Marian Louise Baker

I haven't posted much in regard to the Marian Louise Baker murder in quite a long time. My attention and efforts have been directed to the current tragedy. I did want to share one comparison in the two cases.
Both of the accused men in the murders are from prominent families.
The Gibbs family, of Pitman, New Jersey was seen as not only financially well off but as pillars of the community. They were highly respected in their own right. Those who knew them described them as affable, friendly and given to respect the law and order in their communities.
Their son was a "golden child" to the family. He was the pride of his uncles, as well as his parents.
His mother was quite nervous and her oppressive loving nature toward Ed Gibbs was a major point to some who reviewed his upbringing.
Ed Gibbs claimed that a feeling "came over" him as he was driving south, out of Lancaster, with Marian Louise Baker. They were not dating and he claims to have never made an advance on her.
But he did crush her skull with a lug wrench and drag and hide her body under the Mylin cottage.
Ed Gibbs eventually raced into one of the offices at Franklin and Marshall College, confessing to the killing of Miss Baker.
He was forthright and more than willing to offer up most details and even showed the authorities where had disposed of her purse.
But there was a point he couldn't get past.
He never gave an explanation that was satisfactory to most, including his own counsel, Hensel Brown, as to why he so brutally killed Marian Louis Baker.
Some surmise there was something yet not revealed that would have shamed his family so much that Ed just couldn't utter the words or describe it.
It was almost as if he was demonstrating that in his world and that of his family, killing is wrong, killing is horrible, but the events in the car that day were even more heinous. Some have felt that he spared his parents and family the ultimate shame, resulting from behavior he committed that would have devastated his mother even more than the fact that he actually killed Miss Baker.
It's noteworthy that if indeed he did make a pass at Miss Baker and she rebuffed him, that misstep in being sexually forward with her would have shamed him more than the fact that he took her life. In a very odd way, I get it.
Edward Lester Gibbs went to his death in the electric chair never revealing more about the events leading up to the attack and murder of Miss Baker.
Those who knew Hensel Brown said that the Gibbs trial was a marker in Brown's life. He was never the same man after that case. It wasn't just the loss of the trial and the execution of Gibbs. It was that Brown had absolutely no success in having the man reveal the whole truth to him.
Brown was almost self-tormented by that case. He wondered if only had he been able to get Gibbs to tell the whole story, maybe he could have been spared the electric chair.

The murder of Jan Roseboro also involves a prominent family, one who has been a solid and strong pillar of the community for generations. Given the nature of the family business, mortuary care and service, the Roseboro's have seen many of us at our lowest and most devastated moments. Many will say that it's their job. Of course they will care and comfort, it's what they do. But there is a sincerity and a genuineness that isn't just a facade that they wear like a sharp suit.
The Roseboro family's reputation precedes them. They are good people and always have been.
Outside the funeral home care and service, they have been pillars of the community. Anyone that has encountered them knows that.
The events of the summer of 2008 rained down upon that family as well as the family of Jan Binkley Roseboro. Most of us can't comprehend how they have maintained their composure and their lives with what has happened. And yet, they continue to be good people, with respect, compassion and morals.
Their son, Michael, is on trial for the murder of his wife. He has pleaded not guilty. Because of the sheer salaciousness and smutty nature of the affair that was going on between their son and his mistress, things have gotten dirty. The most embarrassing personal emails have been read in open court. Clearly obsessive behavior on the part of Mike and his mistress is not even a question.
Edward Lester Gibbs was held accountable for the brutal killing of Marian Louise Baker. It was an abberation, a crime so heinous that the verdict included his execution in the electric chair. But Ed Gibbs chose behavior as a grown man.
We all are the product of nature/nuture. And there were issues offered in court about Ed's childhood that may have had some bearing on how he dealt with the building, pressing anxiety that filled him up to and including the afternoon that he killed Miss Baker.
But Ed Gibbs committed the crime. Not his parents. The family had to endure the shame and embarrassment of all that was known after the crime. But Ed stopped short of shaming his family even further, to the point of taking facts to his grave.
Even in the attempt to save his life, he stopped short of what he must have considered the ultimate shame of his family.
In the end, some said that Ed Gibbs "died like a man".

In the Roseboro murder trial, there is a defense being offered. The strength of that defense has yet to be seen.
But in the course of the trial thus far, extremely embarrassingl, tawdry and sexually explicit communications have been read in open court. The shame is flung around the room with almost a wanton disregard for family, friends and the children involved.
There is no confession here. So the trial must follow it's path.
But the Roseboro family isn't on trial. The verdict has been an ongoing determination about them for years. Generations in fact. They are good people. They have cared for the people of the area for years. They have treated us with respect and empathy in moments when we couldn't see straight in our grief and our upheavel.
There is only one defendant. That is Mike Roseboro.
And his family loves him. That doesn't make them cold or uncaring. They love their son.
They have heard what he's told them. And their decision to believe him or not is their decision alone.
He was their son as a tiny baby. He was their son each and every Christmas morning. He was their son when he went to college. He was their son when he presented them with four beautiful grandchildren. He is their son today.
I have no doubt that the community has nothing but love and respect for this family.
And they will not be the recipient of any errant or ill thought comments or offenses in the community.

Jan Binkley's family was and is well known in the area as well. I can remember the characteristics associated with just hearing the mention of her father's name. He was a good and successful man. Her mother was so very well thought of. The name of her sister and brother only brought descriptions of good people, whose character was evident to anyone that met them or knew of them.
Jan wasn't just popular. She was well thought of in the real sense. She was admired by people and that is evident today.
This family has shown grace, love and strength beyond measure in the aftermath of this killing.
It's evident of what they're made of.

I love the phrase that "we stand on the shoulders of greatness". All of us are made up of the qualities and components of those who have come before us.
It's clear that the Roseoboro and Binkley families are standing on the greatness of those who came before and who still stand by them today, even if unseen.

They all are the ones picking up the pieces and trying with all their might to do the very best for the kids. That is the measure of their character.
Their needs don't come first. They have done the right thing. They always have. And it's clear that they always will. I don't think they even have a choice. It's what they're made of.