by David DeKok
14 - “clear this up was to take a polygraph test”: Haefner vs. Lancaster County, et al., March 5, 1982; supposedly told him he passed: Ibid.
15 - “hired James F. Heinly . . . to represent their son”: Richard Charles Haefner Waiver of Arraignment Form, CPCLC, August 15, 1975; Richard Haefner, PhD:. Op. cit., Waiver of Arraignment Form, August 15, 1975; put up their house: Richard Charles Haefner Certification of Bail and Discharge Form, CPCLC, August 15, 1975.
16 - “The story in the morning Intelligencer Journal”: “Man Faces 3 Morals Charges,” IJ, August 16, 1975.
Chapter 27: Kill Me the Way You Killed Her
1 - “Ere was agitated”: CLH, e-mail to the author, May 15, 2013, 8:57 a.m.; obscene telephone calls: FBI interview transcript, January 5, 1981; she took both editions: Op. cit, CLH e-mail; stormed outside: CLH, August 23, 2010.
2 - “was absent from this drama”: CLH, August 23, 2010; knew nothing of his dark side: CLH, e-mail to author, October 3, 2010, 11:15 a.m.; conducted fire insurance inspections: Statement on Bail Form for Richard Charles Haefner, February 18, 1976; overheard and observed by Chris: Ibid.
3 - “unaware that his cousin had been arrested”: CLH e-mail, May 14, 2013, 8:57 a.m.; as he often did on weekends: CLH, e-mail to author, May 15, 2013, 9:40 a.m.; “You might as well have killed me the way you killed her”: CLH, August 23, 2010; “very, very clear” to him: Ibid.
4 - “Rick did not deny his mother’s accusation”: Ibid; Rick laid into Ere: Ibid.
5 - “My world with her”: CLH, September 15, 2010; worried about keeping his job: Ibid.
6 - “sought to pull Chris back into his camp”: CLH, August 23, 2010.
7 - “began talking about what Ere had said”: CLH, September 15, 2010; mother believed he was going to get in trouble: Ibid; Someone was with him at Pattee Library that day: CLH, August 23, 2010.
8 - “She wasn’t a big deal, Rick said”: CLH, September 15, 2010; “saying that she was really not important”: Ibid.
9 - “already teasing him”: CLH e-mail, May 14, 2013, 8:57 a.m.
10 - “soliloquies on the unimportance of individual life”: CLH, September 15, 2010.
11 - “merely to hasten the inevitable end of Betsy’s life”: CLH, August 23, 2010.
Chapter 28: Miscarriage of Justice
1 - “set out . . . to gather incriminating evidence”: CLH e-mail to the author, September 21, 2010, 9:25 p.m.
2 - “record any incriminating statements”: Bise interview, December 6, 2010; “I think there was something in there”: Ibid.
3 - “He never tried anything with me”: Op. cit., Bise interview, December 6, 2010.
4 - “Haefner pursued other measures against the two boys”: Op. cit., FBI interview transcript, January 5, 1981.
5 - “There was a scuffle and George was arrested”: “Conviction Is Upheld by Judge,” IJ, February 5, 1976.
6 - “loaned his brother $10,000”: Transcript of FBI interview with George Haefner, November 18, 1996, obtained by author from FBI under FOIA. The interview was conducted during the FBI investigation of a major gem theft from a show Rick was running.
7 - “later conceded that this posed a problem”: Op. cit, Judge Appel memorandum opinion, February 27, 1976; Burkey died in 2011: Kevin S. Burkey obituary, Lancaster Online, March 7, 2011 (http://lancasteronline.com/obituaries/local/539867_Kevin-S—Burkey.html), accessed July 1, 2013.
8 - “wrote out her last will and testament”: “Last Will and Testament of Ere J. Haefner,” January 25, 1976, Lancaster County Archives, Lancaster, PA.
9 - “answered “yes” to both questions”: M. Richard Peters interview, October 19, 2010; all of them white: Ibid.
10 - “embarrassed at having to repeat the details”: M. Richard Peters interview, October 19, 2010; “He would not do that”: Ibid.
11 - “claiming to be having chest pains”: Ibid.
12 - “consulting a stack of note cards”: Op. cit., Judge Appel Memorandum Opinion; a bad street kid: M. Richard Peters interview, October 19, 2010; how Kevin had made fun of his name: Op. cit., M. Richard Peters interview; “this is a great man”: Ibid.
13 - “a peaceful, honest, and law-abiding citizen”: “Geologist, 32, Denies Morals Charge by Boy,” IJ, February 3, 1976; Rick had been a day camp counselor: Ibid.
14 - “mentioned that he had secretly recorded these conversations”: Op. cit., “Geologist, 32, Denies Morals Charge by Boy; “erase the testimony of Steve Groff”: Ibid.
15 - “My religion does not condone”: Mike Leary, “An Odd Case—Sprague on Defense,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 23, 1976.
16 - “approached by a queer”: Op. cit., “Geologist, 32, Denies Morals Charge”; “He never smiled”: Ibid.
17 - “was not likable”: M. Richard Peters interview, October 19, 1975; At one point, Haefner said, “I digress”: Ibid.
18 - “had discussed many times”: Op. cit., Judge Appel Memorandum Opinion; Judge Appel had warned them not to mention it in any way: Ibid; Kenneff was open to the idea: Ibid.
19 - “I remember everything stopped”: M. Richard Peters interview, October 19, 2010; “a proven malicious boy”: “Trial of Haefner Ends in Hung Jury,” IJ, February 4, 1976.
20 - “You believe one side, or you believe the other”: Leary, “An Odd Case”; “what made me realize he was guilty”: M. Richard Peters interview; “this guy was not budging”: Ibid.
21 - “hopelessly deadlocked”: Op. cit., “Trial of Haefner Ends in Hung Jury.”
22 - “Rick told the intake officer”: James R. Haines, “Lancaster County Prison Personal History Report on Richard Charles Haefner,” February 5, 1976. Obtained from Lancaster County Prison under the Pennsylvania Open Records Act; Rick again refused: FBI interview transcript, January 5, 1981; he was ordered to strip naked: Ibid; surrender his clothing: “Lancaster County Prison Property Receipt for Prisoner Richard Haefner,” February 5, 1976.
23 - “placed in medical quarantine”: “Medical and Quarantine Report on Richard Charles Haefner,” Lancaster County Prison, February 8, 1976; scabies and a body lice outbreak: Lancaster County Prison Board Minutes, February 9, 1976; trying to forestall a flu epidemic: Lancaster County Prison Board Minutes, March 8, 1976; marched to “the hole”: FBI interview transcript, January 5, 1981.
24 - “I was in total darkness”: Haefner quote in David Runkel, “Pitch Dark Cell Brought Despair,” March 18, 1980, Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia; “They had a Chinese dinner planned and all”: Ibid; he now provided the names: Op. cit., Runkel.
25 - “one of his former Boy Scouts”: Michael D. Witmer interview, August 28, 2011.
26 - “received seven of them”: Visitors List, Richard C. Haefner, Lancaster County Prison, undated; have to provide a retainer of $2,500: FBI interview transcript, January 5, 1981; Justice Robert N. C. Nix Jr.: Opinion of Chief Justice Benjamin R. Jones in case of Commonwealth v. Richard Charles Haefner, January 28, 1977.
Chapter 29: The Philadelphia Lawyer
1 - “a courtroom master”: Arlen Specter with Charles Robbins, Passion for Truth: From Finding JFK’s Single Bullet to Questioning Anita Hill to Impeaching Clinton (New York: William Morrow, 2000), 159.
2 - “to have its interests vigorously defended”: “Switch-Hitter,” Time, May 17, 1976, 53–54; “accused of sodomizing two boys”: Ibid.
3 - “fighting for his life”: Judge’s opinion in Haefner v. Sprague, 1988; he was dubious: David Runkel, “Sex Case Shook His Faith in the Law,” Evening Bulletin, March 18, 1979, Philadelphia, PA; “This man was fighting the establishment”: Ibid.
4 - “approached him about becoming their next curator”: Rick Haefner’s lawsuit against Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Museum Suit), March 18, 1983, 5; a giant in his field: “Theodore Downs; Page Museum Founder,” obituary in Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1997; phoned Haefner to off
er him the job: Op. cit., Museum Suit. The museum confirmed the job offer to Haefner in its official answer to the lawsuit on April 28, 1983.
5 - “gave Rick several projects to complete”: Op. cit., Museum Suit.
6 - “hosted an annual dinner at the show”: Gary R. Hansen, “Marion Butler Stuart (1921–2000),” Rocks and Minerals, Vol. 76 (November/December 2001), 421; her philanthropy was also paying for the new gem and mineral hall: Ibid; neither showed up at the dinner nor called: Op. cit, Museum Suit, 7.
7 - “Stuart learned of his arrest”: Op. cit., Museum Suit, 7–8.
8 - “a lifelong dream”: Joe Head interview, May 18, 2012; Price would conceive of new exhibits: Roger Cuffey interview, July 23, 2012.
9 - “Officially, he had no idea”: Op. cit., Museum Suit, 7.
10 - “marveled at a beautiful fireplace”: CLH, September 15, 2010; Crump and Randy K. talking: Ibid; suppression of evidence hearing: Opinion by Judge Francis A. Berry, Terry Hess v. County of Lancaster, et al., September 5, 1986, Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 514 A.2d 681; could not have seen the mirror reflections: “Haefner Defense Tries to Quash Perjury Charge,” IJ, June 5, 1976; to represent Hess: Op. cit., Sprague Complaint, March 5, 1987.
11 - “Sprague filed motions”: “Sprague Joins Haefner Defense,” IJ, May 19, 1976.
12 - “Sprague set out to show”: “Petition to Quash Informations and for Rule to Show Cause,” May 7, 1976, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Richard C. Haefner, CPCLC; Richard Peters scoffed at the idea: M. Richard Parker interview, October 19, 2010.
13 - “packed with local lawyers”: “New Trial for Haefner Postponed,” IJ, May 20, 1976; Prosecutor Kenneff argued: Ibid.
14 - “manifest necessity”: Richard A. Sprague, et al., “Petitioners Brief in Support of Petition to Quash Informations on Double Jeopardy Grounds,” June 2, 1976, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Richard Charles Haefner, CPCLC.
15 - “over the objections of the prosecution”: John A. Kenneff, “Commonwealth’s Brief in Opposition to Defendant’s Claim of Double Jeopardy,” June 1976, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Richard Charles Haefner, CPCLC.
16 - “had been prudent and not premature”: “Order of Judge Wilson Bucher,” June 25, 1976, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Richard Charles Haefner, CPCLC; ruled that retrying Haefner would be double jeopardy: Opinion of Pennsylvania Superior Court, March 9, 1979, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Richard C. Haefner, 399 A2d 707.
17 - “they called the whole contempt affair “preposterous”: “Opinion of Chief Justice Benjamin R. Jones, Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” January 28, 1977, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Richard Charles Haefner.
18 - “they all find out about things”: Cuffey interview, July 23, 2012.
19 - “an individual of unblemished reputation”: “Petition to Expunge Criminal Record of Richard Charles Haefner,” August 9, 1979, In re: Expungement Petition of Richard Charles Haefner, CPCLC.
20 - “did not attend the hearing”: Opinion of Judge Paul A. Mueller Jr., March 28, 1980, In re: Expungement Petition of Richard Charles Haefner, CPCLC; until Haefner disproved the prosecution’s prima facie case: Ibid.
21 - “complaining that nothing had been done”: Letter, Richard C. Haefner to the Hon. Paul A. Mueller Jr., October 8, 1980. Obtained from the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office under the Pennsylvania Open Records Act.
22 - “thick file of documents”: Report by Notary Public Sharry Langley, March 22, 1982, and “Declaration of Robert J. Freiler,” March 24, 1982. Both obtained from the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office under the Pennsylvania Open Records Act; Haefner submitted a new petition: “Petition for Appropriate Expungement Order,” June 7, 1989. Obtained from the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office under the Pennsylvania Open Records Act.
Chapter 30: Penn State Drops the Ball
1 - “was not doing enough to help him get a museum job”: Charles Hosler interview, September 9, 2010; “was commonly in the company of younger boys”: Lauren Wright, interview by the author, August 30, 2010; to confront Lauren Wright: Op. cit, Hosler interview, September 9, 2010.
2 - “an open-door policy”: E. Willard Miller, The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1992), 62; “was really fearful of him”: Charles Hosler interview, November 8, 2011; “He would never speak ill of anybody”: Charles Hosler interview, September 9, 2010.
3 - “how Haefner had appeared unexpectedly”: Charles Hosler interview, November 8, 2011; Wright described “in detail” the weapon Rick typically carried: Ibid; sharpened screwdriver: Charles Hosler interview, September 9, 2010; “a whole lot of things came together”: Ibid; Wright would claim: Lauren A. Wright interview, August 30, 2010; “Had he done that”: Charles Hosler interview, November 8, 2011.
4 - “McQuaide . . . filled that role”: Vicki Cheng, “Penn State Counsel McQuaide Dies at 60,” Centre Daily Times, February 21, 1997.
5 - “an integral part of the institution”: Op. cit., McQuaide Obituary, February 21, 1997; “a great legal mind”: Ibid; no important meetings: Charles Hosler interview, November 8, 2011; “concerned with doing the right thing”: McQuaide Obituary, February 21, 1997.
6 - “I didn’t feel he took me terribly seriously”: Charles Hosler interview, November 8, 2011; “And that was the end of it”: Ibid.
7 - “speaking to him about Rick Haefner”: GHK interview, November 21, 2011; “We are no closer”: “Pennsylvanians Here & There,” Associated Press in the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter, November 3, 1976.
8 - “speculated that McQuaide”: Roger Cuffey interview, July 23, 2012.
9 - “would provide the foundation for a detective story”: Letter, Frank W. Merritt to Charles Ness, November 9, 1976, ULAD.
10 - “regarding the Aardsma incident”: Letter, Charles H. Ness to Frank W. Merritt, November 16, 1976, ULAD.
11 - “We killed the cunt in the library”: GHK interview, October 10, 2010; Keibler found it interesting: Ibid.
12 - “too large for any kind of practical investigation”: Ibid.
13 - “conducted a remarkable survey”: Nancy Bertram, “Variant Tellings About the Murder in Pattee’s Stacks,” Paper for C. Lit 108, 1979. Penn State University Folklore Archives, Accession # 1979-22 (1).
Part V: Monster
Chapter 31: Revenge
1 - “You didn’t want to cross him”: CLH, August 23, 2010; “persistent and unrelenting”: Ernest Schreiber, interview by the author, June 3, 2013. Schreiber was the longtime editor of the Lancaster New Era.
2 - “boasted of his courtroom prowess”: CLH, e-mail to the author, June 3, 2013.
3 - “went on for eighteen years”: Neil Albert, e-mail to the author, March 29, 2011, 2:09 p.m.; “I am sure the costs were over six figures”: Neil Albert, e-mail to the author, March 30, 2011, 2:24 p.m.
4 - “would be considered for other positions”: Museum Suit, 7; summary letter of rejection: Ibid.
5 - “showed up at the home”: CLH, September 15, 2010. There is some dispute over whether this happened in Los Angeles or at a ski chalet in Colorado, but the lawsuit complaint indicates it was in California; would never be hired because of his arrest: Op. cit., Museum Suit, 9.
6 - “his old F&M classmate, Harold Banks Jr.”: Op. cit., Museum Suit, 12; a character witness for Haefner: “Geologist, 32, Denies Morals Charge by Boy,” IJ, Lancaster, February 3, 1976; urged that he not be hired: Op. cit., Museum Suit, 10–11.
7 - “One of his stronger arguments”: “Memorandum of Decision and Order,” Dr. Richard Haefner v. County of Los Angeles, et al., July 14, 1984, US District Court for the Central District of California, 10.
8 - “might yield a strong civil lawsuit for damages”: Haefner v. Sprague, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia, PA, April Term, 1984 #2914.
9 - “no doubt he was a skilled litigator”: Summary of Complaint by Richard Haefner, FBI, December 8, 1980. Obtained from the FBI via FOIA #1148254-000.
10 - “zeroed in on the statute of limitations”: Opinion, US District Judge E. Mac Troutman, Richard Haefner v. The County of Lancaster, Pa., et al., August 11, 1981, USDCEDP, 81-0922.
11 - “Judge Troutman did not agree”: Haefner v. Lancaster County, March 5, 1982, 20.
Chapter 32: Paranoid and Agitated
1 - “Rick went to the offices of”: Memo on Richard Haefner Civil Rights Complaint, December 10, 1980, FBI, obtained under FOIA.
2 - “My career has been in limbo”: David Runkel, “Pitch Dark Cell Brought Despair,” March 18, 1979, Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, PA; leaving them “destitute”: Op. cit., Runkel; “we assume the integrity”: Ibid; “He unlocked the truth”: Ibid.
3 - “the harassment continued”: Haefner recounts the alleged harassment incidents of June 11 and October 4, 1979, and of March 5, 1980, in his complaint in Haefner v. Lancaster County, et al, USDCEDP, Civil Action 82-1018.
4 - “obtain video evidence”: CLH, September 15, 2010.
5 - “US Senator Barry Goldwater”: Memo to Director, FBI, from Special Agent in Charge, Washington Field Office, re: Richard Haefner-Victim, Civil Rights, December 10, 1980; the entire police department in Lancaster: Notes from interview of Richard Haefner, FBI, Washington Field Office, December 8, 1980. Both documents were obtained by the author from the FBI via FOIA #1158254-000.
6 - “did not finish taking the complaint”: Letter, Richard Haefner to FBI, Harrisburg, PA, February 6 1981; far from being finished: Letter, Dr. Richard Haefner to Supervisory Senior Resident Agent, FBI, Harrisburg, PA, March 3, 1981. Both documents were in FBI FOIA 1158254-000.
7 - “both counterproductive and unnecessary”: Memo to Director, FBI, from Special Agent in Charge, Philadelphia, March 10, 1981; “no further investigation”: Memo, Director, FBI, to Special Agent in Charge, Philadelphia, March 27, 1981. Both documents were in FBI FOIA 1158254-000.
