Why Revisit This All Now?

I needed to get my notes and my thoughts together for this post.
I've been asked why I feel so compelled to revisit this crime at this late date. The question wasn't a challenge to my efforts, it was a sincere and genuine question asked by someone who truly wanted to gain a glimpse into my motivation for learning all I can about Marian, her life and the crime commited against her so long ago.

I thought the answer would be difficult to explain but it's not.

Why revisit this all now, so many years later?

Because Marian Louise Baker deserves to have the truth told of her character, her person, her morals and her value and worth not only to those that loved her by blood, but also to those who knew her, worked with her, went to school with her and simply spent time in her company.

Marian made an impression on the people she met. Her goodness was apparent.
She had so many good qualities that I am sincerely sorry I never got to meet her.

But the drive behind my efforts are due to the misinformation and fallacious information that was disseminated by the press and by the author, Richard Gehman.

Facts were presented that weren't facts.

The motives behind the fallacies are numerous. I can't alter them now.

But I can make sure I tell the whole story of the person that is Marian Louise Baker.
She was much more than a simple county girl who happened to work as a secretary at Franklin and Marshall.
She touched lives and she was someone to be looked up to.
I need to correct the misinformation and tear down the fallacies in a concrete way.
She deserves to have the truth told. Once and for all.
She needs to be remembered for the good soul she was, not the subject of curiosity by those that love a good scandal.
I simply want to remove the undeserved innuendo and rumor that was intentionally placed on Marian Louise Baker to sell books and newspapers.
I simply want the truth to be known by everyone.

They Protect Him To This Very Day

The Gibbs family is interred in the Hillcrest Cemetery on Delsea Drive just outside Pitman, New Jersey.

I need to thank a very dear person for helping me with the information from the cemetery itself. I owe you much more than a debt of gratitude and I can only hope that my efforts in this project serve you well in the way that they need to.

For several years, Ed Gibbs' grave was unmarked.

We now know, as of this week, that that isn't the case any longer.

His grave is clearly marked in the family plot.

Ed is buried between his mother and father.

J. Lester Gibbs died in 1964. He wasn't a well man during his son's murder trial and collapsed several times and had a heart attack early on in the proceedings.

Mrs. Florence Gibbs died in 1993.

She placed her son next to his father and then upon her passing, next to her also.

The symbolism there is screaming.

They are flanking him in death as they did in life.

It was told to me that the position of the resting places speaks volumes as to the mindset of the Gibbs parents.

It's only natural that no parent could imagine or believe that their child could have done to Marian Baker what Ed Gibbs did to her.

He confessed and gave the world the details. Not all of them were revealed. The very worst weren't necessary for the success of the trial on the Prosecution's side and they surely weren't going to be revealed by the Defense.

But most parents would somehow, someday, come to grips with the truth and have to admit to themselves that their child was a murderer. They would still love the child, but the truth would become a very dark but tangible part of their reality.

Marian's aunt and uncle, the O'Donels, were faith-filled Christian people. They found peace and forgiveness for the Gibbs family through Christ. They wrote to the Gibbs' several times telling them of their Christian compassion and forgiveness, clearly telling them that they held nothing against the Gibbs parents for what Ed had done.

Not one response ever came back.

The O'Donels were surprised and puzzled.

Now, it seems a bit clearer.

J. Lester died in 1964. Florence lived the rest of her days never truly believing that her Eddie had killed Marian Baker. Her psychological timbre was so fragile that she removed anything to do with the crime, trial and execution from her reality.

Her behavior and demeanor at her son's services is macabre but telling.

Florence Gibbs could finally, for the first time in her life since the birth of her baby boy, Eddie, relax.

She now knew and would know for all time, where he was, if he was safe and what he was doing.

He was "home".

Florence mothered Ed "in a box" for as long as she could while he was alive.

It wasn't easy. And she was a walking nervous wreck.

But now, Eddie was in the big box and he couldn't get hurt, he couldn't fail, he couldn't put a dark mark on the family name and he couldn't challenge the desires and decisions of the family anymore.

Eddie didn't kill Marian. But Eddie passed away.

So Florence made potato salad and hosted the mourners and went on with her life.

And when her husband died, he took his place at the side of Eddie, and she would flank him years down the road.

I almost feel  a sense of defiance in Florence Gibbs.
It would have hurt many mothers to ignore a letter from the O'Donel family. They reached out in Christian love and compassion.

I truly wonder if Florence kept the letters. I would love to know if they were part of her personal effects when she died.

Or if they were thrown in the trash as Florence hummed to quiet the voices in her head.