Given to pondering inscrutable things, I felt as though I had a contribution to make on a very important subject, one that is no more important than now…conspiracy theories and, most importantly, conspiracy theorists. I canvassed writers on this website, and told them that others were calling this a conspiracy theory website, and that all and sundry who are at home in the realm are conspiracy theorists. Canvassed? Yes! And all said that they were no such thing. And there were howls of protest. I was almost hauled before the editorial board to be tried as a troll. I was somewhat surprised by this. After inquiring why people felt this way, I was told that Conspiracy Theorists, though some are seekers of the truth, many are just plain kooky people who are simply looking for, excuse the expression, an Alternative Story. In other words, people looking for, and seeing, conspiracy in everything. Perhaps this is just too nihilist. Perhaps it is paranoia. Perhaps some, I won’t name any names, are simply trying to entertain themselves. I have objected to the definition of Canonical Story that is most often encountered on this website. I believe that the term applies to all Stories. The Canonical Story is the one that people, the authorities, the media…fake or otherwise…and ultimately history, agree as to what actually happened. That can be a small deception, or that can be a major deception…such as in the Sylvia Likens case. It can even be a monumental deception, and I will discuss a particularly fascinating case in part 2 of this essay. But I think that the vast majority of the time, apart from what I would say are normal distortions of the truth, are pretty much the truth. The truth? How true? Well, I would say that it is measured according to a graduated scale, from complete lie, to absolute truth. Most Canonical Stories fall somewhere in between. Ultimately, the laurels go to those who look below the surface; well, when there is an indication that there is actually something to look at below the surface.

As far as the authorities go, and I exclude political creatures whose account of things should be taken with a 2 ton bag of rock salt…though I may be overly generous in that, and am by no means playing a Trump card…law enforcement…they’re different. They have their rotten apples, but the barrel is enormous. They are respectable and committed to serving the public good. That said, they have participated in deceptions…small, major, and even monumental. The reasons? There are many. They may be covering for rotten apples that they plucked out of the barrel a bit too late. Or they are so convinced of someone’s guilt that they take steps to ensure that someone who they firmly believe is a threat, is put away..as the saying goes. When looking at the picture of Mrs. Wright in the October 27th newspaper, the story being something most likely leaked by the police to a trusted, although not necessarily trustworthy as far as the truth is concerned, media source, is clearly staged. This was shown in the essay “Full Circle: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity.” Why? Now it must be said, and everyone I know fully agrees, the conclusions about such things remain theories. If the picture is not of Gertrude Baniszewski, and in fact, the picture is really of a woman who was actually dead…why fake the picture? The theory that most readily presents itself is that the police wanted the public to believe that the person known as Mrs. Wright was still alive. And I think that there is a good reason why they would have wanted this. Mrs. Wright will no doubt take comfort in the fact that I think that she was actually…alive. But she was gone…she left sometime prior to the murder of Sylvia Likens.

The devil’s in the details, to quote a tedious clique. It is the details that lead to doubts either about whether something in a Canonical Story is truth, or presents something that appears to not make any sense…or at least, and perhaps better, raises important questions that beg for answers. An example, and one that was brought up in the aforementioned essay, is the person of Paul Walters. If you look him up in the directories, you find the following description of his job:

1963- Associate Sales Manager at Western & Southern Life Insurance

1964- Associate Sales Manager at Western & Southern Life Insurance

1965- Underwriter at Western & Southern Life Insurance

1966- Sales Rep at Western & Southern Life Insurance

So if Paul Walters met Gertrude in July 1964…was he still a Sales Manager…or was he an underwriter?

Q. What is your business or occupation, Mr. Walters?
A. Insurance agent.
Q. Insurance agent, and how long have you been an insurance agent?
A. Ten and a half years.

Insurance agents sell insurance, while underwriters underwrite insurance. It would appear that he was a Sales Manager, then suddenly became an underwriter, and then demonstrated an equal amount of suddenness in becoming a Sales Rep…meaning he sold insurance. So he went from a manager, to an underwriter, and then a sales man. There’s nothing wrong with any of these occupations, but it is an odd pattern, especially since he tells us that he has been an insurance agent for ten and a half years. It would appear that he wasn’t an underwriter for very long…and that is one of those details that leads to questions, particularly given the fact that the underwriter-to-sales-rep-transition is rather close in time to his becoming acquainted with Gertrude Baniszewski, Mrs. Wright, and Dennis Wright. So I went back a little further:

1963 Sales Manager at Western & Southern Insurance

1961 Sales Manager at Western & Southern Insurance

1960 Doesn’t appear in the directory

1959 Doesn’t appear in the directory

1958 Doesn’t appear in the directory

So it appears that the Walters moved to Indianapolis some time in 1960-1961. In fact, Paul’s wife was named Dorothy Joy Fox. In 1955, there is a Paul E and Dorothy Walters living in Terra Haute. Paul is a laborer. Paul Edward Walters, born January 15th 1931, married Dorothy in June 1953. If he had been an insurance agent for 10 and one-half years in 1966, that would indicate that he became an insurance agent around 1956. And that fits with the man who testified about insurance and Gertrude Baniszewski. But one of those strange details, that may in fact not ultimately be a strange detail, but stands out at any rate, is his sudden and very brief transition from Sales Manager, to Underwriter, to Sales Rep. And at the time that he met Gertrude…thereabouts. And it almost appears as if his career was going in the wrong direction; starting as Sales Manager, and then ending up as Sales Rep. A coincidence? Perhaps. But I’ve come to be suspicious of coincidences when they orbit around Planet Gertrude. It would be a shame if Paul Walters’ career became yet another victim of the Beast of East New York Street.

Yet another detail that is somewhat puzzling is Gertrude’s apparent memory loss…yes I know, she didn’t remember any memory loss…as to where exactly she lived on North LaSalle when she was living with Dennis Wright:

Q. Now, where did you live April, 1964?
A. I believe on LaSalle Street.
Q. Was John living with you then?
A. I don't remember, Mr. Bowman.
Q. You don't remember?
A. I don't remember.

So! Gertrude Baniszewski-style memory loss. Oh, I almost forgot..she has trouble remembering where Johnny was. Still, that’s ok, given the fact that she can’t seem to remember when he was born. John, John Sr, said this:

Q. Where was that?
A. At a house on LaSalle and 13th.
Q. Who lived there?
A. My ex-wife.
Q. And who else?
A. Dennis Wright.

Where exactly? Ask Paul Walters:

Q. Where did she live then?
A. I believe 1250 LaSalle.
Q. 1250 North LaSalle?
A. Yes.
Q. At that time, who was living there with her, if you know?
A. Dennis Wright.

However, there is no 1250 North LaSalle. So when we get close to pin-pointing Gertrude and Dennis, we come up short twice. John gets us to North LaSalle and 13th, and that puts us very close to the home of George and Alta Schlick, Dennis’ mother and step-father. His father was too busy running a kennel and…hey! I know! Gertrude got her puppy from Dennis Wright’s father! The jokes never end. Is what John said important? I would say... yes. Dennis Wright’s parents were not identified in the trial testimony, so John’s statement is compelling. And maybe he bought the three-foot tall two-foot tall friendly shrinking police dog from Dennis Wright’s father too. Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs…of James Wright. But Paul Walter’s memory is good enough to remember the street where Gertrude and Dennis lived in July 1964, and then not good enough to get the house number right, yet still good enough to hazard a guess, yet still not good enough to give a house number that actually existed. I think that’s an interesting detail. Here is another one:

Q. Did you go back to her house?
A. Not after the policy lapsed, no.
Q. How many times would you say you went to her house in July 1965?
A. I would say four or five times, I suppose.

Paul has just told us how often he visited 3850 East New York Street in July 1965, a month in which so many important things seem to have happened. Now earlier, Paul stated that he would visit Gertrude Baniszewski once a month to collect her premium. Then Gertrude let her policy lapse in July, only to turn around, in August 1965, and attempt to buy…yes, more insurance…from Garnet Jones. Paul also states that he did not want to lose the business..meaning that he didn’t want to lose the premium on her policy…oh, we’re supposed to avoid any ambiguity, so..Gertrude Baniszewski’s policy. Dennis Wright’s policy was already cancelled, leaving Mrs. Wright and the baby covered only by the policy of Gertrude Baniszewski, assuming that they were the beneficiaries to her policy. That seems likely. As for not wanting to lose the premium, I understand that, and it makes sense. But he visited 3850 East New York Street 5 times in July? Lapsing the policy means that the premium won’t be paid. Going from once a month to five times in the month of July 1965, and Gertrude can’t pay the premium? She seems to have had no concerns with paying the premium on the life insurance policy that she planned to buy from Garnet Jones. And of course, July 1965 is the month during which Sylvia and Jenny Likens suddenly appear at Gertrude’s house. July 1965? Randy said this:

Q. Did you ever see an insurance man come out to the house?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When and where was that?
A. This was two or three days after I met the Baniszewski children.
Q. Two or three days after you met them?
A. Yes.
Q. July or August?
A. The latter part of July.

So Randy seems to have managed to be at Gertrude’s on the same day that Paul Walters was there. Still, that probably wasn’t too hard to do seeing how Mr. Walters was there so often that he probably should have been given a mattress on the floor to sleep on. Assuming that he had $10.00 a week to pay whatever woman was there at the time for his room and board. And it is very interesting that Randy seems to be saying that Gertrude Baniszewski moved into 3850 East New York Street in July, whereas Gertrude said:

Q. When did you move out on New York Street?
A. June of 1965.

So is Randy wrong? Or was there a Mrs. Wright who moved into the house in June 1965, and then Gertrude Baniszewski, who lived with Mr. and Mrs. Wright in 1964, moved in with Mrs. Wright later in July of 1965? This seems to have been the case:

Q. How many times would you say you went to her house in July 1965?
A. I would say four or five times, I suppose.
Q. Who was living there at the house then, if you know - who did you see?
A. Well, I don't know that anybody other than the Mrs. was there and the children.
Q. The children were there? Was anybody else there?
A. Not to my knowledge, not living there.
Q. And will you describe her condition at that time, her appearance, Mrs. Baniszewski's?
A. Well, in what manner do you mean that?

“The Mrs” must be Mrs. Wright, since Mrs. Baniszewski was actually divorced. But a funny thing happened on the way from the Leppar residence to the one inhabited by at least one, if not two, Gertrudes. What is that? Someone else moved into 3850 East New York Street in July 1965:

Q. What happened the first week when the girls stayed there at the house? That would be the week of around the 4th of July?
A. Yes, it would.
Q. What happened, did anything unusual happen that week?
A. Yes, it was quite unusual because my sister-in-law moved in on me with her children.
Q. What is her name?
A. Rose Van Fossan.
Q. With reference to Sylvia Marie Likens, what happened the week in July?

A. Nothing too much because - I mean they all got along pretty good the first week, it seemed to me. Then my children and Jenny and Sylvia and my sister-in law's children and the neighborhood children - I really could not tell you anything that went on that week because it was like a madhouse in there.

And a madhouse is a great place for a madman to live! Or a madwoman...or even...madwomen. So at the same time that Sylvia and Jenny moved into 3850 East New York Street, Rose Van Fossan, wife of Gertrude’s brother Morris Van Fossan, moved into the same house. Was Randy right about Mrs. Baniszewski moving in toward the end of July? Lester said this:

Q. You only knew her by the name of Mrs. Wright?
A. Yes, sir.

So did Lester Likens make his arrangement with Mrs. Baniszewski, or Mrs. Wright? And there was also, at the same time, Rose Van Fossan, another woman with children, living in the same madhouse. How long was Aunt Rosie living at 3850 East New York Street? Stephanie:

Q. When you returned on approximately the 16th or 17th of July, was there a girl by the name of Sylvia Likens living at your home?
A. She was with my Mom when they came after me.
Q. How did they come after you?
A. In my aunt's car.
Q. Who else came with your mother?
A. My aunt and Sylvia's brother.
Q. What is his name?
A. Danny, I think, or Denny.
Q. Who drove the car?
A. My Mom, I think.

So in July, Danny was not with Lester like the latter claimed. Maybe selling hot dogs and cotton candy didn’t appeal to him. And Gertrude drove Rosie’s car? Call me cynical, but I wouldn't let Gertrude drive my 1965 Mustang! I'm sure that Mr. Walters could refer me to an insurance agent who sold auto insurance, who would no doubt raise my premium if the insurance company knew that a madwoman was driving the car. It seems feasible to maintain that Rose Van Fossan and her three children were still living with Gertrude on July 16th or July 17th 1965. It’s strange that Randy saw Paul Walters, but Paul Walters, despite the fact that he visited Gertrude’s house five times in July, appears to have not known that Rose Van Fossan was living there. Assuming, of course, that by “The Mrs” and the children he wasn’t actually referring to Marie's beloved Aunt Rosie. It also seems that this house was filled to the rafters with people, and it is hard to imagine how sleeping arrangements could have possibly been made to work, even assuming that Mr. Walters wasn’t sleeping on the couch, which was perhaps the make-shift bed of two dogs that Gertrude Wright’s father-in-law provided. This assumes something that is not necessarily safe to assume…i.e. that one, or more, of these women: Gertrude Baniszewski; Gertrude Wright; and/or Rose Van Fossan, were not actually living on the North Denny side of the house. Here's one for you! How many Gertrude's lived in the house? Three! Gertrude Baniszewski; Gertrude Wright; and Gertrude Van Fossan! And another thing…it is actually the case that Gertrude’s brother, John Van Fossan was married to Sylvia. Sylvia Ann Webb…had you going, didn’t I? John Van Fossan’s wife was named Sylvia..and what is to be made of this detail? Nothing! It’s just a coincidence; and yes, there were actually some coincidences in this case that mean absolutely nothing.

Now if others can bring in the White Castle’s Murderer…I mean, the White Chapel Murderer, and I was disappointed to be told that I was not to call him Jack the Ripper since that was a name dreamed up by a reporter and included in a note that was meant to sell newspapers. Oh, hey! I know what you’re thinking! A problematic name, and a note, and a murder, and a sensationalist reporter who might have been the Bumppo of Victorian England. That is quite a parallel indeed! Where was I? Right! If others can have their parallel, then I thought that I might be allowed to double-back to statements that I made about law enforcement at the beginning of this…essay I suppose. As far as reasons go for why some claims are made, I would point out the following.

A very interesting movie featured a deranged man looking for a woman who had moved out of her apartment. Another woman had moved in, and the deranged man…perhaps Kebel’s madman…turned up in her apartment looking for the other woman. The apartment’s newest occupant insisted that she had no idea about the other woman. The man pulled the wiring loose from a lamp and set it on her thigh:

“There are about 100 tortures in your living room…”

And yes, he was right. Every home contains numerous items and implements that could inflict horrible tortures…every home has a hammer, every home has pliers, etc. It is an absolute disgrace to describe the allegations made in the Sylvia Likens Case as on a par to what young women and girls have really suffered at the hands of sadists…simply for sport. Oh, don’t worry, the woman in the movie struggled, and killed the deranged man before he harmed her. Millions of women weren’t that lucky. Oh, and the brave woman who refused to be a victim was going to be prosecuted for killing the victimizer…it figures.

Things are never as the seem, and there are many acts of Sleight of Hand. Take for instance the announcement made on April 6, 2009 by the FBI. They announced the Highway Serial Killings Initiative.

“In 2004, an analyst from the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation detected a crime patter: the bodies of murdered women were being dumped along the Interstate 40 corridor in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi.”
 

“…our analysts looked at other records in our database to see if there were similar patterns of highway killings elsewhere. Turns out there were. So we launched an extensive effort to support our state and local partners with open investigations into highway murders.”

And so truck drivers become prime suspects in the murder of so many young women. It seems to make sense…truck drivers traverse the country. They could kidnap victims, kill them, and leave their bodies many states away from where they started. And so many bodies are found along highways, freeways, and perhaps around places such as truck stops. Of course, one might ask…did that start in 2004? Did truck drivers suddenly emerge from the bowels of Hell to unleash such sadism and wanton acts of murder for sport? Did long-haul truck drivers suddenly drive up out of the basement of 3850 East New York Street? I suspect that bodies of murder victims have been found along highways, freeways, truck stops, etc. for decades. And the FBI, who are no slouches, didn’t make the connection until 2004? What did they think in 2003? 2000? 1990? 1980? 1972? 1965? And this is a particularly interesting subject given the fact that the sudden, dramatic realization took place in 2004. Why? Because a fascinating movie called Suspect Zero was released in August of that year. The movie features an ex-FBI agent who had participated in a remote-viewing project called Icarus. Remote viewing was used as a means of hunting serial killers. The main character forwards the theory that it was possible that, if a serial killer operated without a pattern, though all serial killers actually do follow patterns, then he might go on killing indefinitely. He then connects hundreds of unsolved murders to this Suspect Zero. Finally, he finds that this Suspect Zero is a long-haul truck driver. And do I ever like coincidences! So I really like this one. Suspect Zero is fiction…and in a way…society’s dream. Why? Well, with so many unsolved serial killings, one might think that the country is inhabited by a large number of monsters. If a handful, much less one, truck driver is responsible for the mayhem, then society can breathe a little easier. I suggest that the FBI doesn’t believe that truck drivers are the main culprits, or they would not have finally connected the trail of thousands of bodies to truck drivers in the same year as the movie Suspect Zero was released. I suspect that truck drivers are being held out as the source of these murders to explain why the FBI isn’t solving them…truck drivers roam the US, and so aren’t’ keeping victims in their basement, and doing the latter makes it only a matter of time before such killers are caught. I suspect that society’s nightmare is in fact the truth….these killings are decentralized, committed by men who do this for sport, but at different times. And there are a lot of them. The truck driver theory simply provides a Canonical Story that takes some of the heat off the, hard-working to be sure, FBI agents who are overwhelmed by the numbers, and proving less than effective at catching perpetrators who are difficult to catch.

“The victims in these cases are primarily women who are living high-risk, transient lifestyles, often involving substance abuse and prostitution. They’re frequently picked up at truck stops or service stations and sexually assaulted, murdered, and dumped along a highway.”

I do object to using the ugly word “dumped.” If the causes that lead such women into the high-risk, transient lifestyles that are relevant here come down to abuse, and then they lose their life as a result of even more horrible abuse, it is the final abuse to refer to them as simply “dumped” like you would…say…if talking about garbage. The dehumanizing of these women leads many to their violent fate; I think that giving them a little value in the end is a tolerable thing to do. Still, I have no doubts that what the FBI has said is basically true. Runaways working as prostitutes. If you are a predator, you would know that truck drivers, only some..mind you, due to the demands made by their job, will use prostitutes, who in turn maintain a transient lifestyle as they get rides from the truckers involved. Truck stops? Gas stations…refueling centers that truckers use? Yes! And that’s where the victims are. I’ll bet they’d go off with you if you drove a Mack truck, a Peterbuilt truck…or even a family station wagon, if you had the money. And so, looking for victims, and not those living nearby you, seeing what a short career you’ll have if you hunt in that forest, murderous sadists prowl the same places that truckers use as part of their job. Sleight of Hand! Authorities play the truck driver card specifically because they know that truck drivers are not the problem. The real problem is…unsolvable…as will so many of these murders be. Transient, runaway prostitutes are very hard to identify. How many of these victims are buried without a name on the stone? Perhaps “dumped” isn’t the final abuse they suffer…no one cares that they lived, and no one cares that they died. Out of the void, and then back into it. Everybody has a right to be remembered, even those who never really had a chance. And find the killers? How? Still, a few Suspect Zeros leaving trails of bodies across the nation’s highways…there is comfort in how few monsters there seem to be walking among us. The problem? Alternative facts in a Canonical Story. And yes, there are far more monsters out there than you care to believe.