Friday, November 5, 2010

A Synopsis of The Events As We Know Them or Have Been Told They Occurred

It's been a very long time since I was able to work on the files related to the life and death of Marian Louise Baker. Frustration isn't even an adequate word....Work, family obligations and life in general have a way of overtaking my free time and before I know it, months have again passed.

I apologize to those who are due email responses, as well as to those who I have yet to meet, meet up with again, or spend hours with. I had no idea in any  real sense just how difficult it would be to do this work while living so far away. Prior to my posting about Marian's murder, there was nothing available on the world wide web. Nothing. I admit to feeling rather proud that at least now some information is out there, as well as authentic photos and reproductions of selected newspaper articles. It has always been important to me that her story not be forgotten and never just fade away from history. Her life and her essence mattered. It matters to this day.
I have to say this again: At no time have I ever considered violating anyone's peace or privacy. As much as I have wanted to learn more from people who clearly know the facts of the time, I have refrained from making contact and will continue to do so. At no time would I ever cause pain or heartache to anyone, especially those souls who have already suffered so much.
My 'right' to the facts, or that of the general public pales in comparison. I could never justify hurting an innocent person by making them revisit the heartache simply because 'inquiring mind want to know'.
Setting the record straight or correcting erroneous publications is a horse of a different color. That is the purpose of my work on Marian's behalf.. The public needs to know the truth about her. Not the truth that was alluded to by Richard Gehman or the press.
To date, all of the information I have and/or have shared was given to me freely or is a result of my years of research. I have never posted or published any information or photos without the express permission of the source. That integrity and truth is vitally important to me.
Other authors have acted as vultures, picking over the bones and broken hearts to gain notoriety or profits. How sad. I couldn't sleep at night if I acted on those premises.
I am fully aware that simply bringing this all up again is painful for some people. I empathize with them. But the goal is to tell the truth about a young woman who was full of light and laughter, who never acted in any way that would make her even slightly responsible for her horrible death.
I am also completely aware that there were many victims in this tragedy. Many lives stopped on a dime back then and have in some cases, resumed with the scars in place but tolerable .
Some think it should be easy to hate Ed Gibbs. I in no way excuse his heinous behavior but if you look at his life, from the moment of his birth, he was a loaded cannon. And Marian Baker paid the ultimate price.
Ed's family suffered, although it seems that his mother was able to compartmentalize her feelings and thoughts about her son and went on as if he had simply died of a disease. His father passed years ahead of his mother. The crime of the son was the nail in his coffin.
Ed's wife and her family were victims as well. They were fine folks who never saw this coming. And once their world exploded, they did what fine people do. They continue to live with dignity and respect. But they stand straight and they go on.
Marian's family in Conestoga was forever changed. Her brother Ross lived each day thinking of her. They went on, putting one foot in front of the other, but they carried the lump in their chest each day.
Her fiance Edgar Rankin lived on. A good man who had such high hopes for a life with Marian, he went on also with respect and dignity.
Marian's relatives in the New Bloomfield area are very much a family. Family history and bonds are as important today as they were then.
I do have to say that Marian's birth mother was disconnected from early on and remained that way. That is a tragic part of Marian and Ross's life, although Ross never, ever disrespected his biological mother, although raised by a maternal aunt. Marian was raised also by a maternal aunt, her Aunt Ally ODonel. Despite being raised in separate households, by different aunts, in different counties, the tie between Ross and Marian lived on. I firmly believe that bond is alive and well today and they are happily together.
Out of the research of this horrific tragedy has come knowledge of goodness. The people that loved Marian and Ed are the goodness. Each person had and has worth. We all make mistakes, we all make missteps. Some of our own accord, some are dropped on us out of the blue, like a net.
Time is of the essence. Many folks still remain who knew Marian or Ed or their friends and family. Some have passed. But the totality of the story needs to be set down, finally, for all to read and learn.
With the crime rate at its current level all over the country, and brutality now appearing on our television sets daily, it is easy sometimes to forget just how this crime affected Lancaster city, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and surrounding states. In a way, it was the end of Camelot for Lancaster County. Yes, other murders had occurred. Other crimes had been published in the papers. But this tragedy grabbed people by the heart. Marian Baker could have been any one of us. She could have been you or I, or our sister or best friend. Ed Gibbs could have been any one of us. He could have been our brother or cousin or friend.
This one hit home more so than any other murder in the area.
People woke up feeling differently after Marian's body was found. It was the end of an era.

A very brief review:


Marian Baker was being raised by her aunt and uncle in Conestoga, PA. Raised in a Christian household, she was loved. She was also a good girl. And well liked. Her birth parents were from the New Bloomfield area. She missed that area when she lived in Conestoga, and especially missed her brother Ross who still lived back there.
She graduated from Penn Manor and not long after accepted a job as a cashier at Franklin and Marshall College, working for Mr. Mylin, who was also a summer neighbor of Marian's in Conestoga. She was well liked at the college and she loved the college right back. She loved her job and was meticulous in her work.
She dated and eventually became engaged to Edgar Rankin. No date had yet been set for the wedding but her dreams of being a wife and a mother were firmly in place. Edgar proposed to Marian and gave her an engagement ring at Christmas. Less than a month later, Marian was reported missing. Failing to arrive for work, it was clear from the start that something was very, very wrong. Marian's character didn't allow for her to simply not let anyone know where she was or to be late for work.

A young man who attended Franklin and Marshall, Ed Gibbs was from Pitman, New Jersey. He was the only son of Joseph Lester and Florence  L. Saqui Gibbs of 48 North Oak. His family was prominent and he was the pride and joy of not only his parents but the Gibbs uncles as well. His one uncle was the mayor of Pitman.
Ed Gibbs had served in the military and then was accepted into Franklin and Marshall. He was failing his subjects, repeatedly, wished to leave school to gain a job but was told that was not an option by his parents who were very much involved in his life.
He married Helen Woodward from Sewell, New Jersey in a beautiful, society wedding that was the talk of the town. She was beautiful young woman from a fine family and had a very positive effect on Ed. She seemed to center him, to calm him down a bit. He was 'high strung', as was his mother. Those who saw them said it was clear that they were very much in love. Helen wanted to have a baby, badly but their financial situation was tight at best and Ed wanted to quit school and get a job that he liked. Helen agreed that he needed to finish school. With his grades and unexplained willingness to do the work involved, graduating was not on the horizon for Ed. Ed lived to be liked, to be accepted and to be a source of pride for his parents and family.
Over the Christmas break, Ed vaguely hinted that he would not be graduating. His mother had a fit so he lied and said he was just kidding. The chain clicked tighter. He knew he was failing and he would be a source of shame for his parents. He felt inadequate in the way he was providing for his wife. Their room in East Hall, on  campus was bleak and dreary. It was one room. Helen worked at Armstrong Cork Co. (later it would become Armstrong World Industries) to help with their bills. As many do, Helen believed that having a baby would fix things. Ed was getting hit from all angles. He had, in the past, been described as a 'wolf', flirting and being inappropriate with other women. His attempt to avoid pregnancy led to some abnormalities in his marital sexual behaviors as well.

Marian knew Ed Gibbs. He often came into the office to cash checks, make payments and such. He chattered on and on with Marian. She was alwasy polite but was quoted by her co-worked, Mrs. Stonesifer as saying that Ed's continual chatter about himself made her "sick". Given that Marian was pretty young woman, it is easy to assume that Ed was flirtatious with her as well. He saw himself as the real bon vivant.

One of Marian's duties was to take checks to the bank for deposit and also to take outgoing mail to the post office on Chestnut Street. After her lunch on Tuesday, January 10th, 1950, Marian took a Conestoga Traction Company bus downtown. She visited Kay Jewelers where she picked up her precious engagement ring, which needed the stone more securely fastened in the bezel. She also made the bank deposit and then headed toward the post office. En route, she encountered Ed Gibbs who was downtown with a friend, John George, hoping to see a movie. Mr. George was at a movie house at that time. Ed claimed to his friend that he didn't have time to see the movie since he had to pick his wife up at Armstrong at 5 pm. The movie they intended to see had been pulled for being 'racy' and the substitute film had a later start time. Ed asked Marian if she was going back to the college campus. She said that she was, after she mailed a letter at the post office.
Gibbs offered to drive her back to the school. Marian continued on to the post office and when she exited, Ed was waiting on Chestnut Street. She crossed over and got in the passenger seat. He then asked her if she had to get right back to the college.
Despite testimony later at the trial that she had claimed to be 'swamped' with work, Ed claims that she said she didn't need to return to the school immediately. So when he stopped at the light at Chestnut and South Prince Street, he made a left and headed south instead of driving in the general direction of the school.
It was a cold, gray January day. Someone who knew Marian very well has shared that they believe that that is why she accepted the offer of a ride. Given the weather, and her comment about being so busy with work, she thought it would be quicker to get back to the campus if she rode with Ed, rather than catch the bus back.
The ride south is where the story takes a very macabre and sickening turn.
After driving back around Media Heights Golf Course, Ed took another dirt lane just south. And there, he said, he reached over and started to choke Marian Baker, for no reason other than 'impulse'.
She screamed and jumped out of the car and tried to run. He said he choked her again. And then walked around to his trunk and removed a lug wrench. He then beat her about the head, crushing her skull and killing her.
He ultimately hid her body under some corrugated sheeting under an excavation at the cottage that was on the property.It is important to note that he returned to the scene of the murder three times, only hiding her body on the last visit.
He disposed of her belongings, being a purse, umbrella, rings in various locations: The Little Conestoga Creek out by Maple Grove, Mill Creek, Stumpf's gas station. He hid his bloody clothes under attic floorboards in East Hall, where he and his wife lived on campus.
The authorities may have had his identity in their possession from the start but for some reason never realized it or didn't immediately act on it for reason that remain unknown.
But as the noose tightened, Ed crumbled and confessed to the crime.
The crime and the trial enveloped Lancaster County and the surrounding area in a way that no crime before ever had.
Ed Gibbs was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed in the electric chair and was laid to rest in Hillcrest Cemetery near Pitman, New Jersey.

Marian Baker was laid to rest in her beloved New Bloomfield. After her heartbreaking funeral service at Gundel's Funeral Home in Conestoga, the mourners embarked on a long, tear-filled journey up the 'river road', taking Marian home.

Ed Gibbs refused to offer any reason for his brutal attack and murder of Marian Baker other than to say he did it 'on impulse'. Even his defense attorney, Hensel Brown, paid a price for his involvement in the case. It wasn't the loss so much as it was Brown's certainty that Ed just didn't tell the whole story. Brown lived the rest of his life with a piece of himself missing. He defended Ed the best he could with what Ed gave him. It was clear with the confession and susbtantiating evidence that he was guilty. But Brown had hoped to at least save him from the death penalty. Lancaster County is filled with Christian and faith-filled hearts of compassion. The death penalty recommendation from the jury stunned everyone, the judge included.
Brown had hoped that Ed would tell him the rest of the story and the missing facts would have been the key to having the jury recommend life or a long jail term rather than death.
 
Ed's father collapsed in the courthouse. He had a heart condition and his son's crime was the beginning of the end for J. Lester. Ed's mother was in a world of her own. For her own mental health, she retreated into a world of nice dresses, a tidy home and doing the right thing. She didn't attend the trial.

On the day that Ed confessed to the murder, he asked his friend, John George to pick Helen, his wife up, at work at Armstrong Cork at 5 pm. John had done this several times before so he didn't think it odd. Until Ed then blurted out that he had to go confess to killing Marian Baker.
Helen was told about the events in the room she shared with Ed in East Hall. She returned to Pitman later with Ed's parents who arrived from New Jersey. Once Helen left Lancaster, she was protected and guarded fiercely. Her Lancaster friends never betrayed her.
She didn't attend the trial and from what is known, had no contact with Ed from that day forward. Ed's lawyer did believe that her absence in the courtroom had a profound effect on the trial and the jury.

Ed Gibbs was executed in the electric chair. He had very little to say other than to have the Chaplain tell his parents that was okay.

He went to his grave without telling one more detail of that day or offering any additional explanation as to why he felt the need to choke and then beat the life out of Marian Baker.

The theories ran wild.


The author, Richard Gehman, wrote a book about the case, "A Murder In Paradise". On first glance, it tells the story. On second, third and beyond, I learned that Gehman never even spoke with some closest to the people involved or to those involved directly. He gleaned his information from innuendo and newspaper articles from Lancaster. He was remote from the situation and profited from a
very lazy approach to telling any part of the story.
His work broke hearts. His lazily written book caused pain to those who loved Marian.
He wrote the book to sell it. Plain and simple. Truth be damned.
He didn't do the leg work a true story required. He let others funnel information to him and he never took the time to listen to those involved. And he didn't verify his 'facts'.
He did a disservice even to the Gibbs family.
His coy and snide descriptions of some of the people and practices of Lancaster and Lancaster County has never set well with me. After all, he was a local boy gone good. But he looked down on the simple people of the county as if he were elite.
Shame on Richard Gehman and shame on his editor and publisher. They all ate at the banquet fueled by the destruction of lives and happiness.

There are relatives of all involved that still wish to forget or to live as if January 1950 never happened. They see no good in dredging it all up now, at this late date. They see no reason or purpose. They see no good coming of it.
I heartily disagree.
Marian Baker lived. And that still matters.The facts of her brutal death are horrible, but they are part of the story. It was the goodness in Marian that allowed her to trust Ed Gibbs that day. She was kind to a man she secretly couldn't stand.
It has always been Marian's story that I want to write.

And again I have to say thank you to all of those people who have willingly contacted me to share what they know, what they lived and what they believe.
Never will I betray a confidence. Only with permission will anything ever be posted or shared. Those who have been contacting me for a long while already know that. The folks who only recently have found me will learn that first hand.
I truly hope that I will have the time before winter truly hits to continue the hands on research. Only so much can be done long distance.
And also, feel free to contact me with any questions. I will share what I know, but only with the permission of the sources.

There will be no sensationalizing this horrible crime. Not by me. And if I determine that anyone is attempting to profit from the heartache and pain, I'll do what I can to make sure that doesn't happen.

Suze

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Welcome Fall.... Time in Lancaster County and Beyond Is Soup For The Soul!

A brief update....
On Friday, October 29, 2010 we returned yet again to Lancaster County for some research, some shopping and to revisit some sites and locations that are very important and dear to us.
We even journeyed to Columbia, Mountville, Ephrata, Adamstown, Reinholds, Vinemont, Galen Hall, Wernersville and beyond.
I have much filing and cross-referencing to do and will update here as I am able. Life is infringing a bit on my passions, which is only a good thing, since it includes our precious new baby boy :) I do have to say that life has cycled into one of the most positive and incredible phases we've encountered in a long time :) Business is booming for all of us, each in our own venue, and things are just GOOD :)
I am still awaiting responses from a few folks in reference to information and articles and materials about Marian. Patience is something I'm learning first hand to be sure.