Unsolved Mysteries – Murder, Center Stage

By starrymag | August 12, 2024

By: Sammi Turano

 

 

The penultimate episode of the season follows the case of a young woman who was murdered in Trenton State College in Ewing, New Jersey. She was a young graduate student with her entire life ahead of her.

Soctt Napolitano has been involved with this story since he was a film student on 2002. He did his senior thesis on the case, which took place in 1977. He did a ton of research on it, finding very little, but knew the victim was killed in a sadistic manner.

The victim died in the school theatre on Labor Day weekend in 1977. A former campus cop recalls beginning his shift and beginning to patrol the campus. He found a female’s bike that seemed out of place by the theatre and went to investigate since students were not yet due back on campus. He looks in the building, describing it as having an eerie glow.

As the cop continued to investigate, he found a body covered in a blanket. He initially thought it was a prop, but soon saw it was a lifeless, bloody body. Not knowing if the killer was still there, he drew his weapon and then called authorities.

Every Ewing cop was there quickly, lighting the place up and investigating the scene. The victim was covered in a piano blanket and her clothes were found a few feet away.

Further investigation showed her ID, which identified her as Sigrid Stevenson, a 25-year-old music major at the college.

A family friend named Carol Edson recalls getting the news and watching her grow up. She was also terrified of Sigrid’s parents finding out and how the news would impact them.

Carol describes Sigrid as a piano prodigy who could easily learn music. She was majoring in music and education at the time of her death and had plans to become a teacher.

Retired detective Julia Cadwell talks about the cold case and how she always wanted to see this solved. She admits she was obsessed with it and hated that there was no closure.

Retired Sargent Edward Debosky also talks about investigating the case years after the murder. Like Julia, he was obsessed with it. Most of the people who initially worked on the case had retired, so he decided to look into it on his own.

Retired Detective Patrick Holt also looked into it years after the murder. The initial investigation was a bit messy and he wanted to give it a fresh look.

Dr. Raafat Ahmad was the medical examiner for the murder and recalls that fatal night and the disturbing scene she saw, calling it one of the most gruesome scenes she ever worked on. Her body had deep lacerations and her cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head via a heavy object. There was also evidence of sexual activity and a possibly assault. It was also concluded that she died within minutes of the attack.

Further evidence showed that there was no evidence of a clean up, nor was there evidence of a weapon being disposed of anywhere near the campus.

Days before her death, she had returned from a trip, where she’d hitchhiked through Nova Scotia. The house she was to stay in was not ready, so she crashed in the theatre house, where there was a well-stocked green room. A show had taken place that night and people recall her being friendly at first but upset over an argument later that night. Less than 24 hours later, she was murdered.

It is unknown what Sigrid had done in the hours before her murder, but it is inferred that she had left campus for a bit, but came back to play the piano….which is when the attack happened.

The detectives show crime scene photos and look at the murder scene, trying to piece together what they think could have happened. They also wonder how the killer could have left undetected.

The case got a lot of attention and there was a lot of fear in town and on campus. Many people were questioned and it was inferred that campus police could have been involved due to the handcuffs found and the marks mimicking those that could have been made from being struck by a nightstick.

It was also known that Sigrid and the campus police had interactions with her sneaking into buildings to sleep or practice the piano. A full investigation was done, but there was not enough evidence to prove any of them were involved.

However, a few months later, one cop allegedly talked to another cop and more or less to being involved in the murder, but nothing could be proven. It was believed that it was a joke that was in poor taste. However, he went to work when he was off duty to do work, which was unusual.

All the campus cops passed polygraph tests, so there was nothing that could have been done.

Another theory from one of the investigators of the case inferred that a man named Chuck could have been involved. It is believed that they knew each other and talked before her death, but it is unknown if he is the one she argued with that night. His play costume also contained a nightstick and handcuffs, putting even more suspicion on him.

Chuck had passed a polygraph and there was again not enough evidence to charge him with anything.

Scott became an unofficial investigator in the case and impressed investigators enough that they were willing to work with him.

Scott also remembers getting a message from someone who claims she dated Chuck and that he told her that he killed before and would do it again. She thinks he may have been behind the murder and discusses her relationship with him.

DNA testing was not done because it was not available back then. However, it was done several years later…using the bLonse that was tied to her at the time of the murder.

Chuck was the prime suspect, but had died in 2016. They were able to get a DNA test from his brother and there was no match, clearing him as a suspect posthumously.

Julia continued to investigate the case and came up with several suspects, narrowing it down to two, a guy who did lighting for the play (due to the way the lighting was done). He was investigated and lied about having keys to the building that night. He was also described as being moody that night. A polygraph was done, but again, there was not enough evidence to charge him or prove anything.

A maintenance guy also was suspected since he had let her in the buildings prior to her death. Sigrid also had his contact information and spent quite a bit of time with her, inferring that there was a relationship. He was also fired due to substance  issues and he was never investigated.

Sadly, Julia had to take an early medical retirement, but she hopes these two are questioned and looked into by another investigator.

Sigrid’s diary was also looked into, where she wrote about the building going dark in her last entry.

Scott hopes that the investigation continues and the case will be solved. Julia shares this sentiment and thinks the case can be solved, as do Edward and Carol.