and that a jury did not convict Manuel Robinson of murdering grocery heiress Marjorie Jackson The Criminal Court panel of eight women and four men deliber ated 712 hours before convicting Robinson 30 Indianapolis Monday night of two counts of first degree burglary two counts of conspiracy to commit first degree burglary ar son and conspiracy to commit ar son Jurors acquitted him of mur der and armed robbery Judge John Wilson set May 17 for sentencing The verdict concluded prose cution of all persons charged by au thorities in the slaying and multi million dollar robbery of the India Rensselaer employees' RENSSELAER The city coun cil following the wishes of the city employees voted 3 2 Monday night to apply to Prudential Insurance Co for life and health coverage for the workers now covered by Trav elers Insurance The insurance com mittee last week discussed the pos sibility of switching to Prudential However Councilman Harold Lan kin reported some of the employes wished to remain with Travelers Jo Haniford council president said the council agreed to poll the workers The ballots were counted at Monday meeting and the workers favored switching to Pru dential 21 20 The insur ance committee approved the switch by a 2 1 vote and the entire napolis widow less than a year af ter her body was discovered in her burning home had a stronger case than the one on (Howard) Willard and Rob inson was acquitted on the murder Schwartz said most serious charge he was convicted of was burglary and he could be out in four or five years enjoying the spoils of his Willard was convicted last De cember of murder armed robbery arson and conspiracy in the killing He is serving a life sentence Police arrested four other per sons They pleaded guilty Mrs body was found by firemen in her northside home May 7 1977 Authorities found about $5 million hidden throughout the home and estimated another $35 million had been stolen changes insurance council approved it 3 2 Mrs Haniford says she is not aware of any other time that a poll was taken prior to a city council decision after all their in surance not she says (city council members) ben efit at all from it We thought they should have what they want and it was a pretty close major advantage over Travelers is a disaster clause that states a family will not have to pay more than $1000 a year in case of extended hospitilization or repeated surgery the council presi dent says they had other benefits in there that we thought were An ordiance also was introduced to the council that would require all rental housing to have smoke detec tors installed Prison officials oppose inmate corporation INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Correc tions officials are trying to stop a state prison inmate from soliciting funds for a state chartered crime fighting corporation he secretly formed last summer The non profit Crime Prevention Society Inc has an executive com mittee composed of six inmates in cluding a convicted murderer and a man serving a 21 year sentence for armed rape: The president and founder is Richard Colvin who was convicted of an armed robbery in South Bend and sentenced to 30 years in the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City in 1974 motives apparently are pure said Vaughn Overstreet di rector of adult community services for the Indiana Department of Cor rections But Overstreet said poten tial contributors may mistakenly believe the state charter carries government approval for the pro ject and he thinks the charter should be revoked Colvin said in a telephone inter view Monday that he will fight to preserve his corporation and raise the funds necessary for the coun seling and educational programs he envisions for criminals and their victims just got a real commitment in side of me I really want to do some said Colvin a Navy veteran who has spent 14 of his 35 years behind bars always want to be noted as an ex felon When I pass away I want to have accounted for something in my Contracts awarded WOLCOTT Contracts totaling $1705438 were awarded Monday af ternoon by the Tri County School Board for the Remington Elemen tary School Project i The project involves construction of a new classroom wing demoli 1 tion of part of the existing building and renovation of the gymnasium and cafeteria pretty good job of Only two companies received con tracts for more than one portion of the project Slutsky Peltz bid $196000 for plumbing and mechani cal work and CL Schust bid $185270 for mechanical sheet metal and roofing work Downing said the board awarded all of the contracts The contracts were awarded in 23 separate packages to 21 different companies Supt Charles Downing said the total was only 4 percent over the estimated cost "which in to the lowest bidders Downing said construction on the project may begin within 60 days but could be delayed as much as another 60 days in case of a re this day and age seems to be a monstrance I MOTHERLY PROTECTION OR COLT Spring on the farm involves hard work 1 new life old trouble ROSSVILLE Spring Is the traditional time for the rebirth of dormant interests or in some cases a new birth entirely i The arrival of spring is exceptionally welcome this year because it is taking so long to come and follows a such a vicious winter Gene Kelly gives a hearty laugh even though he is i working on a balky mower without any thoughts of the ensuing drudgery that may evolve Sabrina the farm cat finds that she can once again scour the fields in search of mischief or mice But the mare is more concerned with the maternal instincts of protecting her newborn colt from invading strangers 'J? The unconcerned colt just wants to explore the new 3 world in between mouthfuls of food of course Kx? But the spring of 1978 is bringing its own set of prob lems The combination of the melting snow and spring rains have caused some serious flooding and wet farm jjf I 7anc i Kelly has a small farm on County Line Road in north em Clinton County and what was going to be his 10 acre cornfield is now part of a 30 acre four feet deep 9 lake that stretches across the road In fact he says that last bean crop is still down under there some where Kelly says that his income doesn't depend on spring planting but that many farmers are beginning to get apprehensive about the delays GENE KELLY TAKES A WORK BREAK Story Photos by David Snodgress Regional Reporter iiitibi g' t5 loIl 'i 11 jfeA CURIOUS ARM CAT.