The Story Keeps Revealing Itself

East Hall, the dormitory on the Franklin and Marshall College campus for married students was where Ed and Helen Gibbs lived. I wish it was still standing. I honestly believe that we all have an energy and leave an imprint. Ed Gibbs pathos was exuded within these walls under the guise of normal day-to-day life.

I have been lucky enough to encounter someone who may give me a first hand account of what Ed and Helen were like, much as  anyone could have known of them from living in the space. The details are what fascinate me. I suppose that I still believe that I will someday, somehow come upon some seemingly insignificant little fact that will stun me and give me an "Aha!" moment. I truly believe that will happen. There is something more, something I haven't uncovered yet.

I have been contacted by several people with intimate knowledge of Marian, of Ed and Helen and the various aspects of their lives and personalities. The rub is this. In the late 1940s and into 1950, this was a very different world from the one we live in today. Things that we are becoming used to were shocking and kept well from public view and knowledge. People were much more aghast at horrific happenings then. Surely murders happened. Affairs and other sordid events happened. But they were kept secret. Appearance was everything. Especially to families like the Gibbs and the Woodwards, and even the Bakers, Smiths and O'Donels. It fit all families of that time. Things just weren't open for reveal or God forbid, discussion.

But human nature hasn't changed. The less detail and explanation, the more we question and search for answers that make sense. I know that  sometimes logic isn't logical and that there are no answers for some crimes. But I also know that in far more cases, what makes sense to the common person is exactly what caused an event or resulted in one.

As one friend said to me very recently, what's important is that the truth be told and it will fall where it may.

I have been very biased in my research and to this day hold Marian Baker in the highest regard. I have not changed my mind about that. No new evidence has yet been uncovered to change my mind. But as I progress with my pursuit of the total truth of this horrific tragedy I have to now remain open to all and any possibility.  Falsehoods and errors will fall away until nothing but the truth remains.

There is a reason why this case is still creating such an incredible stir sixty-five years later. It is because none of us have heard or read the total truth or the whole story. Once the facts are uncovered that lead to incontrovertible truth, the story will close and only memories will remain.

As long as the truth keeps quietly tapping on the door, whispering permission to come in, I will keep trying to pry that door open wide enough for it to enter.

This has always been a Marian vs. Ed thing. It has been all-or-nothing. No matter what events took place or what details remain, Marian never deserved to be murdered. Period. Her murder was horrific, senseless and a total tragedy. Even I have seen this as extreme ends of the spectrum. It only recently has become clear to me that human beings don't sit well on the ends of a ruler. No one fits on the ends of the spectrum. No one.  Like a teeter-totter, all humans are somewhere in between, balancing life a little more on one end and  then a little more on the other. It is in sad and pathological cases like Ed Gibbs where a human sits a little too firmly on the unstable and dangerous end. And when another human gets too close or enters the aura of that pathos, tragedy can and usually does, ensue.

Many questions remain about the events that led up to the murder of Marian Baker. Some roll easily off the lips. Why did she get in the car with Gibbs? Easy answer is that she thought it was a quicker way to return to the campus. Harder question: Marian was quoted as saying that Gibbs "disgusted" her. Why then would she get in the car with him? Another query....Why didn't she get out of the car when she saw they were going to a remote area at the Harnish cottage? Short answer: She may have been uneasy but no one, especially in that time period, would really believe that danger was present. Harder question: The Harnish cottage was in a very remote location. It was a bleak and cold January day. What scenic experience was there to have? What countryside drive was there to be had on that route, in that location? If you have accepted a ride from a man who you state disgusts you, and he has convinced you that it's fine to take a ride before returning to campus and work, what reaction do you have when he ends up on a remote lane, in a wooded area on a stark and drab, cold day? Was she uneasy? Was she fearful prior to his reaching over to choke her? What did she really say to him to make him want to choke the life out of her.

We all have to remember that we only have Gibbs story as to what went on in that car that day in January. I have to admit, it makes less sense to me today than it ever has. It just doesn't add up.

Researching Croghan....

I had a few minutes today to work on some ongoing research. I am currently looking into the Croghan aspect of the Marian Louise Baker murder, namely some follow up to Edward Lester Gibbs' wife, Helen Woodward.
Helen resumed her maiden name when she left Lancaster and Ed Gibbs. She tried to turn the clock back to when she was Helen Woodward...before the nightmare of her marriage to Ed.
It seems that Helen married into the Croghan family and had one son. After the death of Mr. Croghan, she remarried later into the Wilson family.
I have the utmost respect for Helen Woodward Croghan Wilson and will not even begin to invade her privacy with contact. However, if she or any other family member would wish to speak with me, I would be more than glad to hear them tell me anything that Helen or the family would like me to know.
I also was contacted a while back, allegedly, by the daughter of the last surviving juror in the Ed Gibbs murder trial. Unfortunately she never left me any contact information with which I could contact her, and she has never used my various emails in which to contact me. If she is still interested in contacting me, I would love to hear from her or her mother.

As always, I can be reached here, via comment or at s.weik@mchsi.com or PAGirlAtTheBeach@aol.com   Thanks.

Still Pursuing The Portrait/Photograph Of Marian

I am again awaiting information from the curator at F & M regarding the portrait of Marian that hung in East Hall when the Administrative Offices were relocated there. Upon demolition the location of that portrait became a mystery at least to her family and friends.
I always cringe when I think of where it was hanging. East Hall. The married students' housing where Ed Gibbs had lived with his wife, Helen. Where he hid his bloody clothes under the attic floor boards. From where he glanced out of the window, seeing the law enforcement officers eyeing his car. The building he tore out of in a panic, racing to the office where he breathlessly uttered his confession first.
I am still waiting to hear from a commenter who asked me to contact her. I have no contact info for you but would love to speak with you. Hopefully I will hear from you again soon.

Two Lines Left Their Points of Origin......And Their Intersection Was Deadly

The Franklin and Marshall College Campus served as the point of intersection for the lines that reperesent the lives of Marian Louise Baker and Edward Lester Gibbs.

Had Marion not been employed there, and had J. Lester and Florence Gibbs not demanded that their only child, son Eddie attend college, they never would have encountered each other.

The photos of the F & M campus show it's beauty from the past. It remains a beautiful campus today.

Steeped in authentic history, it's been the locus of learning of those who have gone into the world to create and generate impact and progress.

Marian Baker loved F & M. She was much more that "just a secretary". Marian was loved and very well thought of. That is precisely why no one even thought of checking the financial records or books when she was reported missing. There was never a question as to her honesty.

Edward Lester Gibbs had been a big fish in a small pond at Pitman High in New Jersey. He had excelled in most sports and was well known and well thought of. His family name was well known and his once uncle had been the Mayor of Pitman. That ended with the 1953 election. I do not for a fact whether his term limits prevented him from running again, whether he ran and lost or given the conviction and execution of his nephew, he decided to avoid the public limelight.

Marian graduated from Penn Manor, having taken the Commercial Course. She was hired shortly after graduation by Hamilton Watch Company, in the cafeteria. By a stroke of good luck, at the time, she was notified of a job opening at Franklin and Marshall College. There was no doubt as to her suitability for any job. She was meticulous, she was a hard worker, a pleasant and respectful and respectable young lady and conscientious beyond measure. She loved her job, she loved the college and she was in the midst of one of the happiest periods in her life. She became engaged at Christmas of 1949 to Edgar Rankin and looked forward to married life.

Marian Baker didn't have a promiscuous day in her life.

She was able to smile and appear to be rather comfortable with others, yet she may have been quite shy on the inside. She smiled easily and was an attractive young woman.

Jealous females who couldn't understand "the draw" of Marian made snide remarks and innuendoes. That practice goes on today, in great numbers and with far more insult included to anyone who the masses don't quite understand.

Marian's easy smile and friendliness, coupled with her lack of promiscuity made her the topic of comments and conversation. In addition to the jealous females, who clearly didn't know Marian at all, the men who got nowhere with Marian added fuel to the fire. The old fashioned, is it really?, practice of claiming to have gotten farther with a female than the facts would support was an insult to Marian.

The salacious claims would have gone down in history unspoken and unknown to all had Marian not been murdered in 1950.

Marian was popular with the college administration and officials. They recognized her loyalty to the school and her class. She was chosen to judge an advertising poster contest of Alpha Delta Sigma on the campus, in early 1949. She joined the ranks of Nancy Stonesifer, the Assistant Professor's wife who also worked with Marian in the Treasurer's Office and Max Hannum, the Assistant to the Dean. Alpha Delta Sigma was the national advertising fraternity. I have been told that Ed Gibbs was a member of Alpha Delta Sigma, being a Business major. Is this where he first met Marian. We know that he knew her from his visits to the Treasurer's Office. But that could have been the setting of Ed's first spying Marian, the beautiful young lady.

Marian participated in the college that she loved so dearly. I have wondered about Marian's later life. Would she have left the college to have children and raise them? Or would she hold the college so dear to her heart and stay on campus and grow and become even more a thread in the fabric of F & M?

The photograph of Marian that hung in the Bursar's Office in East Hall on the campus is of great interest to me and to others very close to Marian. I am in the process of finding out what happened to that photograph.

Did it hang there until the demolition? Was it placed in college storage? I'm anxiously awaiting answers to those questions.

Marian's photograph needs to be rehung. Or a commissioned painting of her needs to replace it.

Her heart belonged to F & M and she would be honored to be remembered there.

What an opposing view of humanity you get when you compare Marian Louise Baker to Edward Lester Gibbs.

There is NO comparison.

Gibbs had his demons. His mother's instability, his father's ineffectual stance.

Overprotected and spoiled, Ed was denied the very tools of development he needed to face life as a functioning adult. But he knew his own shortcomings. He bailed on help at the Guidance Center at F & M.

He needed to stand up to J. Lester and Florence and tell them that as a married adult man he was dropping out of college and getting a job. That was all he needed to do.

His parents needed to allow a separate human being the right to choose how he lived his life.

I hold no pity for Gibbs. I can understand the parts of the horror picture that became his life, but I don't excuse it.

A lack of courage killed Marian Baker.

Gibbs' parents lack of courage in allowing their son to make his own choices and perhaps not live up to the family name.....

Ed's lack of courage in taking a stand and doing what he needed to do. He wasn't going to graduate. He needed to blurt it out, hand his mother a handkerchief and take his lumps.

The Gibbs family in it's entirety is responsible for Marian's murder.

Ed wielded the lug wrench but his parents were sitting on his shoulder.

Societal position and appearance were more important to them than their son's happiness.

I can't imagine the relief Ed would have felt if at Christmas of 1949, when he did indeed tell his mother that there was a chance he'd not graduate, his mother would have shed a few tears and dealt with it.

Instead, her show of histrionics fed Ed's pathological desire to please. So he told her he was just kidding.

Christmas 1949....

Marian is filled with joy and happiness as she becomes engaged to Edgar Rankin.

Ed Gibbs is filled with dark frustration and rage.

And on January 10, 1950 Marian Baker paid the price for the sins of the Gibbs family.

Sad and horrible in its own right.

Now add to that a sloppily written book, by a largely absent author, tossing innuendo and scandal onto the memory of Marian Baker, where it surely didn't belong.

Gehman victimized Marian all over again.

And to this day, those that knew her and love her still just can't cotton to that.

It's never set well. It doesn't today.

The Trail Starts Here

Hi all!
It's been a damp, rainy and very windy few days here and we've got some coastal flooding to deal with. I had to reschedule some clients yesterday.... I don't travel with my boat, so getting to their waterfront homes wasn't an option lol
I spent the day in class...what a nice change! Being in a classroom, being instructed and inspired by a professor is one of the places where I am most comfortable :) I loved school. My passion for learning really bloomed in Middle School. And I'm not done yet.
I have my BA in Psych/Spanish, my ADN in Professional Registered Nursing and have unfinished terms in Law. Taxes and Finance/Accounting will round out the list.
My current job/business keeps me mobile most of the day. I did worry about how I'd like being "cooped up" for an entire day with the Saturday classes but I worried over nothing :)
Today was wonderful. I'm already looking forward to next week.
And I have homework! LOL Quite a bit, to be honest. But I really am excited about being back in the learning milieu!
Okay, enough of the "station break"........

This past week I've had thoughts of the Marian Baker murder running silently through the back of my mind as I would go about my day. Almost like 'auto-pilot', the thoughts, scenarios and questions just keep coming.
I've allowed all sorts of scenarios to play out. No angle can be discounted until it's checked out and can be disgarded.
I have no idea what my desired result or goal really is right now.
Of course I'd love to have THE REASON, without question or conjecture as to why Marian Baker was bludgeoned to death on that miserable January afternoon in 1950. But Ed Gibbs is dead. And he refused to elaborate even to his defense attorney.
He was filled with anxiety and shame at his sure knowledge that he was not going to graduate as planned. He broached the subject over the Christmas holiday and his Mother became almost hysterical at the thought of him not graduating. Her reaction made him pretend, to her, that he was just joking. That he was surely going to graduate.
Shame was a button with Ed Gibbs.
The murder of Marian Baker would have been the ultimate shame for any of us to admit to.
It would have been enough for any normal or near normal person.
But not for Ed Gibbs.
There is or was something more shameful in his eyes than admitting the brutal and heinouse killing of Marian Baker. So he stuck to his story of killing her on "impulse".
Was it something as simple as Ed making an untoward pass at Marian and she rebuked him, threatening to tell his wife and filing a report with the college?
Or was it more?
What did Ed know that he willingly and steadfastly refused to open up about, even if it could have helped his defense?
Did he really believe that he would be given the death penalty?
Or did he think he'd spend his life in prison, concealing the real and true facts of what went on that day?
Some of the questions that I will pose here and to myself may bother some folks.
It's natural to hate Ed Gibbs, the convicted killer. To say anything nice about him may bother some.
It's natural to hold Marian in high regard. She was a beautiful, kind and unassuming girl from Conestoga. One who people thought the world of. Having to look into the claims that she was indeed a "party girl" almost seems dirty or close to running the risk of sullying her memory.
That is not the intent.
I plan to just let the research lead where it may. I knew neither of them.
I have no judgement of anyone involved.
I know what I learned from my family, the news accounts, the book and others who have been interested in the crime for many years.
I will be posing a few "what if's".... Please do not take offense. There is none intended.
I will be looking at the big picture, from scratch. No question will be excluded.
I welcome any and all additional contact and emails as I have for the past several months.
You know, it's funny. A few years ago when I resumed my research into this case, I did an internet search using the names of most of the people involved. I found nothing. There was nothing online to be found.
That isn't the case today.
But the real facts aren't online. And they aren't in books or newspapers. They live in the minds and memories of those that still remain.
I hope to meet as many of them as I can and share my respect and interest with them.
I don't want anyone to forget Marian. And in an odd way, I don't want anyone to forget Ed either.

Back At The Keyboard!

Hi all! It's been a great week and I've finally got enough done around here to feel as if I can take some time to come back to the blogs!
I made a list tonight of all the daytrips or longer roadtrips I want to make related to the Marian Baker murder.
My son asked me a few days ago why I feel the need to go to the areas or sites related to the case and I had to be honest with him.
I think first of all I truly believe I will come away from it all with a sense of what happened. I have no idea if what I'll come away with will be in keeping with the accepted facts and story, or if I will come away with an even greater sense of covert reasons behind the attack and murder south of Lancaster in 1950.
I hope to create a real timeline, as complete as I can make it for Marian Baker and Ed Gibbs both.
It would be even better to be able to document it all photographically. That may be quite difficult with the chance that previous homes no longer exist, new homes being built on the murder site itself, etc.
Another reason that I feel compelled to do this is to simply make sure that as time goes on, there are some folks who remember Marian Baker. And to some extent, Ed Gibbs too.
They were two young people whose paths crossed and ended up in tragedy for both of them.
Two lives unlived.
When the jury returned with the verdict and sentence of death, even the Judge was stunned.
He did his best to hide it, but he was caught off guard.
When he discharged the jury, he never even thanked them for their service. I think that was in part to his being stunned but also to his shock that the death penalty was handed down.
He presided over the trial in its entirety. He didn't see the death penalty coming.
The horrific tragedy was compounded by the death sentence. The sadness was permeating even further and was so much more widespread.
There is and was some compassion for Ed Gibbs and that has to be acknowledged and accepted as well. Normal people don't bludgeon young girls to death.
And Ed wasn't a monster. He was a tormented and overstressed young man. There were many, many blocks in the road that led him to the wooded area south of Lancaster that cold January day.
And that's IF he did it.
I'm not totally convinced just yet.
I sincerely hope to come away from my own form of revisiting it all with a sense of his guilt or his innocence. That may be too much to hope for.
So, I'm making my plans and trying to do it in a cohesive manner. And once I make the trips, one at a time, I'll document it all here and post all the pics I take.
I just wish I would have been pushier about it all when most of the people "in the know" were still alive. This is going to be extremely hard with them gone. But I love a challenge.

I guess my fascination with what really happened to Marian Baker is very similar to my and others questions as to what really happened in the Roseboro back yard in July of 2008.
We know what happened to Jan. But we don't know how it happened or truly why.
Did Mike snap? Or did he really plan it? Where did the blood go? What caused the puncture wound to Jan's head?
Unless Mike confesses or someone steps forward, we may never know.
Or fifty or sixty years from now, someone may be sitting at a computer, blogging about how the case grabbed a hold of them and how they need to make a road trip to get a sense of what really happened that warm, rainy July night in 2008.....

The Pregnancy, The Questions and The Fallout

Yesterday's publication about Angela Funk's pregnancy and the pursuit of clinical paternity sure stirred things up!
Those who haven't been following the case closely were shocked, some surprised and many left just shaking their heads.
Now, even more of Funks personal business it out there for all to read.
Alot of people have wondered all along how hard it had to be for Randy for live with the knowledge that she was pregnant to another man. Now he knows that the rest of the local world knows it too.
The ripple effect of this tragedy are so widespread.
Wives have learned that their husbands had affairs with Funk, thanks to a knock-knock, out of the blue from investigators on the case. Husbands have found out the same thing about their wives having dalliances with Roseboro.
Some friends who believed they were real, honest parts of the main players lives have learned that they never really knew these two at all.
Some aren't surprised by any of it. Not even a little bit.
Two people were so self-centered and so without personal restraint that they mowed down lives throughout the county. They couldn't put the brakes on.
Roseboro maintains his innocence so any outpourings of remorse are limited.
Funk has no remorse. She has stated that she "didn't do anything wrong". Really?
I'd love to know what formula she used to come up with that assessment.

So now, a continuance was granted thanks to a petition of the court by Mr. Sodomsky. This case will now drag out even longer. It's the middle of March. The trial was set for July 6, 2009. What on earth do they have on the list now that would require pushing the trial date even further back?
What has changed?
Jan Roseboro is still gone. Funk will deliver on April 1, 2009 give or take two weeks. Do they really believe that there is more exonerating evidence out there to find?
Why did Funk's attorney petition the court to delay the serology?
He wanted it postponed until after delivery, which makes no sense if the testing was not in utero.
It's the paternity that's at issue.
And for that, the child needs to be tested.
Interesting.......See what the professionals have to say:

1. Can a paternity test be performed without the mother?

Yes. If the mother's participation is not possible, we can perform a motherless paternity test at no additional charge. A motherless test requires more extensive analysis to produce conclusive results, but the results are just as accurate as those of a standard paternity test.

DDC encourages mothers to participate in paternity testing for the following reasons:

	Mothers who participate are guaranteed to receive a copy of the test results. Due to DDC's strict confidentiality policy, we are only able to release results to those tested, their authorized representatives (such as an attorney), or the tested child's legal custodian.
	Some courts require the mother to participate in a paternity test.
	The mother's participation aids in the analysis of unexpected results. Her participation is especially helpful in the rare cases when a mutation (a random change in the DNA) has affected the results.

The LNP articles never hinted that the testing was in utero, of the unborn child. So what results were they referring to in printing that the results in question weren't available or part of the record?
A simple swab from the inside of the cheek is all that is needed for DNA testing in most cases, if not all. That could be done once the child is born.
In utero testing is contraindicated in cases where the mother is more than 24 weeks along.


Here is the pre-birth scenario:

1. Can you do a paternity test before the baby is born?

Yes. If the mother is between 10 and 24 weeks pregnant, an OB-GYN can collect a DNA sample from the developing child through either chorionic villi sampling (10-13 weeks) or amniocentesis (14-24 weeks). The baby's prenatal sample is then compared against the mother's and alleged father's DNA samples, which are collected using the standard buccal swabbing method.

If the mother is more than 24 weeks pregnant, she must wait until the baby is born to do a paternity test. However, a newborn infant can be swabbed any time following birth, so a paternity test can be started soon after the delivery.

So it looks like Funk's blood sample was just taken for even more clarity in case of mutation of genes.....

1. Can a paternity test be performed without the mother?

Yes. If the mother's participation is not possible, we can perform a motherless paternity test at no additional charge. A motherless test requires more extensive analysis to produce conclusive results, but the results are just as accurate as those of a standard paternity test.

DDC encourages mothers to participate in paternity testing for the following reasons:

	Mothers who participate are guaranteed to receive a copy of the test results. Due to DDC's strict confidentiality policy, we are only able to release results to those tested, their authorized representatives (such as an attorney), or the tested child's legal custodian.
	Some courts require the mother to participate in a paternity test.
	The mother's participation aids in the analysis of unexpected results. Her participation is especially helpful in the rare cases when a mutation (a random change in the DNA) has affected the results.

So there will be no results until after the birth of the baby, if everyone has followed the accepted protocol.

I am sure Mr. Sodomsky is well versed on all of this by now so perhaps he planned all along to file for the continuance. Having blood samples taken at this time yields no results and would have no impact whatsoever until after the delivery. That leads me to believe he wanted the delay anyway, and planned on it prior to this latest chain of events.


The only thing left to surprise anyone would be for those test results to reveal that Roseboro is NOT the father of the baby. Could it happen? Yep. Nothing about Funk should surprise anyone anymore. But odds are, it's Roseboro's. Funk had him in her sights. And the baby just sealed the deal.

When Common Knowledge Becomes The News

Today, the Lancaster Newspapers published a story acknowledging the pregnancy of Angela Funk of Denver. Angela Funk is the admitted mistress of Michael Roseboro, who is currently awaiting trial for the murder of his wife of nineteen years, Jan Binkley Roseboro on July 22, 2008.
Many have questioned why this wasn't published prior to today.
As I was told by an Editor of the Lancaster Newspapers, they publish when news is news, not word on the street or innuendo.
Due to the court activity associated with the Funk pregnancy, this is now a matter of public record.
It was also reported that Allan Sodomsky, the defense attorney representing Roseboro filed for a continuance.
This is now, even more than before, a tango.
As the State of Pennsylvania, under the guise of the District Attorney, takes a step forward, the defense takes a step back. And so the dance goes.
Perhaps Mr. Sodomsky was counting on Funk's counsel's success at blocking any serology testing until a later date. That hasn't happened so the defense needs to regroup a bit, which is not out of the ordinary.
With Sodomsky's success rate, the side steps and dips he orchestrates aren't random nor are they thrown against the wall to see what sticks.
Roseboro is in good hands as far as a knowledgeable strategist is concerned. Many pray the DA is up to the challenge.
So now, it's a matter of public record that Angie Funk is bearing a child due on April 1, 2009, and claims the child is Roseboro's. The DNA test will tell the tale.
It has been "word on the street" that Randall Funk, Angie's husband, did have a vasectomy.
At this point, as I've said before, we can only surmise that the unborn child is Roseboro's baby.
Angela Funk has a long and colorful history of promiscuity and usually with married men.
Odds are that it is Roseboro's baby, but I'll wait for the serology and DNA assays to remove all doubt.
As I posted earlier, if the estimated date of delivery is April 1, 2009, then Angie Funk may have clearly known she was pregnant by July 22, 2008, the day that Jan Roseboro was beaten and drowned.
Angie and Mike had sex in Mount Joy the day of the murder.
They also spoke on the phone not long before the murder.
If Angie knew she was pregnant and had already discussed leaving her husband and starting a life with Roseboro, I find it hard to believe that she hadn't told Mike.
Angie takes what she wants. And she wanted Mike.
Married woman do not get pregnant by accident when their husbands have had a vasectomy.
This was a well orchestrated plan by Angie Funk.
The DA indicated that their case is based on the belief that Mike needed an out and he needed it "now".
What was the rush?
The rush was the baby. The baby that Angie told him about.
I believe she pushed him into a confrontation with Jan that night.
The room was getting smaller for Roseboro. He had a wife and children, business and income on one hand. On the other he had his pregnant lover. Now the clock was ticking.
Everything could be managed in the end if Jan didn't try to clean him out, take him to the cleaners.
I don't think the conversation went well that night at the Roseboro home.
Things hadn't been okay for a few weeks.
Mike had already told Jan in the previous two weeks that he wanted a divorce. And Jan's friends clearly saw a difference in her mood and demeanor after that.
Did she have a gut feeling that he really meant it this time? Was all her efforts, pain and heartache to keep her family together a waste?
If Jan wanted to give it one last, sad try and refused to even discuss divorce with Mike that night, did he snap?
Did he see Jan standing there in his way?
Words can get heated. Did Jan tell him that she'd call his father and mother and put an end to this nonesense as she had in the past?
Was that the last straw for Mike? His pregnant mistress was so close...All he had to do was make sure the money was still his, and get free....
One person stood between Mike and his life with Angie. And that was Jan Roseboro.
What needs to be proven also is whether the attack and murder was actually premeditated or if Mike acted in the heat of passion.
Was the "tool" used to strike Jan in the head nearby, placed there in advance by Mike, orchestrating the destruction of this branch of the Roseboro family as we knew it?
Or did he grab it in a fit of rage, having been pushed to the edge by Angie, on the phone?
There are still some very questionable things remaining in this case. Hopefully they will be addressed at trial.
If not, we may never get the truth of what happened that night.
What family members was the DA referring to when he reported that some were being uncooperative?
What other phone calls did Mike make that night immediately after he claims he found her in the pool?
Were any other family members there when the first responders arrived?
Was anyone seen leaving the Roseboro property before the first responders arrived.
There are a few questions about the actions of those close to Mike in the hours and days immediately after the killing. Some people acted very out of character. In ways that others noticed.
Why didn't Mike go with Jan to the Ephrata Hospital?
Why was his affect so flat and calm?
Where is the blood?
Who in the family or close circle is close enough to Mike to consider helping him clean it all up?
I can only pray that the DA has those answers and will reveal them at the trial.
Only after that, if not answered can any of us voice what we now believe to be oddities in the aftermath of the murder.
There is far more to this story than we know. I just hope there isn't far more than the DA knows.

The Marian Baker Murder

My research into Pitman, New Jersey, the hometown of killer Edward Lester Gibbs, led me to these photos and postcards. I posted them randomly.
I have been to Pitman once and plan to return. I want to get current photos of these locations and take some shots of the home where he grew up, the cemetery where he is buried.
In the meantime, this is what I have of the life history in visual form, of Edward Lester Gibbs.

This is where Ed graduated from high school prior to entering the service and then attending college at F&M in Lancaster, PA.

This is not the church where Edward Lester Gibbs married his bride, Helen. That poor woman had no idea what she had signed on for. Ed also reportedly worked for a while at the Esso Station that appears on the card.

The wedding reception the new Mr. and Mrs. Edward Lester Gibbs was held here at the Hotel Pitman. Nothing but the best for their son, some residents of the town felt that perhaps the Country Club would have been more fitting.

Another view of the Hotel Pitman.

I'll update with more photos as I get them, and also clearly lay out the timeline of Ed Gibbs life as it led him to the cold January afternoon where he beat the life out of Marian Louise Baker.

Estimated Dates of Conception

Most doctors and nurses agree that calculating an exact date of conception is hardly possible. But we can all come up with a very close guestimate as to that date.
Several websites allow you to calculate "back" given the estimated date of delivery.
For example, if an EDD is April 1, 2009, the calculator estimates the date of conception to be July 9, 2008. Here is a calculator site you might want to check out:
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/923526833.html

Now most people assume you need to have missed at least one cycle for a pregnancy test to accurately detect the presence of hormones secreted in the event of pregnancy.
I can tell you all, firsthand, that as of my first pregnancy, in 1984, there was test in existence that could tell you yes or no within a few days of conception. I had that test in a Lab Center not far from the Berkshire Mall. Not in keeping with protocol, I obtained the test on my own, but the results had to be reported to my Ob/Gyn. I arrived to have the blood drawn in the early afternoon and those results were available after 5 pm.
My Ob/Gyn and I had differing opinions as to my being pregnant or not. I was sure I was. He said I wasn't. And he wanted me to wait a few weeks to see what would shake out.
I have no patience and I wanted to know....NOW.
So, Angela Funk could have conceived as early as July 9, 2008 and she surely could have known about that pregnancy on July 22, 2008, the day that Jan Roseboro was killed.
Was that what Angela was speaking to Mike about on the phone prior to the brutal attack and murder of Jan?
This is all based on the published reports that Angie's EDD is April 1, 2009. Given her penchant for lying, that date could be totally off the mark. Only Angie knows for sure.
But if she is due on 4/1/09, she knew about the pregnancy by the night of July 22nd.
With the error of margin in determining due dates, this may never be clearly answered. But we all need to pay close attention to the date of the delivery. She may claim prematurity, she may claim to be way overdue....
I believe Mike Roseboro needs to petition the court for DNA testing. Angie's the friendliest girl in town. To the married men, anyway.

The Ambiguity Of The "Tool" And The "Letter L"

It has occurred to me that all of us that are following the course of events in the Roseboro murder case may be dealing with some misunderstanding or some ambiguity in the little facts that have been publicized to date.
Many of us have wondered about the mention of the "L-shaped wound" that Jan Roseboro suffered prior to winding up in the swimming pool of her back yard.
I know that I was one who tried to determine just what "tool", as the DA's office called it, would have left the impression of an "L" on a person's skull.
After numerous reviews of all that has been publicized so far, I think we "overthought it".
Not until the trial will we know the DA's theory in any concrete sense, but the articles and the quotes that have been published have not been clear and not all have been factual or true to quoting the person in the article.
At this point, it seems more factual to state that Jan Roseboro suffered an "L-shaped wound" to the area of her head behind the left ear. This wound "would have caused significant bleeding."
It wasn't stated clearly, ever, whether the wound was clearly in the shape of an L or if it bore the impression of the letter "L".
It is the former, apparently, not the latter.
It has been made public, however, that the authorities believe the wound to have been caused by a tool.
Many items, when used to whack someone in the head, from behind, can cause an L-shaped wound. A common 2X4 would do that. The edge and side are at a ninety degree angle.
But they have claimed it was a tool. Would a hammer do it? Would a level?
What common tools are found in most every household in America? What tools would be lying nearby, clearly accessible, in the home or by the pool?
If the events of that night were not planned, and Michael Roseboro "snapped", what tool could have possibly been nearby, benignly, just part of the daily life of a typical American family?
If Jan was attacked inside her home and then taken out to the pool, what tools did Michael Roseboro have that would have become an instant weapon of attack?
Jan Roseboro was struck from behind, by a person, wielding a tool, that left a bleeding wound behind her ear. That wound was L-shaped. That tells me it was a flap injury.
Cranial lacerations bleed profusely.
Was she struck with such force by the person wielding the tool that she flew into the pool as a result of the strike?
Were the wounds that appeared all over her body open or closed? Should anyone have expected those wounds to leave a great amount of bleeding? Or was the expected blood flow primarily from the head wound?
Kicking, beating and strangling Jan could have produced some blood, in all probability, just a small amount.
Did the fight take place by the side of the pool, where she was beaten and struck? And when she attempted to get away from her attacker, did he or she then grab the tool and strike Jan in the back of the head with sufficient force to throw her into the pool, unconscious? Or did the force of the strike throw her into the pool, injured but alert, where her attacker then forced her underwater until she was dead?
That would certainly explain the lack of blood evidence in any great amount.
When Jan entered the pool she was alive. But was she conscious? She drowned. That is a fact. But did the autopsy reveal any signs of her being held forcibly under the water?
There wasn't the need for an extensive clean up as many of us have surmised. There just wasn't that much blood outside the watery confines of the family pool.
And what little blood may have been flung by the attacking injuries, that clean up was minor compared to the optional possibilities.
The lack of blood evidence is what the defense is hanging Michael Roseboro's freedom and life on.
The lack of blood evidence is what the prosecution is hanging his conviction on.
There was no great clean up as we thought. Jan Roseboro bled into the pool for the most part.
Any additional blood would have been poolside, where the first responders found her, supposedly receiving CPR from her husband. We do know that she did shed a great deal of blood on the gurney once placed there.
But one question does arise....
Was that "tool" left nearby to be used when she turned her back? Was an argument or fight even necessary or expected? Or was Jan going to be bludgeoned and thrown into the pool by the force no matter the course of events that night?
Michael Roseboro had a phone conversation with Angela Funk that evening.
And Jan Roseboro died.
If not for the sheer brutality and number of attack wounds all over Jan's body, this may have looked like a slip-and-fall drowning.
One gash in her head could have been attriubuted to be the cause of a fall into the pool, with a resultant drowning. There may have been suspicion, but this also may have gone down in the books as a terrible accident.
If Michael Roseboro simply wanted to be free to marry Angela Funk and planned to kill his wife, why would he beat her so savagely?
If this was a premeditated murder, why didn't this case go the way of Laci Peterson, with state-wide searches and pleas for information? Jan could have just "disappeared".
If Mike wished his wife dead and planned for that, how easy would it have been to have staged a "suicide"? Their marriage certainly had enough heartache for some to wonder if she might have not been able to take any more pain.
The beating that Jan Roseboro suffered prior to drowning is a key element of this case and is screaming for attention. The beating that she suffered after her husband had a phone conversation with Angela Funk.
How much louder can that scream?

The Roseboro Crime Scene

In reviewing numerous news videos of the scene of Jan Roseboro's brutal killing, I began to wonder about the comments and reports that there was "no blood" found at the scene.
If true, that surely will be one of the strongest arguments offered by the defense. But to subscribe to that line of defense, you have to use an alternate "wrap" to your thought process.
They may claim that if Michael Roseboro snapped, and brutally attacked his wife, there would be blood evidence gleaned from his clothing, his body and his surroundings.
Conversely, the lack of blood evidence makes a strong case against Michael Roseboro.

I have been completely unsuccessful in my attempts to find any documentation of random, sudden killers hanging around their crime scene to clean up the mess. Those that attack like a thief in the night usually exit the same way, and in a hurry.
I do think, however, that there was some evidence found on the grounds that we are just unaware of. While viewing one of the videos, I noticed a yellow stack marker placed on the concrete by the Roseboro pool.
That particular marker was labelled with the number "4".
We can only surmise that there are other markers labelled "1", "2" and "3".
It only stands to reason that there has to be some evidence against Michael Roseboro other than a gut feeling, knowing that he was home at the time of the attack.
Even discovering his ongoing affair with Angela Funk isn't enough to bring charges.
No DA worth his salt, or a desire to maintain his gainful employment in the county would rush headlong into charging a suspect without some level of evidence that they feel sure will obtain a conviction.
Many have been very uncomfortable with DA Steadman's comments that even with charges successfully leveled against Roseboro, he claimed that there was still much work to be done.
Most of us agree that the work to obtain a conviction, as far as gathering evidence, should have been, for the most part, done before the charges were levelled.
Steadman gave many the impression that he obtained the charges and detention of Roseboro on the lowest common denominator of evidence that convinced Judge Hamill but then had to bulk it up with substance after the fact.
It very well may be that they do have more evidence than the public is aware of. They can't
play their case out in the public view in totality at the hearing to bind over.
That is just common sense.
The only requirement for acquittal is one juror having reasonable doubt. And that is entirely possible in this case, given what we all know at this point. Perhaps the evidentiary submissions at trial will reduce that doubt completely.
In discovery, I'm sure the defense has turned over every stone to formulate many different possibilities for who killed Jan Roseboro, how they did it and why.
They are only required to create dust and smoke.
Michael Roseboro will be tried by a jury of his peers. I don't know if that brings a level of comfort to him or scares him to death.
All one has to do is sit in the midst of a potential jury pool in any courthouse and listen. What you will hear from those seated around you should scare the hell out of you. Some just want the proceedings over with so they can get back to work. Some will openly admit to already believing the guilt or innocence of the accused, based on something as simple as the defendant entering the courtroom for the voir dire.
Michael Roseboro has already been convicted by many in the court of public opinion. Some are enjoying the horrific situation as if it were a circus or a party to attend.
Others are still so conflicted.
Most are waiting to see the evidence presented.
I do wonder about one thing though......
The DA's office is judged on successful convictions of those it charges with a crime.
In some cases, those charges and the ensuing trial are following a path that they believe is the best chance of winning. Does that always mean that the person charged is truly the one who commited the crime? Or just the one they feel they can get convicted?
There are people walking the streets today simply because the weight of evidence against them is insufficient to garner a conviction. It doesn't mean they are innocent of the crime.
If presented with several scenarios for the death of Jan Roseboro, was her husband charged because the DA believes it to be the truth and has evidence to support that belief?
Or was he charged because of a LACK of evidence in the other scenarios?
Is it easier to charge and work for a conviction against him rather than deal with the lack of evidence against some person yet unknown who could have attacked and killed Jan Roseboro as part of a drug deal gone bad? A payback crime? An impatient and sociopathic girlfriend of Michael Roseboro who saw her plan being thwarted by Jan?
This is far from a cut-and-dried case.
I sincerely hope that as the trial begins and progresses, the evidence will be presented to either convince a jury of guilt or innocence.
For the families involved, there can be no peace or healing until they can find a scenario that they can believe, as horrible as it may be. But being able to know, even the evil, gives them a point from which they can begin to breath again.

The Player or The Played? For real.

I posted a while back on a different site an op ed piece entitled, "The Mistress of the Game".
I've been doing a bit more research, much as I can until records are available, unsealed and completed by the upcoming trial. And what strikes me as more and more evident, is that Angela Funk orchestrated the chain of events that led to the brutal death of Jan Roseboro.

I was told by witnesses to Angie's behavior that she has always been flirtatious. The initial attention of any man was welcomed easily. Only later would she learn more about the strangers that gave her a second glance. If they seemed "a good catch" she would allow more attention and return it in kind. Others she knew about prior to the flirtations. If they passed muster, she was "in" for the run.
I asked about the married men that she had slept with in the past. In most cases, women are known to pursue married men because those men seem "safe". They are already married, legally and emotionally entwined to another woman. The mistress can have her fun and then walk away. No commitment, no ties, no washing dirty socks on Saturday for the guy.
But that's not the case with Angela Funk. She didn't pursue married men because they were "safe". She pursued them because they were "established". Most if not all had homes of their own, a steady job and some money in the bank. There would be none of that tiresome waiting for the guy to build up a bank account, qualify for a mortgage, get a raise, become financially solvent.
It was a ready-made deal.
Angela Funk has been on the career track.... but in her bedroom, not the boardroom.
She climbs the ladder....to the next mattress. Or funeral home office, as was the case until the horrible murder of 2008.
When Michael Roseboro approached Angela Funk about getting together she had a choice. Most married women don't accept invitations from men other than their husband. They may be flattered, they may feel a boost to their self-esteem that another man has found them attractive, but they don't take the man up on the offer.
Angela Funk did. And a whole lot more.
While they were having their first lunch date, Randy was working. Earning money to feed his girls and his wife. And to pay the bills.
While they were having lunch, Jan was being a Mom and a great member of the community. She was being Jan. Providing a happy home for her children and her husband.
Had Angela Funk had the character and morals to say no, Jan Roseboro would be alive today.
Yes, Mike would have chosen another chippy. But I don't think he'd have found one quite as cunning and devious as Angela Funk.
Angela smelled money. And prestige. She had plans.
Angela Funk was planning to leave Randy, sue him for divorce (or talk him into suing her and paying all costs) as well as filing for an exhorbitant amount of child support for the girls.
She would convince Mike Roseboro to leave Jan sooner rather than later. And she'd make sure that Mike didn't lose his money or his interest in the business because of it. Only seven weeks into the affair, Angela had already pointed out to Mike that Jan would clean him out if she found out about them.....
And only seven weeks into the affair, Angela Funk got her hands on the ticket out of her current station in life. Angela Funk made sure to maximize her chances of getting pregnant.
A baby on the way would be all she needed to put the push on Mike to leave Jan now.

The pregnancy was not an accident.
Mike was clearly in love with Angie, but as of July 22, 2o08 no real date had been set for telling the spouses about the ends of the marriages. Unbelievably, Mike and Angie had looked at wedding dresses, but the hard cold facts about getting attorneys and planning every-other-weekend child visits hadn't been settled.
That wasn't enough for Angela Funk. She considered herself lucky enough to have gotten the attention and infatuation of a "good catch" in Roseboro, in her eyes. And she wasn't about to lose her grip on him. Angela is a cheater. She knows how cheaters operate. She knows how short their attention span can be. She's cheated for years, on many people.
She knew in her gut that if things didn't move along, Mike would soon spot a younger, prettier, hotter woman. And Angela's plans to move up the ladder would be over.
None of us know right now just how Mike felt about Angela Funk. His emails, sappy and icky as they are, may be the truth of how he felt. We know he was sleeping with Angie often. From that we can only surmise he liked the sex.
But Mike has been a runner most of his adult life. He's been with women far prettier than Angela Funk. Women far more educated, far more interesting and far better off. Some wonder if those emails were just Mike...being Mike. Telling Angela what he thought he needed to tell her to keep her available and willing. She wouldn't be the first woman he's lied to repeatedly.
But in either case, no plans were set in concrete. The leaving of the spouses was still a nebulous concept.
Until July 22nd.
Angie and Mike had sex that day in her family's apartments in Mount Joy while her mother-in-law cared for her girls.
Phone calls were made between Mike and Angela several times after that tryst in Mount Joy.
On the evening of July 22nd, they spoke on the phone.
And Jan Roseboro died.
The phone calls are not insignificant! Angela said something that night that started a chain of events that left Jan Roseboro dead in her own pool.
Did she tell Mike she was pregnant? Did she know she was? Did she not know and lie anyway?
Did she threaten him? Threaten to stop seeing him, giving him an ultimatum?
Or did Mike balk at telling Jan anything? Did he plan to use Angela for fun, as he had other women? And if he balked, did Angela Funk decide no one was going to interfere with her plans?
Did she go to the Roseboro home that night?
Did she attack Jan? Or at least help clean up the scene?
It is entirely possible that Mike Roseboro met up with the player of all time. Angela may have played him into a corner he couldn't hope to get out of any other way than killing Jan. Or at least helping clean up the scene after a horrible attack from Angela.

If Jan Roseboro was killed by a random person, what are the odds?
I would say then that Mike Roseboro has the worst luck on the planet?

Could it be possible that Mike did not kill Jan?
Yes.
Is it possible that Jan was killed in a case of mistaken identity?
Yes.
It is all possible. At this point, not probable, but yes it's possible.

But in keeping with the odds, Angela Funk orchestrated the dance that destroyed lives all around her. The only life not destroyed is her own. With no morals, she can't feel the pain of all she has already lost.
She wears her illegitimate pregnancy like a badge of honor. She is deluded.
The other victims here are the children.
For what Angela Funk has done to all of them, the unborn, included, she needs to be held accountable.
I'd be terribly interested in finding out if there is a civil recourse that can be taken against her.
In the civil arena, she wouldn't need to defend to a reasonable doubt. Just a preponderance of the evidence.
Could her actions have led to the death of Jan Roseboro to a preponderance of the evidence?
I do think so.
And the only thing Angela Funk hates losing more than another woman's husband, is money.

Where Marian Baker Worked and Met Edward Lester Gibbs

I found this site a while back while researching possibly haunted sites around Lancaster County, PA. I hadn't heard the stories of a possible haunting in Stager Hall until I found the site. I am still amazed that I didn't check out the campus more when I did my research there on weekends, when home from LVC. I spent many hours in the library there as well as at Millersville.
I now wish I would have checked out Stager before any renovations and also East Hall Dorm, which is no more. I will check into the date of the demolition of the dorm in which Ed and Helen Gibbs lived.
I know this could also be posted on the "Spooky" part of my blog, but it fits here as well. I may post in both locations. I have taken this from the website with the photo. I also have pics of several sites in Pitman, New Jersey, Ed Gibb's hometown that I will post for you.

Stager Hall

Classrooms and Offices

Specific Location to Watch For: Baker/Gibbs case would involve the first or the second floor. Dissecting theater was on third floor. Background: Stager Hall was redubbed as such in the mid 1980s after extensive renovations. Before that, it had been called "Stahr Hall" after former President Stahr, and before that it was simply "The Science Building". Although the building usually housed classrooms, for a while in mid-20th century it was also the home of the administrative offices. Deaths/Morbid Stories: In Stager's early days as the college's Science Building, the Biology department's Anatomy students dissected cadavers on the third floor. See Dietz-Santee Hall for related story. The more prominent story in regard to Stager is the tragic murder case of Marion Baker in 1950. Marion Baker, 21, had worked as a stenographer in the Treasurer's office (presumably located in Stahr Hall) since she graduated from high school. She was recently engaged, and lived nearby in a boarding house. Edward Gibbs, 25, was a married F&M senior who lived with his wife in East Hall (currently the Roschel construction site). He studied business, worked in the Campus Bookshop, played football, and was a Sigma Pi brother. He, along with many other F&M men at the time, was a war veteran, having served in Italy during WWII. On January 10th, 1950, Marion Baker took a bus downtown to run some errands. As she walked out of the post office, she ran into Edward L. Gibbs, who offered to drive her back to campus. She accepted since she knew Gibbs from his frequent visits to the treasurer's office to make deposits for the bookstore. He drove her to a secluded spot to the south of town instead, and strangled and bludgeoned her to death. After her body was discovered and the search intensified for her killer, Edward Gibbs walked into President Distler's office and confessed. During his trial he could only offer "impulse" as his reason for senselessly murdering Marion Baker. After a closely-watched trial, Edward Gibbs was sentenced to death. He was executed in the state's electric chair in 1951. Ghost Stories: Possibly due to the extensive renovations over the years, no ghost stories have been reported.

Remembering Marian Louise Baker

Next month, on the 10th of April, will be Marian Louise Baker's birthday. Had she not been brutally murdered south of Lancaster in the cold January air of 1950, she would be 81 years old this year.

Her brother, Ross Dalton Smith Baker, passed away in the summer of 2008. He spent most of his life without his sister to share in the memories.

Marian is buried next to her aunt and uncle, the O'Donels, in Perry County, Pennsylvania. It is so fitting that she should rest there, rather than beside her natural mother and step-father. Her aunt, Alice Soules O'Donel and her husband Leroy, raised and loved Marian as their own. Their grief draped over them the rest of their lives. For Marian's mother, Mrs. Bruce Britcher...not so much. She barely made it to Marian's funeral on time.

Marian and her brother had been given to relatives to raise at a very young age.

Ross was fortunate to have been raised by another sister of his mothers and lived a life of service and duty. He grew to be a fine man, loved and admired in the community.

Marian had hopes and dreams of becoming Mrs. Ed Rankin and raising a family of her own.

But those dreams ended with a cold iron lug wrench beating the lifeblood out of her not far from Willow Street on the afternoon of January 10, 1950.

Marian was employed as a cashier at F & M College and was running errands on the afternoon of her death. She accepted a ride from a student of the college, who she knew marginally.

Why she accepted the ride continues to baffle me. She had made her feelings about Edward Lester Gibbs clear in the past. He annoyed her and she was not fond of him.

Perhaps she was just glad for the ride. Maybe she thought it would be a faster way to return to the college.

I have tried to imagine what thoughts were running through her mind as they crossed the "Singing Bridge" at Engleside, already very far in the wrong direction from where she planned to go. Perhaps she was being polite at that point, not wanting to insult or offend Ed. But by the time they had crossed the bridge, did she start to feel any fear or apprehension?

Ed Gibbs testimony and relating of facts as to that day cannot be depended upon to be truthful in their entirety. So we continue to wonder.

Did Marian start to argue with him? Demand to be taken back to the school?

I find it very hard to believe that she was relaxed and calm, that far out of the way, with a student she disliked so. Did she begin to wonder what his true plans were?

Clearly when they turned left off of the highway and went back into the wooded area, things had to have started to seem a bit worrisome to her.

Marian Louise Baker was a friend of our family. She died many years before I was born, but my Mom and my aunt and grandmother knew her well. Her home, with the O'Donels was a short distance down the road from their house. Her picture was in their photo album.

At no time has anyone ever allowed for the possibility that Marian would have allowed any advances, no matter how slight, from Ed Gibbs. Nor would she have flirted with him for attention.

She was in love with Edgar Rankin. And planned to be his bride.

Edward Lester Gibbs killed those plans. He altered lives that could never be repaired.

Ed, himself, met death as a result of that afternoon. He died in the electric chair.

His wife, Helen, returned to New Jersey and was never publicly heard from again. She never attended the trial or issued a statement.

What really happened in that car on January 10, 1950? What really happened at the Mylin cottage near Willow Street?

And why did Ed Gibbs go to his death without telling the whole story? What on earth was there left to lose?

I'm working on those questions and several more.

Update To The Roseboro Possible Defense!

Earlier today I posted that a woman on the TB forum has claimed to believe that she was the intended target of the brutal attack and murder in July 2008 that took the life of Jan Roseboro.
Further investigation reveals that this is indeed the mother of the young man killed while in the attempt of a robbery early on the day of the Roseboro murder.
She states that she lives less than a mile and a half of the Roseboro's in Reinholds and that her son had extensive gang involvement.
She has clarified that she has spoken to County Detectives, Mr. Sodomsky and Mr. Roseboro's private investigator.
At this time, she has not been deposed, nor has she heard from either side in some time.
I can't read minds, but it would seem that if her theory had credence, she would have heard from either side often and more recently.
We'll have to keep our eye on this ........ I do think the "gang robbery" theory will have it's day in court.
Mr. Sodomsky has nothing to prove. He just has to muddy up the waters a bit..........

The Roseboro Defense! Gang Robbery or Mistaken Identity?

As of this morning, a poster on the Talkback Forum of the Lancasteronline site has indicated that she can't wait to tell her story in court!
My knowledge of this woman is limited, but I believe she is the mother of a young man shot and killed while attempting a robbery in Lancaster County shortly before the Roseboro murder.
Others have thrown the theory out there that a gang robbery was the impetus for Jan Roseboro's killing, with the nebulous mention of $40,000 worth of jewelry being missing. That claim came from Mike Roseboro via his defense attorney, Mr. Sodomsky.
It has yet to be confirmed whether the jewelry is, indeed, missing, or ever was.
The poster I refer to has made it sound as if she will be testifying for the defense.

A gang killing? A robbery?

There were no witnesses to the brutal attack on Jan. But what robber or gang hangs around and cleans up the murder scene? There was no overt blood evidence found anywhere on the Roseboro property. That pretty much negates the gang robbery theory.

But as we all know, the defense simply has to create reasonable doubt.
If Mr. Sodomsky can make 12 people believe that the gang came in the night, quietly and brutally attacked and killed Jan Roseboro, then hung out and worked like a well-oiled machine removing all possible clues of a beating or killing, then he is worth his weight in salt.


Or was it a case of mistaken identity? The poster claims that she was told to stay out of Lancaster after the murder of her son. I have no details about that at this point.
She claims that the "wrong blond" was killed and that she is the "other blond"!
This could get very interesting........

The Narcissistic Personality Alive and Well In Lancaster County, PA

A normal summer day in 2008 ended in horror.

Jan Roseboro's life ended in her backyard. In her in-ground swimming pool, where she had played with her children and spent time with her husband.
Jan Roseboro was alive when she ended up in the pool, either by being thrown or dragged there. Still fighting for her life, or unconscious, we don't yet know. We may never know. There will be opposing theories about that in the upcoming trial, scheduled for July 6, 2009. What we do know from published reports is that there was fresh water found in her lungs at autopsy.

Jan Roseboro had been savagely beaten prior to being thrown or dragged into the pool. She was beaten not long after her husband, Michael, had had two phone conversations with his mistress, Angela Funk. Angela Funk admitted that she and Mike Roseboro had met and had sex on the afternoon of the murder. And that Mike had told her he wanted to leave Jan and start a life with Angela Funk.

Emails from Mike to Angela have been published, in part. The replies from Angela Funk to Mike Roseboro, we have yet to see.

The family has said that Angela is pregnant and claims the child to be a boy, the son of Mike Roseboro, conceived on the very day of the murder of Jan Roseboro. How very poetic.
She also is reported to have told her husband that she doesn't love him, hasn't for some time and wants to be with Roseboro, should he be acquitted of the crime.

I've been told that "Angie" made a trip to New York to meet with television representatives from a popular prime-time news focus show about the Roseboro case. Ever the star, Angie is still front and center.

Angie Funk falls on the far end of the Narcissism spectrum. Already clearly identified as a cheating wife, she has quite a past being involved with married men. And yet, given her dirty role in the heinous murder of a mother of four young children, she has yet to show any remorse. She struts about town, loud and proud. No one that has encountered her has yet to see one moment of embarrassment or shame. Not even to this day.

Her regard for her children was clear the day she first admitted to the affair. While her mother-in-law was playing with her grandchildren, Angie was not far away, having a tryst with Mike. Her shame never stopped her from looking her husband's mother in the eye and lying to her. This woman's son is married to Angie Funk and yet Angie had no qualms using this woman as a babysitter so she could have sex with Jan Roseboro's husband.
Angie, in true Narcissistic form, takes what she wants, when she wants it. A married man? No matter to Angie. Angie is what matters most.
Mike Roseboro allegedly initiated the contact and the affair with Angie. Given his reputation, that isn't hard to believe. But Angie held the power, from the very first contact, to just say, "no".
The word "No" isn't in Angela Funk's vocabulary. She is a cold, soulless creature who takes what she wants. And isn't sorry in any real sense for any real reason.
Lately, Angie is supposedly all in a tither over the nasty things that are still being said about her on the internet. And? Gee, Ang....ya didn't see it coming???
How about the wife of the man you had the affair with when you were married to your first husband? Ya think she had warm and glowing thoughts about you? How about your first husband, the man you lied to and used....ya think you're a warm and fuzzy memory to him?
Anyone with any character and a spine has spoken out, on forums or phone calls or even on the streets of Denver among friends, clearly stating how little they think of you. Those that still defend you are either blind, emotionally unable to face the horrible truth that is you, or if they're male, they're hoping to get a little once this all settles down........
So Angie, you don't like being talked about? Tough.
You gave up your right to the public liking or tolerating you the day you dropped your jeans to have sex with Jan Roseboro's husband. Not to mention all the husbands before him.
You supposedly are wearing that pregnancy like a Miss America banner. Most of us would have moved by now. You have no character Angie. You have no morals. And I hope that karma serves you well.
Now, go cry to your mother over THAT.
And if you did go to NYC and meet with the staff of any news forum television show, I hope that each and every penny you make reaps what you've sown. And I hope that you rue the day you were born.
You have left pain, destruction and hopelessness in your wake, Angie. Your girls are going to have an emotional breakdown when they are old enough to understand what you are, and what you've done. Everyone makes mistakes, but you are a wrecking ball full of intent. There are many stops along your path where you could have made the right decision. And you still aren't.
You may have your church members fooled. Perhaps the men are waiting their turn. And the wives want to keep you close, it's easier to keep an eye on you from there.
What a life you chose, Angie. I almost feel sorry for you in the end. None of us are angels, but I would't trade my judgement day for yours for any amount money. Not even the money you may receive from your trip to NYC .....
Here's a hanky, Angie....go cry to your mother........

Angela Funk: A Study In Immorality

It's been a while since I posted here, so I need to get up to speed.

Angela Funk, pregnant with Michael Roseboro's baby, has been reported to have visited New York City to meet with the reps from 48 Hours to televise the tawdry, horrendous tale of events involving Angie and Jan Roseboro's husband, Mike.

It has also been reported that Randy has been making noises about leaving her. Family members have challenged that report. They state that Randy is "lead around by the nose (or other body parts) by Angie and her mistreatment of him hasn't diminished.

So currently, Angie is pregnant, Mike's trial date is July 6th (reportedly Angie and Randy's anniversary)**** and Angie is crying to her mother about the nasty posts she finds online. Too damned bad. You laid in the dirty bed Angie, now deal with it.

I'll be filling in the blanks here in a little while. I just wanted to post the latest happenings....

Stay tuned!



**** This date was reported incorrectly and told to me incorrectly. This is not the anniversary of the Funks. They were married on July 1. It is however the correct date as it stands on the docket for the commencement of the trial of The State of Pennsylvania vs. Michael A. Roseboro.

Murder In Lancaster County: The Very Beginning

This is where you'll learn about a journey that has taken 49 years thus far to trek...and it's far from over. To honor those that lost their lives to the selfishness of others, to call to task those that bashed the life out of innocent victims...this is why I will write this tale of a murder that took place in 1950...how it will forever be linked to another horrendous bloody murder that took place in small town America in the summer of 2008...both in the idyllic setting and rolling hills of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The land of shoo-fly pies and horse and buggies, the Green Dragon and the tractor pulls at The Buck .... smiling Amish children licking the melting ice cream off of their suntanned fingers...the large, shiny SUV's circling in front of the expansive abodes on Country Club Lane...among these vastly different segments of "the County" two young women lost their lives. One met her death at the hands of a college student, in a never explained rage..the other, a smiling young mother, beaten so severely by her new inground pool in her family backyard, so viciously that the killer would never have had to toss her limp body into the water to finish the evil deed.
Marian Louise Baker and Jan Roseboro are both in the ground. They lie under headstones that can never tell their stories.
One killed by a man she knew little about. The other killed by a husband of nineteen years. Also a man that poor woman apparently, in the end, knew very little about.