Phantasm Part 4: Dead Reckoning.

Amazing. Really, the right word is…amazing! So many themes. And my, how they repeat themselves. If a theme can be likened to a road, a road from which one is unable to see that which is on the right, as well as that which is on the left, well…one might just get rather disoriented. Do I keep going? Many would say no. There are a few contributors on this website; contributors who have published their work since the last Phantasm essay (“Interstitial”) and who show clearly that disorientation is no problem. I think Bluebirdlz's changes to the introductory essay found on the home page rather thought-provoking. But, have a care! Don’t drop your teaspoon.

There certainly is a problem with the road down which we have begun to walk. It will take a long time, but something will become clear…this road is actually one big circle. A very strange, but very cool, phenomenon is that of vertigo. All US military aviators undergo vertigo testing and training. The word “vertigo” can be used differently. There is of course that form of Vertigo that plagued Scottie Ferguson. But, in precise terms, vertigo is the sense that one is moving when one is not. Or, it is the sense that things are moving around one when they are not. At the incredible speeds at which those who fly jet fighters are traveling, a momentary touch of vertigo can cause the pilot to make a lethal maneuver. What is a graveyard spiral? How does one avoid it? That’s a good thing to know if you’re flying in conditions that limit your ability to fly by visual cues. Wait, I know…you fly solely by the plane’s instruments. That’s not as easy as it sounds. Learning to trust what you see on the instruments and not trust the deceptive visual cues that are all around you is very difficult. We’ve lived our lives putting our utmost trust in what we perceive with our senses. Once vertigo starts, one easily loses trust in instruments. All planes have a clock. Wait…a clock! I know, Gertie Wright’s magical clock! Can we trust that precision instrument? No! Why? It dematerializes and rematerializes at will. And when it’s there, it might just show you the wrong time. Marie got up for school because Paula got up for work? At 1:00 am? No, Paula got up to put coal in the furnace. Then Stephanie, the 15 year old who keeps the strangest hours, which is not surprising when the only way to tell time apart from Sylvia’s watch ( which she did not steal) is a malevolent chronometer floating around 3850 East New York Street, follows her sister into the basement. Shovel scraping? Hurry up, Paula, you have only ten minutes to shovel that coal! Look at the window; is that the Whitecastle eating, nosy neighbor lady looking back at us? No. She is not nosy. So it must her Doppelganger. 

So we can’t trust that clock. Maybe get a new one? I’m Gertie Wright and I don’t have any money. Really? Why did your bungling attorney tell the court that “my client has a lot of money”? That is strange. Could this be true? If Gertie Guthrie did have a lot of money, then I wonder how she got it. I leave it there, since I am not qualified to follow this theme into the Darkest of Places. No. But the lady of the house can’t buy a new clock with a small part of her “lots of money”? What if an exact copy of this clock was installed in a Grumman TBM Avenger? Look, it just dematerialized again. No problem, we will do what pilots are trained to do; fly by dead reckoning. Apparently Randy and Marie were not taught this vital skill. Perhaps they skipped Dead Reckoning 101 in favor of re-wiring the kitchen or playing with Gertrude’s invisible dog. If so, they couldn’t measure the passage of time by cues other than the Ethereal Clock that we know all too well. Randy loses time, and Marie gets up to get ready for school. How surprised she is when she finds her mother standing at the entrance of the basement. “Would you two shut-up!” Marie and Randy? No, it is too early for Randy to be doing his Baniszewski-type chores or to be standing at the front door with his hose. And Marie? She can go back to bed. Stephanie and Paula arguing angrily? Nosy Neighbor hears Gertrude screaming. Indeed.

No clock? Is it strange to find that your plane has no clock? Not if you’re learning to fly by dead reckoning. And once vertigo kicks in, the wrong island might look like the right island. But you can be sure that you will not hear the words, “we all go down together.” At least, not here. So the conditions we find ourselves in are so bad that we must fly solely by our instruments. Dead reckoning too. Wait, have I stopped moving? It seemed so...and it is so...but things are moving all around us. The road we’re on, this perfect circle devoid of all visual cues, is yet surrounded by moving things. Well, it seems as if they are moving. Things? Yes; things, more like themes. One has passed, and yet it passes again. I will use the word “swirl” rather than “spiral” given just what fate “spiral” can bring about. Without a clock, or a wristwatch, a precision instrument that Jenny simply didn’t understand, and which no one else was special enough to have save one, and a firm decision to disregard Gertie Wright’s Phantom Clock, we will use dead reckoning. The theme? Ah! What do you do for a living? Are you a cop, or a not-cop, or a cop then a not-cop, or a not-cop then a cop then a not-cop then a cop? Hopefully, you’re not a cop standing before the Grand Jury and caught up in Van Wert’s, shall we say, alternative gaming enterprise. Or is it Toughie’s show? Arrested while watering your lawn? I know! On the way to the police station we could stop by the home of that intrepid dog-catcher who we know as Randy Lepper. After all he has a hose and could water Mr. Wert’s lawn. And I feel it to be important to re-state what other postings on this website have said; there is no proof that Randy led, shall we say, an alternative life-style. Although that has been stated in the canonical-story world, we have, fortunately, trusted our instruments utilizing our dead reckoning skills and passed that world as if we were in a Grumman TBM Avenger. And despite the rather triangular shape that that world has when seen from the air, we made it through safely. But another theme is Enigmatic Numbers, and those “swirl” around us in a perpetual progression. A third theme is one that the Phantasm essays will examine in detail.  Where do you live and, which may seem strange indeed, who are you really? But Leroy Lepper was not a cop. No, he was a painter and wallpaper hanger. So Leroy was a not-cop, indeed, he was always a not-cop. But have no fear! The cop/not-cop game is not over! Phantasm Part 5 will pick up the pieces and play the game with Policewoman Warner, aka Harriet Luella Sanders. Well, perhaps it is more accurate to say that we will play the game with Lyle Warner, the “Warner” in Policewoman Warner. 

And what about Randy? There was once a basic principal that has long ago disappeared in a strange fog blanketing post-modern America: innocent until proven guilty. The only attestation of this is the rather angry, and frankly, bitter pronouncement made by Gertrude while on the stand. I wonder if, among her plethora of manifestations, although I must admit that I like “Gertrude Skeleton” best, as it is not Halloween, perhaps we might have “Anthropologist Gertrude.”

Chlorocebus pygerythrus. That’s a big word; well it’s really two big words, and if I were a young red-head, I would bet my bottom dollar that you would not hear those words at 3850 East New York Street. An easier word would be Vervet monkey. Oh, my. Not another animal for the Great Menagerie! Well, there are so many now that one more won’t hurt. What makes Vervet monkeys so cool is that they have a rudimentary language, complete with vocabulary words. Fortunately, they don’t have to worry about saying “I seen” or any of the other grammatical transgressions that so grate on the nerves in the testimony of the witnesses in the Sylvia Likens trial. Vervets have three known cries to warn the group that a predator has been spotted. “Eagle!” “Python!” But the best one is, “Leopard!”

I feel for Randy. Just where did he belong? He clearly found himself trapped in the strange fog and eventually crashed his Avenger into the sea. He was found guilty, and was packed off to jail along with Johnny, Coy, and Ricky. Still, the testimony of the witnesses reveals a tight-knit group. But unlike a tight-knit group of Vervets, it is quite surprising to find out just how few times that anyone in the 3850 East New York Street world cried out, “Lepper!”

In Shirley’s testimony, Randy is named seven times.

Q. Who came to the door?
A. Randy Lepper.
Q. Did he come in?
A. Yes, he did.
Q. Where was Sylvia at?
A. When they heard Randy knock on the door Richard took her downstairs.
Q. What did you tell Randy Lepper?
A. I did not tell him anything.
Q. Did you talk to him at all?
A. No. I never.
Q. How old is Randy?
A. I am not sure now, he used to be eleven.
Q. You did not say nothing to him at all?
A. No.
Q. What did he do?
A. Nothing.
Q. How long did he stay?
A. Just a few minutes.
 

Used to be 11? So he’s not 11. Well, anymore. That would make him 12, but ages, like counting and speaking grammatically correct English, is hard. And how are children supposed to stop murdering the King’s English when a highly educated attorney can ask, “You did not say nothing to him at all?” And my what a strange thing it is for the police to require that all nightclubs with strip…sorry, dancers, have matrons present to uphold decency. Stranger still would be putting matrons in a nightclub that was well-known to be a place for a certain type of young lady to meet a certain type of man. And strangest still would be if one such matron, Margaret Hill, declared that she would not recognize a prostitute “if one came up and sat next to me.”  Ah...a girl is going around handing out cards reading “Body Shop” on the front and “ask for Margaret” on the back? If you were matron number two, you might say, “I don’t pay no attention to patrons unless I see something wrong.” Don’t pay no attention? Indianapolisian? Perhaps a Vervet could do better. The context of the above exchange is the Slogan-event on Saturday, October 23rd. That’s the date that, as pointed out elsewhere on this site, became a bizarre black hole sucking so many events into it. After the slogan was complete, our used-to-be-eleven-but-now-is-probably-twelve-years-old young man showed up at the door. If the slogan event didn’t actually happen, then he didn’t actually show up at the door just as it was completed, as if on cue.

According to the story, Randy was not in the Baniszewski home when this sadistic act supposedly took place. When he showed up, Gertie Wright, ever so obsessed with decency that she missed the sexual element of card 13, ordered Ricky to take Sylvia down into the basement so as to avoid anything inappropriate. Strange, after initiating the mutilation of a teenage girl as she stood naked in front of Ricky. Then she inexplicably changed her mind and allowed Sylvia to stand in front of Randy as he gazed at her. But! That wasn’t his fault. In fact, besides Ricky and Jenny, two kids clearly ensconced within the tight-knit group, Randy is the only outsider present. There is no sign of Coy, Darlene, Anna, or Judy. Nonetheless, Randy isn’t involved in hurting Sylvia, and the only thing he could theoretically be guilty of is doing nothing; saying nothing. Of course, there is no Good Samaritan law, so he commits no crime. But I will suggest that there is no way that Randy would have said nothing. Why? Well on the evening of October 25th, when Vernell Lepper suddenly appears at Gertie’s magical front door, she has Randy with her. No, I will not make “no jokes” about this since that would only drag us down, whereas we prefer to keep on moving. A view has been stated elsewhere on this website, and a view is just an interpretation of original source material, and is clearly not a statement of verifiable fact, that the reason why Vernell left her own jungle of Leppers to confront Gertrude was something that Randy told his mother about Sylvia. And no, it was not the Slogan-event.

Wait a minute. Randy was 11? Johnny was 12? Marie was 11? Shirley 10? Jenny was 15, and had no charges made against her? Stephanie was 15 and turned state’s evidence? Of course, Paula was 17, and was packed off to jail. So too Ricky and Coy. It is rather odd just how young these sadists were. Odd, if it were the truth. In a fiction, anything goes. Let’s let Shirley finish.
 

Q. On that Saturday that you said you saw your mother and Ricky using a hot needle on Sylvia, you did not run into the other room and tell Randy to come in that everybody was having fun with Sylvia?
A. No.

And:

Q. How many kids in the neighborhood came in that house there the last two weeks before Sylvia died, about?
A. Just Randy and Richard. That is all.
 

Ah, “the two weeks” which has been examined elsewhere on this site. And is this statement about Randy and Ricky really the truth?

Q. How many kids in the neighborhood came in that house there the last two weeks before Sylvia died, about?
A. Just Randy and Richard. That is all.
Q. Just two of them?
A. Just two of them.
Q. Not somebody named Siscoe?
A. Anna Siscoe, yes.
Q. What was her name?
A. Anna Siscoe.
Q. Anybody else?
A. Judy Duke.

This is perhaps the quintessential exchange that proves the existence of a lie, a Big Lie, that the witnesses were supposed to tell. A hypothetical witness who appeared on this website wisely recommended that we never work with children or animals. Shirley often stated things very definitely, which proved detrimental to the Big Lie. Correct her with a leading question. Why no objection? “Your honor, I ask that the question and answer be striked, sorry, stricken from the record; she stated clearly that there were only two. Counsel is leading the witness. Oh, I also ask that, however cute she is, this witness be dismissed and her entire testimony be striked.” Alas.

Q. How about Mr. Lepper, the wall paper hanger - he has been over there?
A. Yes, he was.
Q. What did he do in the house?
A. Nothing but talk.
Q. Did he ever paint?
A. No.
Q. He never painted in any of the rooms?
A. No.
Q. Randy and Butch - did they borrow paint and paint some of the rooms?
A. No.
Q. Did they borrow any ladders?
A. No.

Enough jokes have been told by others about Mr. Lepper painting Shirley’s room. Who is Butch? The context suggests Randy’s brother. But he is not. He is Butch McGuire, which is a pretty cool name. I’m not sure how much he liked being Darlene’s brother, but that’s not really relevant. He was of course the son of William C and Ellen Louise (Burris) McGuire, who lived at 3846 East New York in 1965, then later at 539 North Keystone. Mr. McGuire was a driver for John K Wood Inc. Darlene’s sister was Naomi Ellen McGuire, who married Larry Chapman. And what about Butch? Is he working for Leroy Lepper as a painter? It’s an interesting question, given the fact that Darlene Mae McGuire married Christopher Edward Kane, who was a painter. “Did they borrow any ladders?” From whom? Maybe they went over to borrow ladders from Gertie! And borrow paint? Perhaps this is yet another manifestation of Gertie Wright…Gertrude the Painter and Wallpaper hanger. It would seem odd that the son of Leroy Lepper would need to borrow paint and ladders. It would be even more strange if Butch and Randy went over to Gertrude’s to borrow her paint and ladders, only to then paint the inside of her house. Perhaps the attorney should have asked Shirley if she ever went over to borrow ladders and paint..no, I never.

But the important thing about Shirley’s testimony is that of the 7 times Randy is named, he is never said to have done anything to Sylvia.
How about Judy “I-sometimes-do-what-I’m-supposed-to-but-sometimes-don’t” Duke. Randy is named 5 times in her testimony.

“I saw Randy Lepper, hit Sylvia in the face twice..”
 

Is that the truth? Judy goes on:

“and Richard ? On the legs, and kept telling her I hate you, Anna Siscoe, told me that Richard Hobbs, was in jail, also Gertrude Wright, was in jail, and that Gertrude Wright, offered Richard Hobbs, a $1,000 if he would help kill Sylvia Likens.”

Show of hands! Who believes that Gertrude actually offered Ricky $1,000 to kill Sylvia Likens? Show of hands! Who believes anything that Judy Duke says? The remaining 4 references to Randy are found in conversations between the judge and attorneys, with nothing said relative to any violence directed at Sylvia. How about Marie?

Q. Did you ever see your mommy order any of the other children, neighbor children, to leave Sylvia alone?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who did she tell to, other than Anna Siscoe?
A. Randy Lepper.
Q. When was that?
A. A couple of days before October.
Q. Before October what?
A. Before the month of October.
Q. Before the month of October. What was Randy doing?
A. Hitting her.
Q. Hitting who?
A. Sylvia.
Q. With his fist?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many times did he do that?
A. Four or five times.
 

So! Gertrude the Sadist...sorry, I can’t say that given the testimony of the Big Four. But here Gertie protects Sylvia?

Q. Was there - did your mother run any of the other neighbor kids out of the house other than Randy and Anna Siscoe?
A. Yes.
Q. Who?
A. Darlene MacGuire.

Q. Is it also the truth you than went downstairs when Randy Lepper came and you lit a paper, heating an iron?
A. No, sir.

Q. Who was in the room when somebody put a cigarette out on her face?
A. Richard Hobbs, Randy Lepper, Anna Siscoe, Mike Monroe, Paula, Johnny, Jenny, Stephanie and Shirley and Jimmy. I was holding little Denny.
 

Wow! That reminds me of Johnny’s second statement to the police. Hey Marie! You forgot Coy Hubbard! Perhaps a cheatsheet or crib notes would help. “I’m expected to name every kid I can think of including Mike Monroe but I don’t have my cheatsheet and left out Paula’s boyfriend…”

Woman in the gallery: Your honor, I object!
The Court: You are not an attorney, you can not object, Nosy Neighbor Lady!
Woman: I object anyway!
The Court: To what?
Woman: That no good Coy Hubbard is not Paula’s boyfriend! How many times must I say it?
 

Well, Nosy Neighbor Lady is right as far as that goes. Hey Marie! How about you get your school yearbook and read out all the names in it, including the little dunce who asked your sister how much she charges for…Did Randy put the cigarette out on Sylvia’s neck? Who else did Marie mistakenly leave out of the neighborhood kid roll-call? 

Q. You never did? Did you see anybody scald her on her neck?
A. I remember seeing somebody put a cigarette out on her neck. I could not see their face.

For once! For once a perpetrator of violence wore a mask! But, Randy is never described as a smoker. Hold on:

Q. Is that the same Darlene you said yesterday put cigarettes out on Sylvia?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Now, Marie, I want you to look at this little lady and tell the jury if this is the Darlene MacGuire you said put cigarettes out on Sylvia?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you see Darlene actually take cigarettes and burn Sylvia with them?
A. Yes.
Q. How many times?
A. She would do it every time she came over.
Q. How many times would that be?
A. Every day.
Q. For how long?
A. Till the day she died, till the day before she died.
 

Hey, Dr. Kebel! The 11 year old, and it should be stated, only the 11 year old, hints at 15x10 cigarette burns. So perhaps Darlene’s mask fell off. Anyway, if there’s a knock at your magical front door, and you open it and find a teenage girl wearing a mask and smoking a cigarette, don’t let her in!

Q. Did you get the prescription?
A. Yes.
Q. Who gave it to you?
A. The nurse.
Q. What was it? How was it wrapped?
A. It was in a box. Randy Lepper let me use his bike.
 

Sylvia has a watch, and Randy has a bike. What a nice boy the “used-to-be-eleven-years-old” would seem to be. He shares.

Q. Now, Marie, where was your mother at when Randy Lepper came to the back kitchen door?
A. She was in the front room.
 

Yes, we’re back to Saturday.

Q. How long did Randy stay?
A. He always stays until his mother calls him. That is about when she comes home, I think about 6:00 o'clock, when she comes home.
 

How do you know what time it is? I know, the clock!

Q. Is it also the truth you then went downstairs when Randy Lepper came and you lit a paper, heating an iron?
A. No, sir.
 

Sorry, counselor, you mean the IRON FURNACE POKER EYE-HOOK THAT SHIRLEY SAID IS MADE OF STEEL. I’ve been waiting to do that.

Q. This afternoon, a half hour ago, you said she came in the kitchen when Randy came.
A. He was in there when Hobbs was putting on the rest of the prostitute part.
 

Randy was present when part of the slogan was being done? That does not agree with any of the other testimony on this point. One last reference to Randy:

Q. Besides the MacGuire girl and the Siscoe girl and the Lepper boy and Monroe boy, who came around the house?
A. Not anybody that I can remember of.
 

“Remember of?” So, Randy is specifically associated with the events of Saturday, but is never described as perpetrating any violence. Randy is mentioned only 3 times in Stephanie’s testimony:

Q. Your mother was upstairs?
A. At that time.
Q. What did she do, yell downstairs to Johnny?
A. Yes, Randy Lepper brought his hose over.
Q. Randy Lepper brought the hose over?
A. Yes, sir.

A bike and a hose!

Q. You were down in the basement and you went for a hose across the street?
A. No, I said Randy brought the hose over.
 

So in Stephanie’s testimony, Randy did nothing to Sylvia. He is simply a Bringer of Hoses. Randy is only mentioned seven times in Jenny’s testimony:

Q. What happened then?
A. Well, Gertrude and Paula and Randy Lepper was all eating hot dogs and they took part of a bun and a little bit of hot dog and kept putting things in it - I could not say what it was - and made Sylvia eat it.
 

Hot dogs for dinner? Beats soup, especially seeing how few spoons there are, and the fact that they all seem to be upstairs under the bed. And another essay to be posted on this website will show that Sylvia eating and drinking icky things is a theme very much found in Jenny's testimony.

Q. And what was said at this time, if anything?
A. I think Randy Lepper knocked on the door so Gertrude said "Take her to the basement" and they rushed her to the basement.
 

Saturday. Wait, why rush her to the basement? Just tell her to put her shirt back on. I guess no one thought of that.

Q. And who was present?
A. Me and Sylvia, Paula, Gertrude, Stephanie was one time, Johnny, Randy Lepper, Coy Hubbard and I can't remember if Ricky was or not.

Q. Did any other adult come over there, neighbors, in October 1965?
A. Randy Lepper's mother came over.

Q. Did you see Randy Gordon Lepper strike and kick your sister?
A. Yes.

Q. What happened after that?
A. And then they had the back door locked and Randy Lepper knocked on the door and they did not know it was Randy, I don't think.
 

What did Ricky have to say about Randy? Randy is mentioned 14 times in Ricky’s testimony.

Q. Now, you knew Anna Siscoe and the MacGuire kids?
A. Yes.
Q. The Monroes?
A. Yes.
Q. Randy Lepper?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. Alright, then what happened after that?
A. Randy Lepper came and knocked on the door.
Q. Where was Sylvia at that time?
A. Sylvia was standing between the entry to the dining room and the entry to the basement.
Q. Did he come in?
A. Gertrude told Sylvia to go down on the landing and told me and Shirley to take her downstairs and stand on the landing because she did not want Randy to see her undressed.
Q. Randy was the boy that lived across the street?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Randy came in?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. Then what happened?
A. Well, I was down in the basement. I don't know what happened upstairs. We took her downstairs and about two minutes later Gertrude called us back upstairs and Randy was still there and she showed him what we had done.

Q. Who showed Randy?
A. No one in particular. Sylvia just stood there and let him look.

Q. Later on that day?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What?
A. After Randy had been there about fifteen minutes, we took her down in the basement again and I don't know who thought of it. We had an eye-hook and we heated it up with matches and branded an S on her stomach.
 

A letter S? Ricky did half of the branding, but thinks that a 3 is really a letter S? Why a letter S? Shirley says that it stood for Sylvia, and I think that Shirley was pretty good at thinking on her feet for a 10 year old, who used to be 9 years old, I think. I know! We thought we were making an S, but it turned out to be a number 3! Oops! And how can a perfect circle make an oval? It can’t. But if you’re a newbie pathologist who had two menacing homicide detectives breathing down your neck…

Q. Did you see Randy bring the hose to the door?
A. No.

Q. What did you do when you stopped?
A. Randy Lepper came to the door. We had to stop so Sylvia could go down in the basement.

Q. How much time elapsed from the time you were finished till Randy Lepper came to the door?
A. No more than five minutes.
Q. What happened in the five minutes after you stopped till Randy Lepper came there?
A. I don't recall.

Q. When Randy Lepper got to the door, what did you do?
A. Went in the basement.
 

So Ricky agrees with Shirley in so far as Randy never did anything to Sylvia. So to recap, and I will add Gertrude’s accusations, as well as those witnesses who never even mentioned Randy:

• Shirley: Randy never hurt Sylvia
• Ricky: Randy never hurt Sylvia
• Stephanie: Randy never hurt Sylvia
• Anna: Never mentions Randy
• Darlene: Never mentions Randy
• Marie: Randy hit Sylvia 4-5 times with his fist
• Gertrude: Randy hit and kicked Sylvia several times over time; hit her in the head with a coke bottle
• Judy: Randy hit Sylvia in the face twice  (completely unreliable witness)
• Jenny: Randy hit and kicked Sylvia  (answer to a leading question)

Judy’s testimony can be set aside, and Jenny’s one statement about Randy actually striking out at Sylvia is a response to a leading question. What is so fascinating about this is that Randy is clearly an outsider. Normally, in a situation where a group is accused of terrible things that could get them in a lot of trouble, the members of that group will blame an outsider, if feasible. In the Sylvia Likens trial, it was more than feasible. After all, they had Randy. So why did the kids blame each other, when they could have blamed the outsider? I think the answer is that Randy simply didn’t count. It would seem that they hardly knew he was even there. Even Gertrude casts Randy in a minor role.

Q. What was the conversation about your face?
A. I was wearing sun glasses when I was up because my eyes were swelled and matted quite a bit and my face was swelled and it was getting raw to the point where it was starting to bleed some here and there.
Q. How long did she stay?
A. I don't remember exactly. I think about a half hour because she had Randy dressed up as a girl and we did not recognize Randy at first as I can remember.

No more comments on Gertrude’s nonsense about Randy’s wardrobe. That said, I will make another joke about the magical clock. How long was Vernell at the house? About 30 minutes. How did you know, did you look at the clock? Are you kidding? Have you learned nothing about my Phantom Clock? Sorry. Did you look at your watch? Are you kidding? Only Sylvia had a watch. I could tell that 30 minutes passed because Vernell had dressed Randy up in girl’s clothes. That is a strange way of telling time! And, I must now break my sort-of promise. Vernell must have done one heck of a job dressing Randy up if it took 30 minutes to finally figure out... it was Randy!

Q. Did you hear Randy Lepper's testimony the other day in court?
A. Yes, sir.

Q. Did you see Randy Lepper the day she died?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you let him in the house?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did he bring you the hose?
A. He did not bring me no hose, no.
 

The king is turning over in his grave. And! Randy’s magical hose! It’s like the clock, it appears and disappears. It’s a good thing we don’t need a hose in our Avenger!

Q. Did any other children you know or saw beat or kick at Sylvia?
MR. ERBECKER: We object. This was gone into before.
THE COURT: Overruled.
A. Randy Lepper.
Q. Did you see him do that?
A. Not always, no, sir.
Q. When did he do that, that you saw?
A. Several times.
Q. What month?
A. Just about all the time he knew Sylvia.
Q. All the time he knew Sylvia he beat on her?
A. You was asking for specific times weren't you, and I can't give you specific times.
Q. What did you see Randy Lepper do?
A. Kick and hit her.
Q. Where would he kick her?
A. In the legs.
Q. Anywhere else?
A. He hit her in the head once with a coke bottle.
Q. Where was Sylvia when she got hit with the coke bottle?
A. I believe it was in our living room.
Q. Were you there?
A. I had just started walking into the room, yes, sir, when he did it.
Q. Do you remember when it happened?
A. Not any exact date, no, sir.
Q. What did you do?
A. Chased Randy home.
Q. Did he come back?
A. Later on that afternoon, I believe.
Q. Did you allow him to come back?
A. No, sir.
 

Kick her and hit her. Jenny: “Did you see Randy Gordon Lepper strike and kick your sister?” This could be another example of what another posting on this site calls “recycling.”  So Gertrude said that she wouldn’t let Randy in the house on two occasions. Earlier, it was noted that Marie specifically stated that Randy was one of the kids her mother would chase out of the house. Based on what Gertrude said about not letting Randy in the house, I’ll bet she was continually running him out of the house. More from Gertrude:

Q. You were taking it all the time. Besides Anna Siscoe that you testified about and Randy Lepper that you testified about, did any other neighbor kids come around there?
A. Yes, Darlene Duke.
Q. Who else?
A. Darlene MacGuire, Michael Monroe.
Q. Anybody else?
A. Richard D. Hobbs did once in a big while and Coy Hubbard was there and a boy my daughter Paula knows, Randy Lepper was over every day and other various - you know - children - I don't really know their names that the kids went to school with.
 

This is the only reference to a boy Paula knew, apart from Phyllis Vermillion’s comments, which have been examined elsewhere. Gertrude does not call this boy Paula’s boyfriend, and none of the other kids refer to such a boy at all, as far as I have been able to find. When Randy sits outside on the porch, it is with a female friend of Paula’s. The only reason that Butchie McGuire’s name surfaced was because the kids were asked what other kids had been over at the house. None of them refer to a boy Paula knew. If Paula was pregnant because of a “boy she knew,” I find it highly unlikely that Gertie would have allowed this boy to even be in her half of Indianapolis, much less her house. It is Gertrude who states that scads of other people’s kids were constantly at her house. The kids state specifically just who would be around 3850 East New York Street. Don’t forgot Johnny’s long list of names, and Marie’s long list of names. I suspect that Gertrude, Oh poor me Gertrude, I’m too stoned all the time, my house is a jungle of Vervet monkeys too many to count; chaos and anarchy on a massive scale, and none of it is my fault. Perhaps all of Indianapolis was tossing their kids onto Gertie Wright’s front lawn. No, the number of kids “knocking on doors” was rather limited, and, in fact, well-defined. Perhaps Gertrude’s claim about the “boy Paula knew” feeds off Vermillion’s statements, and is intended to be a bit of sleight of hand. It’s important to note that Gertrude’s claim that Randy was constantly at her house is difficult to believe, seeing how she twice states that she wouldn’t let Randy in the house, and we know that she would kick him out. But what did Randy say?

THE COURT: What kind of grades do you get?
A. C - Average.
 

If school were a woman…. But it is worth noting that an odd theme crops up in Randy’s testimony.

Q. When else did you see somebody strike Sylvia Likens?
A. During the month of September.
Q. Where did that happen?
A. Well, in different rooms of the Baniszewski house.
Q. Who was present when that happened?
A. I guess me and the Baniszewski children and Mrs. Baniszewski.
 

I guess? In other words, what I’m saying isn’t the truth.

Q. What, if anything, did you see Paula Baniszewski do at the time of which you are testifying?
A. Slap her and hit her.
Q. What room of the house were you in?
A. On different occasions, different parts of the house, sir.

Q. What did you see Johnny do early in September?
A. Slap her and hit her.
Q. Where were you?
A. In all parts, he hit her in all parts of the house.
 

So it is Randy who presents a bizarre picture of Sylvia suffering abuse in every room of the house, almost as if some sort of bizarre rotation was involved. Am I supposed to believe that Randy had been in Paula’s bedroom?

It was also noted in another posting on this website that “slapping” is a theme that is found mainly in Randy’s testimony, occurring a whopping 32 times. And it's amazing just how many different types of words there are for bully-like actions; I like this one from Shirley:

Q. What did you see?
A. Upstairs in the bedroom he rammed her against the wall and socked her and smacked her.

Ramming, socking, smacking, slapping, hitting, punching, beating, knocking, kicking, tripping, pushing, shoving, flipping, dropping, spanking, paddling, whipping, whacking, choking, burning, branding, scorching, scratching, gouging, carving, cutting, etching, marking and I'm sure, hair-pulling too...boy do I feel glad that when I was a used-to-be-child, I didn't have to be around 3850 East New York Street! If I did, I would, like the hypothetical police officer we met in another posting, wear body armor. If you did survive the ramming, socking, smacking, slapping, hitting, punching, beating, knocking, kicking, tripping, pushing, shoving, flipping, dropping, spanking, paddling, whipping, whacking, choking, burning, branding, scorching, scratching, gouging, carving, cutting, etching, marking.. and hair-pulling, a hail of pop bottles might just end up being your undoing. And! Don't think that being at a dance will save you from a nasty concussion inflicted by a flying pop bottle!

Another Randy-esque theme is Sylvia making Gertrude “nervous” and driving her crazy. It was shown elsewhere that Randy may have been responsible for the portion of the Gang of Boys note that references this, and that the “nervous woman” theme is one that he transferred from his mother Vernell to his second mother Gertrude. But how often was he in Gertrude’s house?

Q. How often during the months of September or October 1965 would you go to 3850 East New York Street, Randy?
A. About ever day, sir.
Q. Why would you go there?
A. To see Mrs. Baniszewski and her children.
 

To see Gertie? The woman who runs him out of the house and, when given the chance, won’t let him in? Could it be that Randy is envious of Ricky, who does appear to have been welcome, and who stated that Gertrude was his friend? Note this:

Q. Is it correct to say, Randy, you were a visitor at the Baniszewski household almost daily during the course of July, August, September and on into October?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was this because you were having school vacation at that time?
 

Wow! Randy’s school vacation begins in July and runs into October. I wish I went to Randy’s school when I was used-to-be-eleven years old. A four month school vacation! More:

Q. Now, Randy, after the latter part of July you were there practically every day?
A. Yes.
Q. Would that be early in the morning?
A. I would come over about 9:00.
Q. Did you go there at noon time?
A. Yes.
Q. Sometimes in the evening, too?
A. Yes.
 

So he gets up early during the July phase of his July-October school vacation just so he can get over to Gertrude’s house. What is the picture painted here? That Randy essentially lives at 3850 East New York Street. He is an honorary Baniszewski, or Wright, or Guthrie. Randy takes this theme, and goes about as far with it as possible:

Q. Was this because you were having school vacation at that time?
A. Yes, and a few times I helped straighten the house. One time I cleaned the kitchen. A couple of other times I helped straighten it.
 

Randy is Gertrude’s pseudo-child. He lives there, and he even does chores! According to Gertrude, Paula was the only kid who helped out around the house. Shirley and Marie also indicate that Sylvia helped out around the house. But we must add to this list the son of the Wallpaper Hanger. Get to his adopted mother’s house early to get his chores done! This entire picture does not accord with Gertrude’s own claims about not letting him in the house. It would be strange that Gertrude would not let her sort-of son Randy in the house if he spent his time there doing chores. I would think that Gertrude would send Jenny, Marie, and Shirley to sleep in the basement and give Randy their room, even if his birth-father didn't paint it.  If he did chores, and I were Gertrude, I would go over to Vernell's house and drag him home so he could finish his chores. Tough luck, Vernell! In fact, I’m going to keep him. Randy Baniszewski. Leaving? Randy, young man, where do you think you are going? There are dishes to wash in the kitchen. And don't forget the spoons under your bed! “Yes, Mom.” Marie indicated that her mother would chase Randy out of the house. I would think that Gertrude would actually chase him into the house, if the Randy Baniszewski character were real. But he isn’t, so I expect that Gertie did run him out of the house. 

The association between Randy as a major helper around the house extends itself to full-out home improvement. He’s the son of John Banizewski, no wait, he’s the son of Denny Wright Sr, no wait, he’s the son of Edward Guthrie…sorry. He was Gertrude’s almost-son, a boy who came into being at 3850 East New York Street by spontaneous generation. But! He was a Lepper too, so perhaps he could arrange to have the Wallpaper Hanger paint the inside of the house. Or his brother Butchie! Wait, wrong kid. Still, Marie has the electrical wiring part of the project well in hand. And we know how helpful Randy is, chores, lending his bike to his sister Marie, bringing over his magical hose that Gertrude never saw when she refused to let him in the house, even bringing ladders. Or is it borrowing ladders? He is so helpful that as half of the IDP’s police cars are parked in front of Gertrude’s house, he fetches the invisible shrinking dog and puts him the house…sorry, in his house.

So Randy tries very hard to put himself within a tightly knit group of kids who hardly cry “Lepper!” He is an afterthought, and his main role is as a minor character who showed up at the door on Saturday. He tries to find a place within the group in another way. If those kids were abusing Sylvia, then he was too. 

Q. How many times did you hit her?
A. You mean altogether, sir?
Q. At that time?
A. Just one time.
Q. One time, did you hit her with your hand or fist?
A. My hand.
Q. You don't know why you did it?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you hit her at other times?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many times did you hit her?
A. Ten or twenty times.
Q. Ten or twenty times. Was that always with your hand or did you ever hit her with anything else?
A. No, sir, always with my hand.
Q. Over what period of time did you hit Sylvia, Randy?
A. Over September and October?
Q. During September and October?
A. Yes, sir.
 

The distinction between “hand” and “fist” is an important one. By “hand” he is obviously hinting at “slapping.” This is less violent, generally speaking, than hitting Sylvia with his fist, and that is important to Randy. Why? Because you do not hit girls, and although he has to admit to hitting Sylvia, he will not admit to hitting her like he would hit another boy. This does not agree with the statement made by Marie that he would hit Sylvia with his fists. Notice too the number of times he hit her. 10 or 20? That is a potential difference of 100%. But it gets bigger:

Q. Are you telling us today what you remember or what someone told you to testify to?
A. I am telling you what I remember.
Q. What you remember. Now, is it a fact, Randy, that you struck Sylvia about forty times?
A. Thirty or forty times.
Q. Thirty to forty times, is that right?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. So when you said around twenty or thirty you meant thirty to forty?
A. Twenty, thirty or forty.
Q. So many times you don't remember?
A. No, sir, it is not that.
Q. You kicked her too, didn't you, Randy?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How many times?
A. Two or three time.
 

Wow! 20 to 30 to 40 times! What about 10 times? We appear to have lost that. So what has led to an exponential jump in the number of times Randy hit Sylvia? I think that Randy agrees to this enormous increase in the number of his violent assaults because that puts him dead-center into that tight-knit group. He outdoes them in chores and helpfulness, and then outdoes them in violence. I must ask all people who have their teaspoon with them! When this 10 to 20 to 30 to 40 times is compared with what all the other witnesses said, including Gertrude Lepper…I mean Gertrude Baniszewski, how can we possibly believe it? The answer is we can’t. The truth is that if 3850 East New York was inhabited by Vervet monkeys, the only cries they would need would be “Eagle!” and “Python!”

Another notable theme found with Randy is a rather extreme notion of appropriate behavior around a girl. This isn’t surprising seeing that the Lepper household consisted of 10 boys…well, perhaps 9 given the fact that Randy was too busy being at Gertrude’s house to be busy being around Vernell’s house, and one girl. I would imagine that there were some pretty strict rules in the Lepper house.

Q. Did anyone else say anything to you in the presence of any of these people here?
A. Well. Mrs. Baniszewski said that - she told me - she said that -

MR. BOWMAN: We object.
THE COURT: Objection sustained as to Coy Hubbard and John Stephan Baniszewski.

Q. What did she say?
A. She said that for me and her girl friend to leave because they were going to bring Sylvia up and give her a bath.
Q. Did you do that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did you go?
A. We went out on the front porch.
Q. Where did you go?
A. We went out on the front porch.
Q. Who is we?
A. Me and Paula's girl friend.
Q. How long did you stay on the porch?
A. I would say between twenty and twenty-five minutes.
Q. Then where did you go?
A. Well, when me and Paula's girl friend went out on the front porch, Paula left and went to the drug store or somewhere. When she came back she said, "What are you standing around here for"? I said, "Your mother wants us to, she is going to give her a bath".

Q. Did you ever go back in?
A. Yes, for a few minutes, sir.
Q. About what time was that?
A. Fifteen minutes to 6:00.
Q. What did you do then?
A. Well, when Paula let us in, I think Mrs. Baniszewski said, "You children had better go out because we are not finished yet".
Q. Then what did you do?
A. Then me and her girl friend went back on the front porch.
Q. Did you go back in the Baniszewski house again that day?
A. Yes, for about three or four minutes.
Q. What time was it when you went back in?
A. It was about ten till 6:00.
 

What Randy is essentially saying is that he was not allowed to even be in the house when a girl was taking a bath. It doesn’t matter that she was upstairs. As long as she is in the bath, he must wait on the porch. None of this is the truth, including the otherwise unattested and strangely anonymous “Paula’s girlfriend,” who is nonetheless a strange counterpart to the “boy Paula knew.” No one else mentions the presence of this girl. But the story illustrates just how much of an ethical person Randy really was. And can we now really believe that Randy stood there staring at an unclad Sylvia Likens on Saturday? And notice the tremendous contradiction. Gertrude sends him and another girl onto the porch twice because Sylvia was in the bath. Then:

Q. Where did she go?
A. I think she just stayed there in the living room.
Q. Was she standing or sitting?
A. Sitting.
Q. What was she doing, if anything?
A. I think she was knitting.
Q. At the time she was knitting, did you hear the moaning from upstairs?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How long did you stay there then, Randy?
A. For about three minutes, sir.
Q. Did you see or hear anything else besides what you have testified here?
A. Well, I seen Richard Hobbs coming down from the stairs, downstairs from the upstairs, down to the living room.
Q. What else did he do or say, if anything?
A. Nothing, sir.
Q. Where did he go?
A. When I left he was still sitting in the chair in the living room.
 

Gertrude was sitting and knitting? Sitting and knitting while Rome burned? Perhaps we have yet another manifestation of Gertrude…Emperor Nero Gertrude. But why is it that Randy, and a girl, have to be on the porch while Sylvia is given a bath, but Ricky is allowed to be upstairs while Sylvia is in the bathtub? It is impossible to believe that Gertrude would object to Randy’s presence, for the sake of Sylvia’s modesty, but not that of Ricky. So Randy falls into the same trap that Ricky did. Sylvia is allowed to stand unclad in front of Ricky, but then she has to quickly be taken down into the basement so that Randy can’t see her, only to have Sylvia brought back upstairs so Randy can stare at her. Randy doesn’t see an inherent contradiction in his reference to Ricky. Why? Well, first of all, he was a child, and children are usually oblivious to contradictions unless someone points them out.  Secondly, the background to Randy’s situation was that he was not and would never be part of the inner circle, even though Ricky was. Consequently, Ricky can be in the house, and even upstairs while Sylvia is in the bath, but Randy, being an outsider who so desperately wanted to be an insider, sits on the porch. 

Randy also illustrates how much the witnesses’ assessment of time can’t be trusted. He gives this time line:

• 4:45    Randy arrives at the house
• 5:45    Sylvia is being brought up stairs for a bath; Randy has to go out on the porch for 20 – 25 minutes
• 6:05    End of time on the porch- possibility 1
• 6:10    End of time on the porch- possibility 2

But Randy says that the time on the porch ended at 5:55. He is then on the porch again for 3-4 minutes, and then it is 5:50. The question of the times he gives is a problematic one:

Q. Do you possess a wrist watch?
A. No, sir.
Q. Were there any clocks downstairs in the Baniszewski household?
A. No, sir.

And:

Q. How do you know it was 5:45?
A. Because I looked right at the clock. They have a clock in the living room.
Q. Did you just say previously there was no clock downstairs?
A. I said in the living room.    
 

Sorry, Randy. The living room is downstairs. So the question of time led to Randy’s bizarre statement about Gertie Wright’s magical clock, and Marie fell head-long into the same, clock-shaped hole. The reality is that Randy could not have remembered five months later how long he was on the porch the first time, that he was on the porch for 3-4 minutes the second time, and the exact times along the way. And without a watch, he wouldn’t have known this on the day the incidents were supposed to have taken place.

Now it’s time for the enigmatic number game! And this enigmatic number is one we haven’t seen before now. And won’t it be a surprise! Randy said this:

Q. State your name to the court and jury, son.
A. Randy Lepper.
Q. Where do you live?
A. 3902 East New York.
Q. How long have you lived there?
A. About three and a half years.
 

So, we know the trial began on April 18, 1966. So if we roughly equate the “half” in “about three and a half years,” that takes us back to the following years:

• 1965
• 1964
• 1963

Pretty straight forward. But we’ve seen other people lie about such things, could Randy have? I’m not moving, yet something just whizzed past me. Unless I’m really moving, then I just whizzed past it. Swirl, maybe..but no spirals! More cop/not-cop? No. Perhaps, strange places.

1941    1301 Van Buren
1942    1301 Van Buren
1943    2244 Shelby
1945    2244 Shelby
1947    2825 Moore Street
1948    ???
1949    2816 Meredith Ave; back of the house
1951-1954    ???
1955    913 North Pershing
1956    913 North Pershing
1957    913 North Pershing
1958    913 North Pershing    
1959    913 North Pershing
1960    913 North Pershing
1961    913 North Pershing
1963    913 North Pershing
1964    ???
1965    East Washington? East New York?
1966    ???
1967    ???
1968    3902 East New York
1969    3902 East New York
1971    3902 East New York

Leroy Lepper was the son of Arza (11/14/1883 - 10/07/1937) and Lucy Lepper (1889 - 1944). Arza was described as a “decorator.” So I bet he had ladders too. But he passed on much too early to paint Shirley’s room. Leroy’s occupation was described as “painter”; “contractor”; paperhanger; and “assembler.” In 1961, he was working for Robert J Michaelis General Contracting. 

What is the list provided above? Well, it is the list of addresses that Leroy and Vernell Lepper lived at during the years noted. And there are some gaps. In 1947, Leroy and his family were evicted from their home, and were taken in by William Cramer at 123 South Rural Street. Leroy was behind in his rent, and the owner of the house on Moore Street had the sheriff evict Leroy’s family. Apparently, Leroy saw the situation as rather dire: “I’ve visited every real estate office in town,” he said, “and even the few which have houses for rent don’t want to take eight children.” Why is this relevant? Because it may explain the difficulty tracing the Lepper family during the years 1948 and 1951-1954.
Of course, the most striking observation is that the Leppers had a knack for staying very much on the radar screen; until we get to the critical years 1964, 1966 and 1967…wherefore art thou, Leroy Lepper? The second most striking observation is the fascinating duplicate in the most critical of years; yes, 1965. Randy told us that he lived at 3902 East New York in 1963. Odd, since in 1963, the Leppers lived at 913 North Pershing. What about 1964? I couldn’t locate the Leppers. But I can state that in 1964, there was no return at 3902 East New York. Isn’t that odd? We know that Leroy Lepper married Vernell Hack on June 25, 1933. What about this family? This is what Randy said:

Q. Did you testify a while ago Gertrude was nervous, or said she was nervous?
A. She was nervous.
Q. You saw she was?
A. Yes.
Q. How do you know?
A. Because my Mom had eleven children and I can tell when a person is nervous.
Q. Are you the oldest or youngest child?
A. I am the youngest.
 

Eleven! Who are they?

• Hilda Louise Lepper    Born 01/25/1935
• Ronald Eugene Lepper    Born 07/27/1936
• Gilbert Allen Lepper    Born 07/04/1938
• Raymond Leroy Lepper    Born 05/23/1940
• James Wilbur Lepper    Born 06/19/1941
• Harley Edward Lepper    Born 07/27/1942
• Robert Joseph Lepper    Born 02/13/1944
• Charles Merlin Lepper    Born 01/29/1947
• David Dean Lepper    Born 12/27/1948
• Timothy Mark Lepper    Born 01/29/1952
• Randy Gordon Lepper    Born 01/08/1954

Wow! No wonder Mrs. Lepper was nervous. Now it seems that the only girl, Hilda Louise, married James Morrison Stephens (3/27/1933 – 9/13/11), and had several children including Paula Sue Stephens, Penny J Stephens, Larry Robin Stephens, and William Stephens. By 1963, James and Hilda were living at 3153 Norwich Court. On 02/04/1971, Hilda married Ernest R Scheling. They divorced, and Hilda married Merle Glasscock on 11/03/1972. She died in a house fire when she passed out while smoking in bed. The death certificate also noted “drug intoxication.” So it seems obvious that Hilda wasn’t living with her parents in 1965. So who was? 

In 1955, Gilbert is listed as a baker at Sharon Kay Bakery, but without an address. In 1956, he is living at home, working as a laborer at the Pole. In 1955, Ronald Eugene is working as a seat coverer (is that a word?), and living at home. None of the other sons are listed in the directory, so may have been living at home as well. In 1956, Ronald is working as a laborer at Pomeroy’s and living at home. In 1957, Gilbert is living at home, but appears to have joined the Air Force. His obituary states that he had been a paratrooper. Otherwise, the others aren’t listed. In 1958, Ronald; Gilbert; and Raymond appear in the directory, but all are living at home. In 1959, only Leroy is listed, so the others may have been living with him. In 1960, Gilbert is working in the parts department of Jaguar Midwest Distributers and is renting at 3825 East Washington. Ronald, with wife Rebecca, is renting at 1335 Union, and Raymond is a painter working for Robert J Michaelis. In 1961, Raymond and James are painters working for Robert J Michaelis along with Leroy, and Harley is a painter working for his father. All are living at home. In 1963, Harley; Raymond; and James are painters living at home. Robert Joseph is an attendant at Enco Service Station, and living at home. In 1964, none of the Leppers appear in the directory. Randy assures us that the family lived at 3902 East New York Street in 1964. 

They were definitely there in 1965 and 1966, since it was in the latter year that Gilbert, who used the gangsterish name “Jocko,” was arrested for stealing a mink coat and an automatic pistol from that illustrious queen of the Roaring Twenties; one of the most popular nightclubs along the “Sin Strip” that stretched along a portion of North Meridian populated by pimps, gangsters, corrupt Teamster representatives, mobsters, gamblers, thugs, hoods… all of whom had friends among politicians and high-ranking police officers. Another essay on this website briefly discussed the federal investigation of illegal gambling in Indianapolis in 1963-1964 that culminated in the arrest of Van Wert and Isaac “Toughie” Mitchell. Strange, many of the criminals operating along the Red Light strip, as one might call it, remained untouched. Apparently, the federal investigation didn’t extend that far. Leaving that to the local authorities was tantamount to leaving investigation of criminal activity to the Mafia. In fact, these gangsters had plenty of representation in the Vice squad of the IDP. Vice squad? Yes. The Sin Strip, with its five premier night clubs, was home to a vast network of prostitutes. Prostitutes? “I am a prostitute and proud of it.” Lynn Henderson, a key figure in a criminal investigation being overseen by Leroy K New, and a known prostitute, claimed that she and other girls were introduced to customers at the Roaring Twenties, sometimes by Phyllis Shannon, part owner and proprietor of the club. And just what kind of cop cornered Jenny in the hallway of the courthouse to ask her, "Are you sure?" Ah, yes! Are you sure of what? Another posting on this website answered that question...are you sure that Photo 1 Girl is really your sister? Perhaps this vice cop was sure that she herself knew the girl on the mattress...and it wasn't Sylvia Likens. How right you were, and now are again, Tektonikus. Oh, and Tectonicus too.

This is, in my opinion, a memorable quote indeed:

“Tell Phyllis that Jocko was here.”

And if you’re in with Phyllis, then you’re in with the queen of the Roaring Twenties and local prostitution. Phyllis was just a party girl? How many party girls need to own an automatic pistol? Well, I hope she owned more than one, since Jocko walked off with the one that she kept in her apartment. A $1,500 mink coat? Wow! I bet she wanted that back too. Prostitution! Tektonikus…you gave in when you should have kept going! Only one girl? I say…no way! Two girls, oh yes, two girls. Two indeed. There was Sylvia, and then there was Mattress Girl; aka Fingernails Girl; aka Photo One Girl. What’s that, you were wrong about being wrong? So you were wrong about being wrong, when you were really right about being right? So you agree, and we’re back to two girls! Everything has changed! Well, in some ways, everything has gone back to the basic premise of Tektontikus, and, Tectonicus. I must have vertigo; I just saw them whiz past us as if they were in an Avenger!. Note this:

Q. Did Sylvia ever try to go out and pick up boys on the street?
A. So I have been told.
Q. Did she?
A. I never saw her with my own eyes, no, sir.
Q. Did you tell the Marion County Grand Jury she did?

MR. ERBECKER: We object.
THE COURT: Sustained.

Q. I will ask you if on December 8, 1965, Mrs. Baniszewski, this question was not asked you before the Marion County Grand Jury and you gave this answer under oath?

Q. "Did you tell them that"?

A. "I think they did. I want to say right now, those girls were not unhappy with me except the one thing that Sylvia was unhappy about was I wouldn't let her date like she wanted to or I objected to her picking boys up off the street like she wanted to. She was unhappy with me that way but as far as any other way, I don't know".

A. I might have said that to you, yes, sir.
Q. Is that the truth?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You did object to Sylvia about wanting to pick up boys on the street?
A. I objected to my own daughters, sir, even about something like that.

MR. NEW: Would you read the question?

THE REPORTER READ THE LAST QUESTION.

A. Yes, I objected to Sylvia doing it too.
Q. What did she say?
A. Nothing.
Q. When did you say that?
A. I don't remember the specific time.
Q. What did she say when you told her she should not pick up boys on the street?
A. She did not say anything.
Q. Where was this when you told her that?
A. I don't remember that.
Q. Do you remember who was there and might have heard you say that?
A. Paula and Stephanie and possibly some of my other children.
 

Now this is perhaps some of the most puzzling testimony in the trial, and it leads to a very dark place indeed. Picking up boys on the street? Picture a girl or a barely-a-woman female walking up and down the strip trying to pick up men. Teenage girls meet boys at school and the places they hang out. On the street? Flagging down cars? What is being described is street prostitution. Where? I bet the girl who looked like Sylvia was seen walking up and down North Meridian trying to be picked up. I bet she even walked past The Roaring Twenties and The Clover Club all the time. She couldn’t go into the clubs, since she was well under the drinking age of 21. It is a more than justified assumption that the prostitution trade going on inside the clubs on the Sin Strip was also going on outside the Red Light District dens of criminality. So if this is what is being described in Gertrude’s testimony, how then are we to understand Gertrude’s objection to her daughters doing the same thing? Daughters? Obviously, Paula and Stephanie. Did they make appearances on North Meridian? Not 2250 North Meridian, I hope! Not the headquarters of the Black Angus Supper Club! It is strange that Paula and Stephanie had both been labelled as prostitutes, since a girl who looked like Sylvia was strutting up and down North Meridian, and Gertrude’s daughters were doing the same? Object? Oh, yes, Gertrude..object indeed! What is the origin of the accusation that Paula was a prostitute? That Stephanie was a prostitute? Why both? And, Stephanie gives us a, well, quite frankly, stupid little story about the boy at school. But at least we get a story. Where is the story about Sylvia and Paula? Maybe, Paula lost a fight to Sylvia when she hit the ground and broke her wrist as she was trying teach Sylvia a lesson for calling her...what? When is the last time you heard a teenage girl denigrate another teenage girl by calling her a...prostitute? Why is it that when Jenny describes Sylvia denigrating Gertrude, we get the highly objectionable yet so much more likely word...whore? Why is it that when Judy Duke has to come up with a nasty word Sylvia called her Judy chose an old stand-by: bitch? Perhaps the label "prostitute" born by Paula and Stephanie has its true source elsewhere, rather than Sylvia. If so, it would be far less awkward explaining this to the world if one could just accuse Sylvia of being nasty. Still, I feel certain that poor Nellie Siscoe, another purported victim of the purportedly nasty Sylvia, was not actually walking up and down North Meridian. 

Time for more fascinating testimony, this time Jenny:

Q. Were you subpoenaed by the State of Indiana on that case on October 20 or 21, 1965?
A. No.
Q. You were not?
A. No.
Q. In your knowledge, based on what you saw or heard, would you say it was a well known fact the entire neighborhood knew some unusual activities were going on in that house?
 

Fascinating. After all the claims that Jenny made, and all the claims that all the witnesses would make; tales of abuse, torture, mutilation, degradation..it seems rather odd that at one point, “unusual activities” were going on at 3850 East New York Street. I think that something other than the canonical story about pseudo-Sylvia Likens is the basis of this question. Sylvia, Paula and Stephanie walking the streets in search of men? It’s only 5 miles from Gertie Wright’s house to 2250 North Meridian, but that’s a long way to walk. Of course, you could always get a ride, just be sure to avoid a gang of 5 thugs working for certain shady characters on the Sin Strip. But these considerations will have to wait for now. 

Vernell Lepper is nervous? Randy ends up in jail? Of course, Raymond Lepper would have a bummer of a day that started out as mere cruising around town with his friend Donnie Forehand. Donnie then told Raymond to stop by his house, and upon returning to the car, Donnie was carrying a .32 revolver. Raymond declared, “I pleaded with him to put the gun up.” “But he told me, ‘Let’s go over to Smith’s house. I want to scare Sharon.’” What if Sharon just broke up with Donnie to start dating someone else? A jilted boyfriend wants you to take him and a gun over to his now former girlfriend’s house to scare her? So what do you do? Refuse? Call the police? No, you’re wrong! What you do is to go ahead and drive the angry, armed youth over to meet Sharon, and just possibly witness him murder the girl. That is the most logical thing to do, and so you do it. Then Donnie decides to play Russian Roulette, putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger until he blasts a bullet into his skull. Suicide in front of his ex-girlfriend was obviously the point. Nothing strange, though. Who could have seen that coming? Please, people! Work with me, here.

Guns are things that are no strangers to Lepper boys. But that was Donnie’s gun; actually, it was his mother’s gun. Jocko stole Phyllis Shannon’s automatic? That wasn’t his only gun. He was fined $127 and given 60 days in jail for threatening a crossing guard with a gun. This followed an argument with William C Trumpler, who was on duty as a crossing guard at the corner of Julian and Emerson. To make matters worse, Jocko had jumped bail after an earlier arrest. Of course, if facing charges of resisting arrest, reckless driving, driving under the influence, disorderly conduct, having no operator’s license, violating the 1935 Beverage Act and brandishing a deadly weapon…wow! There are hoods over on North Meridian who might just think that’s cool! He was also ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination. I wonder what he would make of Relkin’s deck of cards?

Yet another memorable quote would be: “I’m mixed up!” That’s something you might say if you were Harley Lepper, after being arrested for picking fights at a dance, and then instigating a riot featuring six police officers, firefighters who had to turn a hose on the rowdy youths, and a hail of pop bottles…Pop bottles! That sounds familiar. Oh, yes. If you live at 3850 East New York Street, a hail of pop bottles is no strange thing. Nor is it at a youth dance. Perhaps people waited anxiously to be told by the weatherman whether it would rain that day; and if rain was expected, whether it would be water-rain, or pop bottle-rain. If you were in the state Reformatory, you might attack a judge. And if you ended up at the Indiana State Farm for assault and battery, the best thing for you to do is to serve your sentence and then be a painter for your father? Well. Maybe the latter, but not the former. No, you escape. Mixed up? Tell me, Harley, what do you see when you look at this card?

So what about 1964? Who owned 913 North Pershing, the long-time home of the Lepper family? Mrs. Flora Stafford, who is completely uninvolved in Lepper affairs. There was no return at 3902 East New York Street. According to Randy, that’s where they were living in 1964. But he also said that his family was living there in 1963, whereas the directory places them at that most familiar of places, well, next to 3850 East New York Street; yes, 913 North Pershing. Perhaps they were in between? That is possible. But there is no return at 3902 East New York Street in 1966, and the house was actually vacant in 1967. Vacant? Empty? Wherefore art thou, Leroy Lepper? In 1968 it’s not empty! No, it full of Leppers. Again.

What about 3902 East Washington? In 1966, it is owned by Gentry Auto Sales Used Cars. So the usually very much on the radar screen Leppers become the very much off the radar screen Leppers when the time comes to be such. But, given the size of the Lepper family, how could there be two years with no return at their home, followed by one year where the house is vacant? I would think that at least one Lepper in Leroy’s jungle would have been home.

But what is really interesting is 1965, of course! In that year, Randy’s family lived in two houses:

• 3902 East Washington: this is the address given for Leroy Lepper in the alphabetical portion of the directory
• 3902 East New York:  this is the address given for the owner of the residence in the address portion of the directory

So, we have our enigmatic number! The enigmatic number 3902. It is rather strange that the Leppers are associated with two residences in the year 1965, after not being located in 1964. And! Both addresses have the same house number; 3902! I’m sure that I’m not the only one who no longer believes in coincidence. Well, not as it concerns the Sylvia Likens murder trial. And! I feel uncertain as to where we’re supposed to land. Dead reckoning got us to our destination, which turns out to be two destinations…two destinations with the same identifying number. Same points on the compass? It is only a 4 minute walk from 3902 East Washington to 3902 East New York. So different points, but pretty close. Amazingly close. Well, close enough.                                                  (Aletheia65)