They admitted to initial surprise, almost shock, but that's a natural and normal reaction when hit with that kind of news about someone you've spent much time with, some on a daily basis. It almost seems like overflow. The initial shock is based more on the disbelief that you've been so close to a person with murderous tendencies.
Ed Gibbs clearly had at least two warring factions in his psyche.
He desperately craved the almost smothering praise and adoration he received not just from his mother and father, but his extended family as well. The folks of Pitman thought highly of the Gibbs family, although there were many opinions of the family dynamic that never came within earshot of J. Lester and Florence.
Apparently there was a bit of eye rolling and sighing when it came to watching and hearing the praise and latest "accomplishments" of Eddie, but no one ever took Florence by the hand and made any suggestions about perhaps changing up her parenting style. J. Lester, Eddie's Dad, was rather ......quiet. He may have sensed that they were doing their only son, their only child a great disservice by not forcing him to grow up and deal with the world as an adult. He knew full well that they never gave him the building blocks to do just that.
If Eddie's father knew that his son was growing physically but was so very lacking in emotional and psychological development, he either made no moves to change the course or his efforts were ignored by his wife.
No one that I've spoken to believes that Ed's parents ever had an idea or a worry that their son would turn out to be a vicious killer.
I have wondered about any odd behaviors in his life as a little boy or teenager. We know about the horrible, macabre behaviors of people like Jeffrey Dahmer and his mistreatment of animals and other living things. Nothing has ever been shared similar to that in Gibbs past.
But we all need to remember that this was the 1920s on. Times were far, far different.
What is commonplace today, so sadly, was scandalous or unimaginable back then.
Take the times, society of the day and couple it with a family so motivated by social standing, so worried about appearances and I believe that even if the Gibbs parents were aware of some dark behaviors of their son, no one would ever have been told.
J. Lester probably chalked it up to a phase and assured Florence that Eddie would outgrow it.
Florence probably just hummed and got dressed for church.
A man doesn't bludgeon a young woman to death unless there has been darkness and evil roots in his psyche for quite some time.
Ed's hair trigger temper was a standout characteristic. Even those who knew him rather marginally mention that as what they knew about him, what they remember.
He was used to appearing quite the "man about town". He would lie about his "success" with the ladies. He was all about appearances. The real Ed Gibbs was a scary soul.
I wonder if Ed ever knew, deep down, that those who spent time around him saw through his facade?
He was another Emperor. Only this one liked loud sport coats and ties.
On January 10, 1950 Ed wasn't getting what he wanted. All the way around.
He wanted to drop out of school. His parents and wife said no.
He wanted to get a job that he would enjoy. His parents and wife said no.
He wanted to "make" Marian Baker. She said no.
And he killed her.
Gehman wrote, in his book, that Ranck questioned Gibbs about choking Marian.
He asked him how long he choked her. Did he continue until he "wholly choked" her.
He never "wholly" choked her.
The autopsy results, as little as were included in the book, indicate no force sufficient to render her lifeless due to strangulation. There is no mention of fracture of the hyoid bone.
Rather, she exhibited clear defensive wounds on the back of her hand.
The fat emboli that were found in her lungs clearly indicated that she was still alive when the most forceful of the blows were delivered.
What really happened by the Harnish cottage on January 10, 1950?
Where was the lug wrench that it was so quickly accessible to Gibbs that he could wield it while Marian was still very much alive? Most people mistakenly believed that Gibbs attacked her with the lug wrench after she was rendered unconscious or dead from being choked. That is not the case.
The location of the wounds indicate mobility on her part.
Where was the lug wrench in that car and when was it placed in it's location?
The details of the attack that day are the key to seeing the real Edward Lester Gibbs.
In his mind, Marian had to die. There was no option.
What was he trying to stop, to avoid?
Gibbs behavior after the killing is also paramount to understanding his psychological make up.
His return visits to the scene and Marian's body are vitally important to knowing the whole story.
I'll offer that he didn't return to the scene with the shovel simply to try to bury the body.
I have to admit that I took that claim at face value when I first read it, and again every time I reread the book.
It made sense to me.
But that was before I knew more about Ed Gibbs.
Just as the psychiatrists took him at his word when they examined him, I took it all at face value as well.
He claimed that he wasn't sexually frustrated. They believed him and wrote it down.
He claimed that certain things didn't bother him. They believed him and wrote it down.
I have a degree in Psychology and my concentration was Clinical, rather that Experimental. And even I had to question why they put such faith in what Gibbs told them.
They were learned enough to spot at least some psychological imbalance, and perhaps a level of latent schizophrenia, but they believed what he told them as they examined him?
That can only be attributed to the infancy of the practice.
Today, even the simplest of psychological survey has safeguards built in to catch the most miniscule inconsistency.
Ed Gibbs lied so often that even he had no idea who or what he was. He just knew he needed to keep playing a role.
Until his dark stuffing came bursting out that day at the Harnish cottage.
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