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 Street?
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 seen 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 duck and dodge. 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 but, 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 have 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 her. Is there more?
A. Yes, I have seen Mom hit Sylvia Likens, with her fist on the face, and she has thrown a 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 their English class? Jenny stories? I like this one:
Q. You had reference to an incident 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 was 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? 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 tattletale!
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.
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 this 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! Perhaps if they worked on their grammar…it’s a good thing that I refrained from a long, annoying digression…the trial testimony would be a little less Indianapolis. 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 Stephanie is 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. That’s not all…
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 would 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 didn’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?
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 supplement the meagre 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 into 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 tattletale! And she’s not a very good one. If you’re a tattletale, 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 tattletale 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 ringleader, 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.
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 your 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.
Phenobarbital will leave you with a hangover. 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 stoolpigeon. And! Marie is a tattletale 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 not 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 crime 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 has Gertie not 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.
However, the final use of bottles is both disturbing, and highly telling. Stephanie testified…
Q. Now, during the month of October, did you ever see Sylvia put a Pepsi-Cola bottle in herself?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. When did that occur?
A. I can't specifically say.
Q. Where did it take place?
A. In the front room.
Q. Who was present when she did it?
A. Mom and Paula and Johnny, I think.
Q. Johnny, your brother?
A. Yes.
Q. Anyone else?
A. I think Jenny was.
Q. Stephanie, I can't hear you with your finger in your mouth. If you will speak to me. What did you see?
A. Well, I walked in and she was - had it in her.
Q. She was inserting this in between her legs?
A. Yes, sir.
It is important to note that the insertion of the bottle into the vagina was something, or so Stephanie said, that Sylvia was doing of her own accord.
Q. Who was looking on?
A. The people I just mentioned.
Q. What was said, if anything?
A. Nothing.
Q. What did you do or say?
A. I walked up to her and told her to go upstairs.
Q. Did she?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did you do or say then?
A. I don't remember saying anything.
Q. Did your mother say anything to you when she was sitting there watching that?
A. I don't think so.
Q. Did Paula say anything?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did John say anything?
A. He had a funny look on his face.
It is clear that Stephanie sees this event as…masturbation, and so she told Sylvia to go upstairs and do it. And it is worth remembering that Stephanie was not allowed to sleep upstairs with the other kids…she has to sleep with her mother. There’s no way this would have happened in front of such a large audience. But Jenny indicated that it was Gertie who made Sylvia do it.
And Gertrude was asked about this…
Q. Did you hear your daughter testify yesterday that sometime the middle of October she come in the house and Sylvia was putting a Pepsi-Cola bottle between her legs?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is that true?
A. I don't remember anything like that, no, sir.
True, it’s easy to say that Gertie is lying. However, I don’t think she is. What Stephanie described wasn’t abuse. But the way Jenny told the story, it definitely was…
Q. Have you seen Mrs. Baniszewski do something other than what you have already testified about?
A. Yes.
Q. When did this happen?
A. About the Pepsi bottle?
Q. Yes.
A. The last week before she died.
Q. Where was this?
A. In the living room.
Q. Who was present?
A. Me, Johnny, Gertie and Paula.
Q. Where was this?
A. In the living room.
Q. Who was present?
A. Me, Johnny, Gertie and Paula.
Q. What happened?
A. She told Sylvia to spread out her legs and put the bottle up her.
Q. Did Sylvia have any clothes on then?
A. I think she had a pair of shorts on.
Q. Anything else?
A. And a blue blouse, if I remember right.
Q. What kind of a bottle was this?
A. A pepsi bottle.
Q. What did you see then?
A. Well, she said, "Prove to Jenny what kind of girl you are" and she kept telling her to push it up there.
Q. Describe what you saw and heard, if anything else?
A. It is hard to describe really.
But in an amazing twist, Jenny said that this same event happened twice…
Q. Did you see this happen any other time?
A. Yes.
Q. When?
A. In the kitchen.
Q. Who was present then?
A. Rickie Hobbs, Me, Sylvia, Gertrude and Paula and I think John.
Q. When did this happen?
A. Maybe three or four days before her death.
Q. What did you see then?
A. She told her the same thing.
Q. Who is she?
A. Gertrude.
Q. How was Sylvia dressed then?
A. I don't think she had anything on then.
Q. What did Sylvia say?
A. She just said, "I can't".
Q. Did she say anything else?
A. Gertrude said, "You can do better than that".
Q. What was Sylvia doing?
A. What Gertrude told her to.
If one event of this kind doesn’t make sense, two events make even less sense. Gertrude was asked again…
Q. Did you ever make her insert a pepsi cola or coke bottle between her legs?
A. No, sir.
Q. You heard Jenny say you did that twice?
A. I heard her.
Q. That is not true?
A. No, sir.
I would suggest that this is recycling…repeating a story told before with a minor change in some details.
I think that is worth asking the question…what do these two stories accomplish? What purpose do they serve? Dr. Ellis described the result of his examination of Sylvia’s vagina…
A. Present over the abdomen, again in essentially block letters, was - were the words "I am a prostitute and proud of it" with an exclamation point. Extending into - continuing into the external genitalia there was marked edema of the external genitalia, with a large hematoma of the left labia, which is essentially the skin fold surrounding the introitus region.
Q. What is a hematoma?
A. A hematoma is a collection of blood underneath - in this case underneath the superficial skin.
Q. Was there swelling?
A. Yes, bilateral swelling.
Q. What would that indicate to you, Doctor?
A. This would indicate that the deceased had been struck in this region.
Q. A severe blow or medium blow?
A. This would take a pretty good blow. It would not have to be a real severe blow but it would take more than a gentle tap.
Q. Could it have been done by kicking?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was there any evidence, Doctor, of any sexual penetration or damage to the girl?
A. The vagina was examined quite closely and there was no evidence of laceration. Specimens were taken for sperm study and these were negative. It would not indicate any entrance occurred.
Q. Therefore, you found no damage to her internally?
A. That is correct.
This is important since it clearly contradicts what Jenny and Stephanie said. Shoving a bottle in the vagina would have caused all manner of trauma, and Ellis says he saw no sign of this. It appears that what he saw was akin to having been kicked. At the same time, I’m not sure exactly what the question about…sexual penetration…is getting at it. Ellis answers the question in relation to trauma, i.e. no lacerations. When he says…
The vagina was examined quite closely and there was no evidence of laceration. Specimens were taken for sperm study and these were negative. It would not indicate any entrance occurred.
I don’t think that this question is meant to indicate that Sylvia had never had sexual intercourse. A sperm test would have only indicated that she did not have sex recently. The question seems to center around the hematoma found around the vagina…
A. Extending into - continuing into the external genitalia there was marked edema of the external genitalia, with a large hematoma of the left labia, which is essentially the skin fold surrounding the introitus region.
Q. What is a hematoma?
A. A hematoma is a collection of blood underneath - in this case underneath the superficial skin.
Q. Was there swelling?
A. Yes, bilateral swelling.
Q. What would that indicate to you, Doctor?
A. This would indicate that the deceased had been struck in this region.
Q. A severe blow or medium blow?
A. This would take a pretty good blow. It would not have to be a real severe blow but it would take more than a gentle tap.
Q. Could it have been done by kicking
A. Yes, sir.
Kebel said something similar…
A. The external vagina was swollen and ecchymotic as though it had been kicked - it was extremely puffy, the labia.
Q. What is the labia?
A. The outer lips of the vagina.
Q. Did you see any blood?
A. No.
Q. What do you mean by ecchymotic?
A. Hemorrhaging into tissue.
Q. Internally?
A. Under the skin, sir.
Q. It was swollen?
A. Yes.
Again…
A. Well, these injuries are over the torso and the upper extremities and the face. Also on this picture, it is very evident the pubis mons are quite swollen and the upper part of the super pubis mons area and the vagina were very badly swollen.
Q. Indicative of what?
A. A blow or kick, something like that to the area.
And…
Q. Doctor, you stated you examined the labia and pubic area?
A. That is right.
Q. Did you find any evidence of sexual manipulation?
A. No, sir, I did not, or molestation.
It would not have been possible for Ellis or Kebel to realistically state that Sylvia had never had sexual intercourse, unless the hymen was still intact. I think that the bottle-stories are aimed at addressing this problem. If someone were to say that Sylvia never had sexual intercourse, her hymen should be intact. But you could claim that a girl who was sexually active, although her hymen was broken, by asserting that the girl who never was sexually active didn’t have a hymen because she had a bottle stuck up her vagina, thereby breaking it. Jenny’s first version has Gertie telling Sylvia to insert the bottle to…
Prove to Jenny what kind of girl you are!
If the story is fictional, then this statement would seem to presuppose Jenny’s awareness that Sylvia had been sexually active at the time they lived in Gertrude’s house, which she then works into her story. However, it was the case that Gertrude did have a certain amount of contempt for Sylvia, and that this was based on the issue of Sylvia’s sexual activity. Mrs. Barbara Sanders, the public health nurse who claims to have visited Gertie’s house after receiving an anonymous complaint about children in the house who had…running sores.
Q. Did you testify that Gertrude Baniszewski said Sylvia was a prostitute?
A. She called her this.
Q. Gertrude called Sylvia a prostitute?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. That is kind of an unusual pronouncement for someone to say a high school girl was a prostitute?
A. She indicated in the same sentence she ran around with boys that were not fit.
Assuming that Barbara Sanders was telling the truth, Sylvia’s sexual activity was the cause of the rift between her and Gertrude.
A key claim made by Sanders was also echoed by the cleric Roy Julian. In this regard, his testimony is suspiciously like that of Barbara Sanders. The cleric also visited Getrude’s house, and said…
Q. What was said?
MR. BOWMAN: Both defendants object.
THE COURT: Sustained as to defendants Coy Hubbard and John Baniszewski.
Q. You may answer.
A. I spoke to her and first of all about her own spiritual condition and then she discussed some problems that she was having, financial and physical problems and then she discussed also the problem she was having with Sylvia
Q. What did she say and what did you say?
A. She mentioned one of the problems with Sylvia was skipping school and was causing her a lot of problems and this was in general and also that she had been making some advancement on older men for money and I talked with her about it and –
Q. With who?
A. Mrs. Baniszewski.
However, Sanders claims that Gertrude told her that she had kicked Sylvia out of the house.
Q. Now, did you hear Mrs. Sanders testify to this jury that you had stated that Sylvia had been kicked out of home a couple of weeks before?
MR. ERBECKER: Same objection.
THE COURT: Overruled.
Q. Did you hear her testify to that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you say that to the nurse?
A. No, I did not.
According to the cleric, Sylvia was kept upstairs locked in a bedroom…
A. She told me I could see her. She mentioned that she had punished the girl for skipping school. She said, "I laid it on her". I took it the same as any mother taking care of children, her own or anyone else's, skipping school. She also said, she had to lock her in her room upstairs, had to watch her like a hawk, had to lock her in because she would slip out and it was brought to her attention - I don't know whether she had actually seen it or not - she was propositioning older men for money.
I think that Gertrude, not Barbara Sanders, is the one who is telling the truth. Sylvia was sixteen, and it would have been remarkably stupid to tell a nurse, who also covered the high school, that she had kicked a sick minor out of the house. That makes no sense whatsoever, seeing how this could have led to a serious, legal problem for Gertrude. If she had kicked Sylvia out, she would have no doubt lied about…such as stating that the girl ran out one day, and had not yet returned. She won’t be held responsible if Sylvia was a runaway. With the minister, Sylvia was still in the house, though she wasn’t allowed to come downstairs for a midnight snack. It’s funny how commentators suggest that Gertrude was lying about everything she said except for the things other people said she said, when they work against her.
According to Stephanie, masturbation was what was happening in her version of the bottle story. According to Jenny, this was simply sexual trauma directed at her sister. But, whether you use Jenny’s stories, or Stephanie’s story, Sylvia would have a broken hymen, without sex being the cause of it. But why?
Q. Was there any conversation at that time by anybody there, including Sylvia's father and mother and you and Sylvia, with reference to her condition?
A. I just merely mentioned to Mr. and Mrs. Likens neither of the girls had a period all the time they had been at my house, not to my knowledge they had not.
There are, of course, different reasons for skipping a period. But the one I think is most relevant is that it serves as an early indication of pregnancy. And why did Gertrude decide to monitor Jenny and Sylvia’s periods? Was this prompted by something Jenny told her?
Q. Miss Likens, did you ever have a conversation with Gertrude Baniszewski with reference to your trip in California?
A. I told her some things we done down there.
Q. Did you ever tell Mrs. Baniszewski sometime in the month of July or August 1965 there at the premises of 3850 East New York Street that while you lived in California with your parents that your mother and father went to Las Vegas and left all you children alone in California for a while? Did you tell her that?
A. We were home by ourselves for about two days.
Q. At that time, during that time that you had conversation with Mrs. Baniszewski, did you tell her that Sylvia and you and Benny and Danny had a teenage party there in California, did you tell her that?
A. Yes, I think I did.
Q. And that - did you tell her that - at the time of the conversation with Mrs. Baniszewski did you tell her that it was a sex party, did you tell her that?
A. Well, I -
Q. Yes or no?
A. I did not tell her. Sylvia might have. I don't know.
Q. In your presence did anybody tell her?
A. We had a party. I don't know about sex.
But you were there! So there was a sex party which Jenny or Sylvia told Getrude about. According to Jenny, it was Sylvia who discussed the sex party.
Q. Did you ever have a conversation or was there a conversation in your presence with Mrs. Baniszewski with reference to what transpired one time at a party between the people you just mentioned?
A. Sylvia's boyfriend was over there. She might have told her something about that.
Q. Over where?
A. At our house in California.
Q. I see. Did you tell Gertrude Baniszewski that you told your mother and father about it when they got back? Did you tell Gertrude?
A. I told my parents. I don't remember telling her.
Q. You don't remember telling Gertrude Baniszewski?
A. I might have.
So Jenny is connecting the sex party with Sylvia and her boyfriend in California. Stephanie claimed that there was a discussion about sex, one that Sylvia, Gertrude, Paula, and Her’s Truly participated in. The question of California came up in her testimony as well…
Q. What else happened? Relate the conversation as you recall it.
A. Well, she started talking about when they lived in California and went to some kind of park on a date and that she liked a lot of boys and went skating and everything and said - then Mom asked her if she ever went - ever did anything with them and she said "yes" and then Jenny came in and she said - we all started talking - and Jenny started talking about this boy and Sylvia said something about -
Q. What did your mother say, if anything?
A. She asked her why she did it.
Q. How did she ask why she did it - in a loud voice or just conversational?
A. Just in a conversational tone.
Q. What did Sylvia say?
A. She said she did not know why.
Q. Who started the conversation?
A. I think Sylvia started talking about her boyfriends or something.
Q. Do you remember what Sylvia said?
A. Just that she wished she could see them.
Q. Could see her boyfriends?
A. Yes.
Q. Who did she say that to?
A. Nobody in particular.
Q. What did your mother say?
A. She just started asking questions.
Q. Stephanie, I can barely hear you and if you will tell me what she said as best you can -
Q. What did she say?
A. Just started asking her questions.
Q. Do you recall what your mother asked her?
A. Yes, if she ever done anything with a boy.
Q. What did Sylvia say?
A. Well, she kind of went around and said she did.
Now I’m of the opinion that the use of the plural…boys, instead of the singular, is an attempt to build a bridge to the Gang of Boys note.
There were a couple of odd things about the issue of sex…
Q. Did you ever have a conversation with Gertrude Baniszewski in the presence of Sylvia about your living at 109 Euclid Street, Indianapolis, Indiana?
A. We could have. I can't remember exactly what it was.
Q. Did you or didn't you?
A. I could have told her something.
Q. Do you remember what you told her?
A. No, I can't remember.
Q. Do you remember telling her this or this in substance, that men were staying there at that house and that they all stayed in one room, do you remember saying that in substance?
MR. NEW: We object.
THE COURT: Objection sustained. It is not in the scope of direct examination.
There may be a lot going on in this story, but the address…109 Euclid Street also appeared in Lester Likens’ testimony…
Q. Where did your wife go when you separated?
A. She was at 109 North Euclid Street and I was in Lebanon, Indiana.
Q. Where were the children?
A. The two girls was with her.
Q. Which two?
A. Jenny Fay and Sylvia Marie.
Q. On Euclid Street?
A. Yes, sir.
And this may also be linked to…
Q. Did anything occur that caused your wife to get in any trouble?
A. Yes, we had been married a long time and when she is away from me I don't believe… -
MR. BOWMAN: I see no reason for Mr. Likens to go into this. We object.
THE COURT: Objection sustained.
As is often the case when important things are about to be said, there is an objection, and THE COURT sustains it. In 1970, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict against Gertrude, and ordered a new trial. This was based on four conclusions:
This clearly represents a failure on Judge Rabb’s part throughout the trial, something even a cursory reading of the trial testimony demonstrates.
109 N. Euclid…
…was a house with 8 living units, i.e. apartments. In 1965, the residents were Ferrell G. Asher; Mrs. Lorene Carter; Stanford Cox; Thomas Layo; William G. McEndre; Robert Asher; and Russie Franklin. No one was present in apartment 6 when the city directory was put together. In the 1965 directory, 3850 E. New York Street was vacant. And oddly enough, Betty Likens appears as renting 2716 E. New York, and that address is listed as the house of Lester Likens. In 1964, the residents of 109 N. Euclid were Ferrell Asher; Charles Carter; Kenneth Gross; Russie Franklin; and, interestingly, a Harold Hopkins was renting rooms 5 and 6. There is no listing for Mrs. Likens renting an apartment at this address. It is interesting, and perhaps no more than that, that it is a 9-minute walk from North Euclid to 3850 E. New York Street.
So Gertrude had been told, and my guess is that Jenny was the one feeding Gertrude information, about two instances involving a direct, and a non-direct, event that caused her to decide to watch to see if either girl was having her period.
The question of promiscuity also came up during the trial, and Sylvia was not the only girl who had accusations lev. Gertrude…
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.
This testimony highlights the fact that it was actually three girls who were behaving promiscuously, Sylvia, Paula, and Stephanie. But it is difficult to picture exactly what had been happening. Certainly, this wasn’t prostitution, though on the surface it sounds like it. Picking up boys at school makes far more sense. However, Anna Siscoe said that Sylvia had called her mother a prostitute…
Q. Further, did you say this on October 28, 1965, "She said my mother went out with all sorts of men and got $5.00 for going to bed with the men"?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Sylvia said that?
A. That is what she was supposed to have said, sir.
I find this plausible. Sylvia had a conflict with Mrs. Siscoe, and called her a whore. The insult was made all the worse by saying that she only $5.00 per shot. That does sound a little cheap.
But it should be noted that there was a lot of slut-shaming going on. Marie…
Q. Now, was there any talk with your mother about Sylvia saying something about Paula and Stephanie being prostitutes?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. That was in the kitchen and your Mom was talking to you about it?
A. Well, that was one - I think - one reason why Paula was so mad at her.
Q. That was one of the reasons?
A. One of the reasons Paula was so mad at her was that Sylvia - when she went to Tech with Sylvia - Sylvia would go over and tell lies on Paula and Stephanie.
Q. That day in the kitchen before Ricky got there, there was talk by your mother and Paula and the other kids about Sylvia saying Stephanie and Paula were whores, prostitutes and selling their bodies?
A. Yes, sir, but I did not talk a thing about it.
Coy Hubbard was Stephanie’s boyfriend. He stated in his testimony that…
About 4 or 5 days later I went back to Stephanie’s house and I flipped Sylvia on the floor; I think I did because of something she said about Stephanie.
On is tempted to link Coy’s statement about Sylvia spreading rumors about Paula and Stephanie being prostitutes.
Jenny did say something that remains vague and mysterious, and is one of the oddest elements in the story…
Q. Did you have a conversation with Gertrude Baniszewski at that time and place wherein you said this, or this in substance - Betty Likens sometimes posed as our sister when we would go out different places - do you remember saying that?
The most important subject was that of pregnancy…
Q. Did you make a determination to see if this particular person was pregnant?
A. I examined the uterus closely and there was no evidence of pregnancy.
I do not believe Dr. Ellis. Gerturde…
Q. Was there any conversation at that time by anybody there, including Sylvia's father and mother and you and Sylvia, with reference to her condition?
A. I just merely mentioned to Mr. and Mrs. Likens neither of the girls had a period all the time they had been at my house, not to my knowledge they had not.
Q. Any further conversation?
A. Well, Mrs. Likens had something to say about it.
Q. Mrs. Likens?
A. Yes, she did.
Q. What did she say?
A. She asked me if I knew what could be wrong with them. I said, "No, it could be - if they had been out with boys they could be pregnant - or it could be from other causes".
Q. Was anything further said at that time?
A. Yes, her mother said something about them going to a doctor and if they were pregnant the best thing she thought to do was get rid of the baby.
I believe that Gertrude is telling the truth about this. Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, and the time of the Likens Debacle was 1965. And it’s Indiana. Sylvia’s mother had apparently thought that Gertrude could arrange an illegal abortion.
Q. Was Sylvia ever pregnant?
A. I would not have any idea.
Q. While she lived with you?
A. I did not examine her. I am not a doctor.
Q. Would you say she was?
A. I merely stated a fact she had not menstruated.
Q. When did you say that?
A. I believe I stated it to her mother and father.
Q. Over what period of time had she failed to menstruate?
A. She had not all the time she had been with us.
Q. From the first of July on?
A. That is right, sir.
Q. Then you believed her to be pregnant?
A. That is not always necessary, not always the cause for the cause of not menstruating.
Q. I am not talking about what is not always the cause.
A. I am not a doctor.
Q. Did you believe her to be pregnant?
A. I am not a doctor. I would not have any idea.
Q. Did you believe her to be pregnant?
A. Well, that is the usual, the first impression people get.
THE COURT: Miss Witness, answer yes or no or you don't know, please.
A. I don't know.
Q. You don't know whether you believed it?
A. I did not have an opinion either way.
Q. As a matter of fact, you made it all up today on the stand about her being pregnant, is that not the truth?
A. No, I did not make anything up.
Q. Did you hear her mother's and father's testimony?
A. I most certainly did.
Q. Did they mention it?
A. They did not mention a lot of things.
Q. They were not telling the whole truth?
A. They sure were not.
Q. But you are?
A. I have no reason to lie.
I believe Gertrude when she says that she had no real reason to lie. But Mrs. Likens did have a reason to lie, for obvious reasons. But I don’t believe Gertrude when she said that she had no real opinion on why Sylvia was missing her periods. Phyllis Vermilion told a lot of lies, but I think she was truthful when she said the following…
Q. Did Mrs. Baniszewski say anything else to Sylvia at this time?
A. Yes, she told her - if you are pregnant, I am going to kill you - and so then she went - this was in the conversation we were having at the table drinking coffee, and she said she had not had a period for three months and she thought she was pregnant.
Anyway I asked Sylvia how she got her black eye and she did not answer. She hung her head and would not talk to me. Mrs. Wright sent her into the kitchen and she told her she said - "just get out of my sight. I don't want nothing to do with you. I just hate you". We proceeded to talk about Sylvia and she said she thought Sylvia was three months pregnant.
Stephanie claimed that Sylvia admitted that she was pregnant…
A. Well, Sylvia seemed to be getting big in the stomach and started talking about having a baby and she said Sylvia looked like she was going to have a baby.
Q. When was that?
A. About - either the end of August or the beginning of September.
Q. Did you hear the conversation?
A. All they said was Mom said, "You are certainly getting a big stomach, Sylvia", and she said, "It looks like you are going to have a baby".
Q. Did Sylvia say anything?
A. She said, "Yes, I am sure getting fat, ain't I"?
I think Stephanie, who can be quite unreliable, is reliable on this point. The fact that Sylvia was pregnant was brought out during the trial when Judy Duke was testifying…
Anna Siscoe took her foot and kicked Sylvia Likens, in the stomach, and Sylvia, said "oh my baby", and was screaming.
Anna also testified…
Q. During the month of August, did you have any other conversation with Mrs. Baniszewski concerning Sylvia?
A. Yes, ma'am.
Q. When was this?
A. I don't remember, ma'am.
Q. Was it in August?
A. Yes, ma'am.
Q. Who was present then?
A. I believe the children were all there and everything. It was just Gertrude and I talking.
Q. What did she say and what did you say?
MR. BOWMAN: We object.
THE COURT: Objection sustained as to all defendants excepting Gertrude Baniszewski. You may answer the question.
A. Well, she was telling me Sylvia was pregnant at that time. I did not say anything. I was stunned to think Sylvia would be in this condition but she did not look like it at all. She was still slim just as usual.
I would say that the supposed statement of moral judgement made by Gertrude can hardly be believed, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility that she mentioned her belief that Sylvia was pregnant to Phyllis Vermillion. The three months fit with Gertrude’s claim that Sylvia and Jenny had not menstruated since July. And why would this be so vexing for Gertrude? Because Sylvia, with Jenny’s condition not touched on by others during the trial, was not the only girl who was pregnant. Nurse Sanders said this…
Q. Did you inquire about Paula being pregnant?
A. I did not realize she was, sir.
Q. Is that right?
A. Yes, sir.
Phyllis Vermillion said that Gertrude stated that…
A. Paula said she gave it to her. Mrs. Wright said it took all of them to pull her off her. A boyfriend of Paula's was there at that time. Mrs. Wright said something about Paula being pregnant.
It seems a little hard to believe that if Gertrude was telling the truth to Phyllis, that she would have allowed Paula’s boyfriend into her house. But it makes sense that if Paula was pregnant, or at least believed to be, then one or two other possible pregnancies would be intolerable. Everything indicates that Jenny was not, but Sylvia was, and this created her conflict with Gertrude. One might suggest that this would not have caused too much of a conflict since Gertrude was not going to pay the financial consequences, and she could simply have sent Sylvia back to her parents. At the same time, Gertrude may have feared a situation in which she tells the Likens parents that Sylvia was pregnant, only to have them declare that the girl became pregnant because of what had been going on in Gertrude’s house, making the situation much more difficult for Gertrude.
The baby in question was…
…a daughter. And Paula named her…
Of the four girls, only Sylvia and Paula can be verified as being pregnant. Jenny and Stephanie were dragged into it, although grave doubts remain as to whether Jenny and Stephanie were pregnant.
One is tempted to connect the dots and conclude that Sylvia was pregnant, and her mother was feeling out Getrude to find out if she could arrange an illegal abortion. When Sylvia became aware of this, she ran away from Getrude’s house…she planned to have the baby. However, she suddenly returned on October 26, the exact day that Sylvia’s father and mother would be visiting the house. But due to another aspect of the case that I will discuss in a subsequent essay, the timing couldn’t have been worse for Gertrude. A fight ensued, and Sylvia was knocked down the stairs into the basement where she hit her head on the concrete wall.
And there it is…visible on the wall.