THE DARKEST OF PLACES PART 2: BOTTLES

One of the more bizarre aspects of the Likens case is the role of bottles. There are bottles everywhere, and if you were to enter Gertie’s magical house, being sure not to trip over the 2 foot tall-3 feet tall police dog, and always keeping an eye out for spiders, and if you need to know the time, look for the clock that materializes and de-materializes at will, you better be good at ducking. So many Sylvia-flips, and so many bottles flying through the air!

Q. Now tell me officer John Doe, did you ever enter 3850 East New York?
A. Unfortunately.
Q. When was this?
A. In the two weeks.
Q. What time was it?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Why don’t you know?
A. I looked at the clock, but it de-materialized before I could read the time.
Q. Did you notice anything strange?
A. Are you kidding?
The Court: that answer will go out. Please limit yourself to answering the questions.
A. Well, there was no referee. That was strange.
Q. Referee?
A. Yes. There was some kind of wrestling match going on. One girl was flipping the other girl all over the front room. Another girl was watching, and she was making tally marks in a note pad.
Q. That is strange. Did you notice anything else that was out of the ordinary?
A. Well, there were other kids there, and a little girl was running around trying to color on them.
Q. Can you tell us what kids were there?
A. All the kids, of course.
Q. Did you speak to the owner of the residence?
A. I might have. There was a woman on a mattress in the dining room. I kept trying to wake her up. One of the kids said she took her medicine. I think she was Gertie Wright. Then another woman came downstairs. She said she was Gertrude Guthrie. Someone named Gertrude Baniszewski was heating up the baby’s bottle on her invisible stove. A man showed up. He stood outside on the porch holding a carpet cleaner.
Q. Did that man say anything?
A. Yes, he said, “'This is It' is here.”
Q. Officer, if I may ask, how did you get those bruises on your face? Were you assaulted in that residence?
A. I think so.
Q. Who did it?
A. I don’t know. I barely missed getting hit when the one girl flipped the other girl and…
Q. Where were you standing?
A. Oh, on the other side of the room.
Q. She must have been quite a flipper. Yes?
A. Well, I figured she got a lot of practice.
Q. So how did you get the bruises?
A. Well I dodged the girl, and then suddenly there was a hail of bottles flying through the air.
Q. Bottles? What bottles?
A. Well, from what I saw there was Coke bottles, Pepsi bottles, perfume bottles, and even baby bottles.
Q. So there were five kinds of bottles?
A. Yes, and I got striked on the head by a couple of them.
Q. Who threw the bottles?
A. Well, it seemed like everyone was. So I ran out of the house, it was 3:35.
Q. How did you know the time?
A. The clock reappeared.
Q. Did you ever go back to that residence?
A. Yes.
Q. Were you injured again?
A. No. I wore full body armor.

Ok, that was only hypothetical testimony. But I would wear full body armor too. Anyone unlucky enough to enter Gertie Wright’s house had better be able to dodge and duck. Let’s see about the bottle-throwing. Paula:

A. Yes, my dad gave my Mom, a man's police belt, to punish us kids with, and in three months I beat Sylvia Likens with this police belt, about twenty-five times on her butt, leaving bruises. On the first of August, 1965, I broke my wrist when I hit Sylvia Likens in the jaw, leaving a bruise. I have pushed Sylvia Likens, several times down the stairs steps, I knocked her down the stairs once. I have thrown a coke bottle at Sylvia Likens, and I given her a black eye.

Maybe it’s just me, but if I were Paula, I would stop mentioning the fight I lost. Yes, there is the police belt. But whose? John’s? Maybe, but that depends on whether he was a cop or a not-cop at the time. At any rate, Paula threw a coke bottle at Sylvia. She doesn’t indicate whether she hit her, or missed. Is there more?

A. Yes, I have seen Mom hit Sylvia Likens, with her fist on the face, and she has thrown coke bottle at her

So, like mother, like daughter. Who threw the first bottle? Maybe, like daughter, like mother. And I’ll bet that if Sylvia can best Paula in a fight, she could probably hold her own against drug-addled Mrs. Wright. Let’s hear Jenny on this subject. And remember, she is a very good witness...just ask her...and Benny...and Danny...and Sylvia, who was so sure that Jenny was behaving herself:

Q. What did Paula say, if anything?
A. I can't remember. All I seen her do was throw a coke bottle at Sylvia.
Q. Where was Paula when she did this?
A. In the dining room, just across the table.
Q. Did the coke bottle hit Sylvia?
A. Yes.

All I seen her do? All I saw her do! Didn’t anyone attend English class? Jenny stories? I like this one:

Q. You had reference to an incidence involving throwing of a coke bottle by Paula Baniszewski at your sister. I think you told us it was thrown across the table, did you not say that?
A. Yes.
Q. What distance of space separated Paula Baniszewski from your sister at that time - in –terms of feet, if you can tell us?
A. Seven or eight inches, I can't tell.
Q. Was the bottle thrown with the left hand, to your best recollection?
A. I believe it was.
Q. I think you testified the bottle in turn struck your sister on the hand?
A. Yes.
Q. With what result, if you know?
A. What it struck her with?
Q. Yes.
A. The coke bottle.
Q. The bottle hit your sister's head, did it not?
A. Yes.

Left hand? Wait! Paula used her left hand because she broke her wrist while losing a fight to Sylvia. So perhaps this bottle-throwing incident was payback! I am confused. If I were standing seven or eight inches from the girl, the only closer I could get to her is to cram my face up against hers. So why would Paula “throw” a bottle at Sylvia if Sylvia were seven or eight inches away? It was thrown “across the table?” This would indicate that Sylvia was sitting on the other side of the table from Paula. How wide was Mrs. Guthrie’s table? Now I’ve seen the picture of the kitchen that someone on this website believes is the kitchen in 304 North Denny. And that table is small! Too small for the kitchen in the house of whatever-name-she’s-using. But still, that small table is clearly not seven or eight inches wide. So this story is a bunch of nonsense. Payback? Yes! Sylvia broke Paula’s wrist, so she could only use her left hand. It would only make sense to hit Sylvia on the hand. That’ll fix her!

Let’s ask Shirley. And she’s a good one to ask, since she is such a tattle-tale!

Q. Did you ever see anyone throw a coke bottle at Sylvia?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. When was this?
A. It was in the two weeks.
Q. And who threw - did–someone throw a coke bottle?
A. Yes.
Q. Who threw it?
A. My mother.

It’s too bad that Indianapolis didn’t have a pro baseball team. Gertrude would have made an excellent pitcher. Surely Shirley knows more:

Q. Where were you when this happened?
A. In the kitchen.
Q. Tell us what you saw then.
A. Mrs. Lepper, a neighbor woman, just left and Mom called Sylvia upstairs and she threw the coke bottle at her. She just picked it up and threw it at her.
Q. Had she done something?
A. No.
Q. Had she said anything?
A. No.
Q. Where did it hit her?
A. In the head.
Q. What did Sylvia do then?
A. Just made a funny noise.

A funny noise? “Ow!” is not a funny noise. “I’m leaving here and going to my grandparents’ or sister’s or uncle’s house!” is not a funny noise. “I’m telling the police!” isn’t a funny noise. And Sylvia picking up the bottle, throwing it back at Gertrude and knocking her on the head with it isn’t a funny noise either; although it is a satisfying one.

I’m glad that Shirley mentioned Mrs. Leppar. You know her, the one who shows up at Mrs. Wright’s door with her son dressed in drag. She is said to have been in the house more than once. Maybe she knew how to duck. But it raises a significant question…why wasn’t Mrs. Leppar called to testify in court?

Perhaps the best bottle-as-a-weapon incident involves a quintessential teenage-girl catfight. No throwing punches, no breaking wrists, no bruised ears from getting hit in the jaw. But we must use bottles, although, seeing that bottle-as-a-weapon is the climax of the fight, it’s just fine to use something as a sort of introduction:

Q. What had Sylvia done before Paula picked up the hair spray can and hit Sylvia with it?
A. Nothing.
Q. What did you do with it?
A. Took it away from her.
Q. Who?
A. Paula.
Q. What did Paula say?
A. She did not say anything. She just went to get something else.
Q. Did she get something else?
A. Yes.
Q. What did she get?
A. A perfume bottle or anything.
Q. What would she do with it?
A. Try to hit Sylvia with it.
Q. Did she throw it or keep it in her hand?
A. Kept it in her hand.
Q. How did she try to hit Sylvia?
A. She would reach over me.
Q. You were pushing her back?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you know what Sylvia had done just before this took place?
A. No, sir.
Q. What would Paula say?
A. She acted kind of funny.
Q. Did she say anything while she was striking at Sylvia?
A. She seemed to be smiling all the time.
Q. While she was trying to hit Sylvia in the head?
A. Anywhere, really.
Q. Did she ever hit her in the head that you saw?
A. Yes.
Q. What with?
A. A hair spray can.
Q. What part of the head did she hit with that?
A. This part.
Q. What did Sylvia do when she got hit in the head with the can?
A. She did not do nothing.

She did not do nothing. Now I could be exceedingly annoying if I were to point out something that many people would point out, but not me, i.e. that is a double negative, so she did do something! It’s a good thing that I didn’t mention that. As an aside, but not a digression since several people have told me that it’s also annoying, I will provide a quote credited to Stephanie:

“How well do you like school?” Judge Saul I. Rabb asked the girl (Stephanie) at her hearing four dates later.

“Judge,” she said, “if school were a man, I’d marry it.”

Excellent! Stephanie tells the judge what he wants to hear; something that will get her transferred to the county Juvenile Center to attend school. But, “did not do nothing”?  If I were so minded, I might make a list:

A. She did not say nothing. She just started crying.
A. Sylvia did not know nothing about it. 
A. I just seen my brother hit her in the arm
A. I never seen her.
A. I seen the clothes.
A. That every time she seen anything she would pick it up and try to hit Sylvia with it.
A. I seen Shirley.
A. I seen him.
A. That morning Shirley seen Sylvia's brother and somebody said something about her parents, they did not want the girls to see the boys or something, and so Mom told them if she seen Danny not to talk to him.
A. I never seen bruises, except when she died, she had one on her hand.
A. We was flipping everybody.
A. Not when I walked in, they was not.
A. She kept saying that Sylvia done something and everything
A. Yes, if she ever done anything with a boy.

Oh, my!

Q. Would you please tell the court your name?
A. Mr. School.
Q. Well, tell us Mr. School, what is your profession?
A. Are you kidding?

The Court: That answer will go out. Please limit yourself to answering the questions. Officer John Doe, Mr. School…if a fourth witness asks “are you kidding?” I will hold him in contempt of court.

Q. What is your profession?
A.  Education.
Q. So you have experience with children?
A. Yes, with all the kids.
Q. Do you know a young lady named Stephanie Baniszewski?
A. Unfortunately.
Q. How do you know her?
A. Well, she’s pretty famous locally for Sylvia-flipping. And I know that she was dating Paula’s boyfriend Coy Hubbard.

Woman in the gallery: How dare you! I have made it clear in every way possible that Coy Hubbard is not Paula’s boyfriend, even though I don’t seem to know his name except that he lived at…”

The Court: Mrs. Vermillion! One more outburst and I will have you removed! Now, please finish answering the question, Mr. School.

A. I saw her hanging around, and then she starting following me. Next thing I know, she proposed to me.
Q. Proposed? What answer did you give her?
A. I turned her down.
Q. Why?
A. Have you heard the way she speaks?
Q. I don’t understand. I talked to my colleague, and we was rather impressed by her, and we also seen her grades. And she counts good. What’s wrong with the way she speaks?
A. Are you kidding?
The Court: That does it! I’m holding everybody in contempt!

Perhaps if she worked on her grammar…It’s a good thing that I refrained from a long, annoying digression. But! Paula and Sylvia square off. Apparently, the ring is in the upstairs bedroom. Which upstairs bedroom? Maybe it’s the one where Jenny, Marie, Sylvia, and Shirley sleep, the one that needs painting by Mr. Leppar, the one that Jenny’s not allowed to sleep in. Or is it Paula’s room, the one where Baby Denny may sleep when he’s not suffering from insomnia? This time there’s a referee! Stephanie: “and in this corner..making her comeback...Paula!” “And in this corner...the current champion..Sylvia!” The match turns ugly fast, and Paula gets a weapon. That should result in a disqualification! But it doesn’t, and referee Stephanie wrests the can of hairspray from her. Can you think of a more girly weapon? After unsuccessfully searching for a Pepsi or Coke bottle, Paula remains undaunted, finding the next best kind of bottle. What kind?

A. The last time Darlene was in my house, she had a habit kind of tormenting little Denny all the time, taking his bottle away, to hear him fuss and cry.

Maybe Darlene should be in the ring seeing how tough she is, taking a baby’s bottle. Maybe she should run for office, that’s what politicians do…wait, that’s taking the baby’s candy, so never mind. So did Paula grab one of Denny’s bottles? No. She grabbed a perfume bottle. That makes sense, seeing how this is a “beauty products” match. First, a can of hairspray. Now, a perfume bottle. Once again referee Stephanie steps between the combatants. What is Paula’s plan? Will she throw this bottle? No. She will try to reach over Stephanie and knock Sylvia on the head with it. Now Paula is pretty tough, why doesn’t she just shove Stephanie out of the way and resume her attack? After all, it’s obviously a no-disqualification match, so you can push the referee out of the way. Perfume bottle? Most perfume bottles are rather small, so I doubt that it will make a good weapon. A Pepsi bottle or Coke bottle would make a good club, but a perfume bottle? A bottle-club? That’s what Gertrude said was Randy’s weapon of choice:

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.

Why didn’t Randy use the perfume bottle? Sorry. Actually, Gertrude’s statement about Randy was completely untrue. Various statements about Randy have been made on the internet based on what Gertrude said. I believe she was angry, and did not like Randy to begin with, so she lashed out at him when she was on the stand. I have seen nothing that would support the statements I’ve read, so, as the noble adage which has unfortunately fallen by the way-side in post-modern America goes, “innocent until proven guilty” applies to Randy Leppar as much as anyone. I would encourage everyone to find a teaspoon and then reject unfounded claims such as the one made by Gertrude and stop posting malicious statements about Randy Leppar.

Bottles figure prominently in another way. They are a controversial source of income for children who probably don’t receive much of an allowance. If you find redeemable bottles, and there’s currently a lull in the fighting so you don’t need to keep them as ammo, you take them to the store for a nickel or a dime. But at 3850 East New York Street, although you may use any bottle found in the house as a weapon, you may not pick up bottles that you find outside the house! After all, such acts are probably what lead to the Great Indianapolis Pop Bottle Caper.

Q. When was one time of these times?
A. Well, several times. You mean what caused her?
Q. Yes.
A. She would not answer her or would go to the park and pick up bottles and the kids would tell on us.
Q. When did this happen?
A. Sometime in August.
Q. What happened then?
A. Me and Sylvia would find bottles and cash them in. Our father told us we could make a little money when we could. We would put it together and get something.
Q. On this particular day, what happened?
A. When we come home the kids told Gertie we picked up some pop bottles and then she told us to get upstairs and told Paula to get the board, so we got the board.
Q. Who struck Sylvia with the board?
A. Paula.

And:

Q. Did someone strike you with the paddle at the same time?
A. Yes.
Q. Did Mrs. Baniszewski say anything at this time?
A. Well, when we got back downstairs she says, "What did I tell you girls about collecting bottles and cashing them in"? We said, "You told us not to". I continued and started a big argument.

Wait, Jenny caused a big argument? I thought she had been “behaving herself.” Why can’t the kids redeem pop bottles? I would have thought that Gertie Wright would actually have encouraged it so as to justify the meager, if any, allowance they received. But then I learned that taking bottles to the store for money could lead to taking bottles from the store, only to take them back to the store:

Q. Did you ever recall whether or not Sylvia and her sister Jenny collected bottles in the park?
A. I never saw it with my own eyes, no, sir.
Q. Did you ever have conversation about these girls about collecting bottles at the park?
A. Not collecting, no, sir.
Q. About anything with reference to their going around earning money?
A. Do I remember a conversation about it, sir?
Q. Yes.
A. This was mostly in regard to them and my children.
Q. What was it?
A. They had went in the grocery store and picked up bottles to cash in.
Q. Picked up empty bottles at the grocery store?
A. Inside the grocery store, sir.
Q. Who did that?
A. Shirley and Sylvia and Jenny.
Q. How often did that happen?
A. On several occasions.
Q. Each time did you correct them?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. How did you correct them?
A. Made them go upstairs in their room and stay up there.
Q. How long?
A. Not over an hour or two.
Q. Were you there when they took the bottles?
A. No, I was not.
Q. How do you know they did?
A. Shirley Ann told me.
Q. Shirley Ann said she had stole bottles?
A. Shirley Ann told on them first and then told on herself.

We learn a lot of important things from this story. First, Shirley is a tattle-tale! And, she’s not a very good one. If you’re a tattle-tale, which makes you very unpopular with other kids and will lead to your exclusion from anymore criminal endeavors, and I would think was a good reason to depose Shirley and no longer let her lead “all the kids,” you aren’t supposed to tell on yourself.

“Mom! Sylvia took bottles from the store and then got money! Jenny did it too, just ask me and Danny and Benny! And hah-hah! Shirley Ann did it too! Wait, forget about the last part.”

Maybe Shirley should stick to coloring and A-B-C-D, then work on E. We also learn that the guys working in grocery and convenience stores in Indianapolis in 1965 weren’t very bright, seeing how they didn’t notice two teenage girls and a little tattle-tale moving bottles from the back of the store to the front of the store, and then walking away with their ill-gotten gains. We also learn that Sylvia was diabolically clever, seeing how she and her gang got away with this. One might surmise that Sylvia was the ring-leader, and maybe stood outside the store, having instructed her lieutenants as to how to pull this off. The theme of Sylvia working behind the scenes to carry out crimes appears in another context:

Q. You said a minute ago Sylvia was teaching you girls something of which your mother and apparently Paula disapproved?
A. She would take us down somewhere and make us steal.
Q. Did you engage in this activity?
A. I would not take a thing.
Q. Did any of the other children do this?
A. She brainwashed Jimmy to do this.
Q. You actually saw this yourself?
A. Yes.
Q. Who reported this to your mother?
A. I did.
Q. What was your mother's reaction?
A. She did not like it.
Q. Did she cause anything to be done in connection with it?
A. Mom wanted Paula to whip her and every one of us.

Q. Now you say that Sylvia brainwashed Jimmy?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was that what caused him to steal?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did she try to brainwash you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. She was not able to do it with you?
A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know why she was able to do it with Jimmy and not with you?
A. I don't know.
Q. It would be pretty hard to brainwash you, would it?
A. I am not bald headed.

And:

A. She brainwashed Jimmy and tried to brainwash us three little ones into stealing something for us. She brainwashed Jimmy into doing it.
Q. Sylvia?
A. Yes.
Q. How do you know?
A. Cause I was there when she was brainwashing him.
Q. You were there when she brainwashed him?
A. Yes.
Q. How many times did that happen?
A. She made him do it a couple of times.
Q. Made him do what?
A. Go in the store - he had a little coat on - and take something and wrap the coat around it.
Q. When our mother found out about it did she whip you or cause somebody to whip you?
A. She would tell Paula to whip us because she was not in any shape to whip us.

We learn very important things from Marie’s testimony. First, Sylvia directed her gang in their criminal activity by a strange brainwashing technique. Apparently she was quite good at it, and could turn her underlings into automatons. A good crime boss never does the crime herself! Second, this brainwashing technique had a drawback. Sylvia could only brainwash a bald kid. Why? Because you can’t get to the brain if the kid has hair! How can you wash a brain if something is in the way? For Marie, brainwashing is a very hands on kind of thing. Marie had hair, so she couldn’t be brainwashed. But I think she isn’t being truthful. Earlier, she clearly implicated herself as carrying out Sylvia’s orders, and includes herself among those destined to receive a good whippin’ from Paula. So we must include Marie along with Little Jimmy. Of course, she also says she didn’t steal anything, so she got a spanking for nothing? She actually implicates Shirley as well, and we know her role in the Great Pop Bottle Caper, and that she was an informer and a stool-pigeon. And! Marie is a tattle-tale too! One can almost see Sylvia standing outside of the 7-11 with her eyes closed and her fingers against her temples as she transmits instructions as to what goodies Little Jimmy should pick up and put in his coat. These little fictional stories introduce a more serious, and equally false, accusation against Sylvia; i.e. she not only stole, she corrupted Gertrude’s children and turned them into thieves as well. And, I almost forgot…Jenny is in on it too! So who isn’t “behaving herself?” Jimmy might be able to plead not guilty, claiming that he was under the influence of mind-control at the time, but Jenny can’t, she has hair!

Perhaps the most important thing about the strange criminal syndicate who had their headquarters at 3850 East New York Street was that Mrs. Wright didn’t do exactly what one might expect her to do. She said this:

Q. How would you punish your own children if they would take something that did not belong to them?
A. Whenever they took something that did not belong to them.
Q. Which of your children did you punish?
A. Shirley, Stephanie.
Q. How did you punish her for stealing?
A. They were usually kept in.
Q. Do you ever remember hitting Shirley for stealing?
A. Not any specific time, no.
Q. Did you hit any of your other children for stealing?
A. I imagine over a period of time I have whipped them for stealing.

So what hasn’t Gertie done? She did not blame the stealing, which was clearly going on, on Sylvia. And we learn something else. We’ve heard about Sylvia, Jenny, Shirley, Marie, Little Jimmy...but now we find out that there was another thief…Stephanie! It’s funny that she didn’t mention that. Come to think of it, Jenny didn’t mention the fact that she was stealing. Mrs. Wright makes it clear who the thieves were..Shirley and Stephanie.

Sylvia is accused of stealing numerous things. Even things that don’t make any sense. This story is great:

Q. Was there a conversation concerning it?
A. Yes.
Q. When did it take place?
A. August.
Q. Where?
A. Me and Sylvia were at Brookside Park.
Q. What happened?
A. Well, there was a tennis shoe laying on the side walk close to the community center and I had a tennis shoe on my right foot. She said, "Why don't you try the tennis shoe on. It might fit you and nobody wants it". I tried it on and it fit me.
Q. Do you usually wear tennis shoes?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you usually only wear one?
A. Yes, I wore it home to 3850 East New York.

Wow! Jenny walks around with only one shoe on. So they’re at the park, and there is Jenny as we expect her to be, wearing only one shoe. Then, By Jove, there is a single tennis shoe laying on the ground. And what incredible luck! Jenny’s one shoe is on her right foot, leaving her barefoot as far as the left one goes. Then Sylvia finds a shoe on the ground..and it’s a shoe for the left foot! That is good luck, but it gets better. It’s a perfect fit! Now Jenny can go around actually having a pair of shoes, and so kids won’t laugh at her anymore like they did when they observed her wearing only one shoe. No more “Hah! Hah! Jenny only has one shoe!” Wait. Nothing is said about a third stroke of good luck. What is that? Does the left shoe match the right shoe? “Hah! Hah! Jenny’s shoes don’t match!” Poor Jenny and her one shoe. Hah! Hah! Mommy and Daddy like Sylvia more! Daddy:

Q. Now, during the period of time they lived with Mrs. Wright, did you buy clothing for them?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you ever give them any money?
A. Yes, I give - I don't know who took the money. I give money for a pair of shoes for Sylvia.

But no shoes for Jenny! Sylvia actually gets a pair of shoes, while Daddy leaves Jenny to walk around with only one shoe. Was Jenny jealous of her sister?

Q. Did your father give you or Sylvia any money while you were there?
A. Sylvia told Daddy she needed a pair of new shoes. He started to hand her $3.00 and someone spoke up and said $2.00 was enough and Daddy - they said Daddy left $2.00. She never seen the $2.00.
Q. Did Sylvia get the shoes?
A. No.
Q. Did Mrs. Baniszewski give her $2.00?

$2.00 shoes? That’s not as good as $3.00 shoes. And she didn’t get the shoes?

Q. Did she have sores on her body you were aware of?
A. She had a sore on her foot one time from the shoes she was wearing.
Q. Did you treat it?
A. Yes, with peroxide and merthiolate.

A sore on the foot from shoes? Yes! From new shoes that aren’t broken in yet. And I think these shoes weren’t tennis shoes. I think these were nice shoes, possibly nice black shoes like the one laying on the floor of the kitchen after a violent fight. Sylvia got new shoes, Jenny was lying. Jenny didn’t get new shoes, and that was the truth. So poor Jenny went around with only one shoe. Come to think of it, whoever lost the shoe that Sylvia found, was walking around with only one shoe too!

A. Gertrude said, "Where did you get the tennis shoe, steal it"? I said, "No". She said, "Don't lie to me". I said, "I'm not lying to you". She said, "Paula, get the board.”

Gertrude easily figured this out, seeing how Jenny walked around with only one shoe. Now she has a left shoe too! The jig is up! Jenny gets whacked with the board, then Sylvia. Of course, the shoe wasn’t stolen. And Jenny didn’t walk around in only one shoe. There is no reason to pick up one tennis shoe, and based on how dirty and smelly tennis shoes can be, it would be rather disgusting to put it on your foot.

Marie:

Q. During the month of August, did your mother ever accuse Sylvia of doing anything?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did she accuse her of doing?
A. She said she took some money and then that she was stealing. She said that she took $10.00 from her and she was stealing things out of the drug stores and everything.
Q. Were you there when your mother spoke to Sylvia about that?
A. I think so.
Q. Do you recall what your mother said and what Sylvia said, if anything, about it?
A. I think she asked her what she did with it.
Q. What did Sylvia say, if anything?
A. She said she did not take it.
Q. What did your mother say, if anything?
A. She said she did.
Q. Did your mother do anything to her?
A. Spanked her, I think.

Sylvia stole $10.00 from Gertie. Now I knew that this accusation sounded familiar. I know! The letter: “I took 10 dollars from Gertie Wright.”

Why is it that Gertie Wright didn’t mention this? Phyllis Vermillion said that Gertrude made a strange accusation about Sylvia:

A. Mrs. Wright and then we got to talking about school and everything and she said she made her quit school because she had stole a gym suit at school. Also, she had stole a watch from down the street and she was doing ironings, taking money for ironing.

This statement is laden with importance. But first, “stole a watch from down the street?” Why do none of the kids mention this? We hear about an old, left-foot tennis shoe, and bizarre mind-control nonsense, but a watch? But! Wrist watches are confusing, just ask Jenny:

Q. Did you at that time possess a wrist watch, Miss Likens?
A. A wrist watch?
Q. Yes, a watch on the wrist?
A. I don't know what you mean.

Oh come now, you don’t know what a wrist-watch is? Sylvia didn’t steal a watch. I think Sylvia had a watch and none of the other kids had one. She had one and Jenny didn’t. Oh, my. But if you don’t know what a wrist-watch is, then maybe you’ll have to make do looking at Mrs. Wright’s magical clock. It also confirms that Sylvia had dropped out of school. And it also reveals what Sylvia had been doing after she left school; she was doing ironings. She was working; she was making money.

Marie:

A. My Mom was burning Sylvia's fingers.
Q. With what?
A. A match.
Q. How did she do it?
A. Just passing it over her fingers.
Q. Over Sylvia's fingers.
A. Yes.
Q. What did your mother say?
A. "I don't want ever to catch you stealing anything again".
Q. What did Sylvia do?
A. Jerked her hand away.
Q. Did she say or do anything?
A. Just "Oh".

“Oh.” Really? Someone is burning your fingers and that’s all you’ve got say? According to the Letter, Sylvia stealing things was not limited to the time spent in Indianapolis:

“I stole things in California when we lived out there.”

So from where does this whole “Sylvia steals anything she can get her hands on” theme derive? I think the whole thing goes back to the gym suit. Sylvia was accused of stealing a gym suit at school. Jenny:

Q. What happened?
A. I seen Sylvia's hair was messed up and I asked Gertie what was wrong with it, what was wrong this time. She said "She stole a gym suit from school". Sylvia said, "No, I did not, I found it on the way home from school". It was wet. I think it had been raining. Sylvia kept telling her she had not stole it. She said she did.
Q. What did Mrs. Baniszewski do?
A. Well, she took the police belt and - you know - give it to her, whacked her.

But:

Q. How many times?
A. I can't tell you exactly how many times it was.
Q. Was it every day?
A. Every other day, we'll say.
Q. For no reason at all?
A. Sylvia told her she did not do it.
Q. Do what?
A. Oh, like steal that gym suit or eat with my brother or something like that.

Stephanie:

Q. Did anything else happen with reference to the gym suit?
A. An hour later - I guess it was an hour later.
Q. What was that?
A. I woke up and heard somebody arguing with somebody else.
Q. Did you see who it was?
A. Yes.
Q. Who was it arguing?
A. My Mom and Sylvia.
Q. Where were they arguing?
A. In the middle of the room.
Q. What was said?
A. Mom kept saying Sylvia took the gym suit and Sylvia said she did not, she found it on the ground.
Q. Did your mother do anything else?
A. She kept saying she did and Sylvia kept saying she did not and finally Sylvia - I guess just - I don't know exactly, but she said - she gave up and said she did.

According to Jenny, Sylvia stood firm in her denial. But Stephanie does something fascinating, and perhaps something rather Freudian. In case you didn’t know, gym suits are directly linked to sex. So that if you are arguing about a gym suit, the rest of your conversation will be about...:

A. And she brought her in the front room and sat her on the edge of the couch where I was laying down, and I told Mom what was the matter and she kept saying that Sylvia done something and everything and she took this gym suit.
Q. Your mother took the gym suit?
A. No.
Q. Stephanie, when you say "she" I don't know who you mean.
A. My Mom said Sylvia took the gym suit.
Q. Your mother said that to you?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Sylvia was there?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Your mother said Sylvia had taken the gym suit and then what happened?
A. I don't know how they got off the subject but they started talking about sex again and Mom said that you should never do anything and she did something she should never do till she was married.

Of all the witnesses, it is Stephanie who has the most to say about sex.

Gertie: “You stole the gym suit..admit it!”
Sylvia: “No I did not! I told you that already.”
Gertie:  “What? Earlier we argued about this, and although you initially stood firm, you gave up and admitted it.”
Sylvia: “ No way! Stephanie said that in her testimony, and she’s a liar! The gym suit was wet; why would I steal a wet gym suit? It’s more likely that I found in on the ground because some kid dropped it, and I found it after it rained.”
Gertie: “Don’t call my daughter a liar! I’ll tell you something else about this gym suit…by the way, don’t do anything inappropriate with a man until you’re married!”
Sylvia: “What?”

Stephanie:

Q. Who started these sex conversations?
A. Sometimes Mom and sometimes Sylvia.
Q. Who started the first one?
A. Mom.
Q. What was the occasion of that, do you know?
A. She was talking about the gym suit.
Q. Talking about the gym suit?
A. Yes, sir.

Attention all parents with teenage daughters! Be warned! No gym suits! What did Gertie say about the gym suit?

Q. What about Sylvia, during the third week in September? Did anything unusual happen?
A. There was some disagreement over her stealing a gym suit at school.

Q. You said there was an episode about a gym suit. What was that?
A. Sylvia was supposed to have stolen a gym suit at school.
Q. Did you claim she did?
A. No, I did not claim she did.
Q. Who did?
A. Well, she admitted she did.
Q. Who made her admit she did?
A. No one.
Q. Did you ask her?
A. She had asked for the money for a gym suit. I told her I did not have the money, she would have to get it from her father and then she asked Stephanie to get her a gym suit. Stephanie said she could not. That evening she came home with a gym suit and I asked her where she got it and she said she took it.
Q. Then you did ask her about it?
A. Yes.
Q. It was your own provocation? You wanted to know where she got it?
A. Naturally I did.
Q. What did she say?
A. She had took it.
Q. Did she say where she got it?
A. From the girls' gym.
Q. What did you do about that?
A. Not a thing. I told her to take it back where she got it.

This is a reaction that I find highly likely to be the truth. Gertrude heard a bunch of squabbling about this gym suit. What did Gertrude do about it? Not a thing; told her to take it back. Did Sylvia find it or take it? Take it after finding it, or simply stole it? She was a teenager, so it’s hard to know. But some questions are inherently stupid ones. And that applies to adults too:

Q. I notice you wear glasses. Can you tell us the reason why you do?

Are you kidding? Sorry, your Honor!