Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On a cold December afternoon in 1964, the quiet
Cleveland suburb of GarfieldHeights was shattered by a
brutal and senseless act.
Beverly Jarosz, a bright,college-bound 16-year-old girl
with dreams of becoming a writer, was found strangled and
stabbed to death in her ownbedroom.
There were no signs of forcedentry, no stolen items and no
(00:21):
solid suspects.
Sixty years later, her murderremains unsolved.
I'm Thomas, and this is HumanWreckage the podcast that dives
deep into cold cases, unansweredquestions and the haunting
silences that follow.
Today we explore the chillingmystery of Beverly Jaros, a case
that gripped a community,baffled investigators and left a
(00:41):
trail of whispered theories andforgotten leads.
Beverly's death wasn't just acrime.
(01:20):
It was a puzzle soaked incontradictions A house that
should have been secure, a girlwith no known enemies and a
killer who left behind moreconfusion than clues.
What really happened that day?
Who could have committed such aviolent act and why?
In this episode, we'll retraceBeverly's final hours, examine
the evidence or lack thereof,because sometimes the scariest
(01:42):
mysteries aren't hidden in theshadows.
They're sitting quietly inplain sight.
It was a cold but dry day inGarfield Heights, ohio, on the
28th of December 1964.
A layer of frost clungstubbornly to the ground and a
brisk breeze rustled the barrenbranches of the trees lining
Thornton Drive.
Barbara Klonowski had madearrangements to visit her close
(02:03):
friend, 16-year-old BeverlyJaros.
Beverly lived with her familyin a modest house nestled in the
heart of the neighborhood.
Barbara arrived at Beverly'shome at 1.25 pm and knocked on
the front door.
There was no answer.
She tried again, this time abit louder, but still silence.
Frowning.
Barbara made her way around tothe side door.
(02:23):
It was slightly ajar, but theside door.
It was slightly ajar, but thestorm door was locked tight.
She stood there for a momentfeeling a strange unease
creeping over her Through thecrack in the door.
She could hear the radioblaring from inside the house.
Just as she turned to leave,she heard a series of loud
thumps coming from upstairs.
She later said it sounded asthough something heavy had been
(02:44):
knocked over or perhaps a drawerslammed shut.
She listened intently, but thehouse fell silent again, save
for the relentless blare of theradio.
After a few moments she decidedit was best to leave and return
home.
The plan for the afternoon hadbeen to meet up with their
mutual friend, margie, at herhouse.
When Barbara and Beverly didn'tshow up as expected, margie
(03:05):
called her to find out what hadhappened.
Barbara recounted the strangescene at Beverly's house the
unanswered door, the blaringradio, the strange noises from
upstairs.
Margie immediately calledBeverly's grandmother, who in
turn contacted her son, thaddeus, who was still at work.
He left work immediately,arriving home at around 4 pm.
He called out to his daughteras he entered the house, but
(03:28):
there was no response.
The silence was only broken bythe loud rock music echoing
through the house.
It wasn't the sort of musicanyone in the family would play,
especially not Beverly.
Thaddeus made his way toBeverly's bedroom.
The door was slightly ajar.
He pushed it open slowly.
Immediately he saw bloodsplattered across the walls and
(03:48):
floor.
The furniture was overturned,drawers pulled out and
belongings scattered.
Then he saw her Beverly's bodylay crumpled on the floor near
the bed, bound with a ropecruelly wrapped around her neck
and ankles.
Beverly lay face down on thefloor beside her bed and her boy
was peppered in stab wounds.
Beverly was also nude, exceptfor the upper half of a slip.
(04:09):
Her torn clothing was litteredacross her bedroom floor and the
rope had been cut into threeshort lengths.
One piece was draped across herbody, while the other two were
found underneath her.
Detectives arrived at thefamily's home as it was cordoned
off with crime scene tape.
In Beverly's bedroom they foundseveral bloody palm prints and
fingerprints that didn't belongto anybody in the family.
(04:30):
They additionally found a chunkof plaster that had fallen from
the sloping ceiling overBeverly's bed.
It was theorized that theplaster had been kicked loose as
Beverly struggled with herkiller.
An autopsy showed that Beverlyhad been stabbed around 40 times
.
Most were deep, but some wereslash and stab wounds to her
(04:52):
hands, face and chest.
Nine of the stab wounds were toher back.
They extended from her neckdown to her waist and most were
inflicted in a series of three.
She had been dressed when shewas stabbed and then her killer
had removed her clothing WhileBeverly hadn't been raped.
It was suspected that themurder was sexual in nature, but
the killer was disturbed byBarbara at the front door.
The autopsy also found evidenceof strangulation, and the
(05:14):
pathologist commented that thestab wounds and strangulation
indicated that the killer was arobust, rather large person and
suggested that it must have beena man that killed her.
The murder weapon had not beenfound at the crime scene, but
the pathologist theorized thatthe weapon was around four to
five inches long.
Beverly had died from acombination of stabbing and
(05:34):
strangulation.
An investigation into Beverly'smurder got underway promptly.
Detectives learned that earlierin the day, beverly and her
sister Carol had been at thehome of their grandmother, maria
Vanek.
Shortly before Barbara arrivedat the family's home, beverly
was driven home by hergrandmother's 18-year-old
neighbor, while Carol stayedbehind.
He was ruled out as a suspect.
(05:56):
Detectives looked intopotential boyfriends that
Beverly may have had.
Shortly after Barbara arrivedhome alone to await Beverly, she
had received a phone call athome.
It was from a man whoidentified himself as Stephen
Stankovitz, and he was lookingfor Beverly's father, who was at
work.
Beverly had written the man'sname down on a piece of paper.
Back at the crime scene,sniffer dogs followed a scent to
(06:19):
McCracken Road, which was closeto the family's home, but from
here the scent abruptly dropped.
Detectives speculated thatBeverly's killer had fled from
the home and then left from thislocation in a vehicle.
Detectives began to focus on thetheory that Beverly had been
killed by a secret admirer.
In the months leading up to hermurder, she had been receiving
(06:39):
gifts at home.
The first was a ring andbracelet that was found at the
back door, and the second was apiece of costume jewelry that
arrived in the mailbox.
Furthermore, somebody had madea number of phone calls to the
family home, but each time thephone was answered, the caller
hung up.
According to her parents, theyhad called 10 to 12 times per
day.
On occasion, the last call hadcome about three weeks before
(07:02):
Beverly was killed.
Her parents had believed thatthe caller was the same person
who was leaving the giftsaddressed to Beverly.
Detectives were especiallyfocused on the rope used to bind
Beverly.
It was quickly determined thatthe rope hadn't come from the
Jaros' household.
Instead, the killer had broughtit with them.
Suggesting premeditation.
With this critical, lead,detective Captain William Horgan
(07:24):
assigned five detectives toscour the entire neighborhood
seeking the source of the rope.
The detectives went door todoor, questioning residents and
examining their properties.
A few neighbors had usedsimilar rope to tie back their
bushes to protect them from thewinter snow.
Despite this promising start,the trail quickly went cold.
With the investigation stalling,detectives shifted their focus
(07:46):
to Beverly's personal life,particularly her former
boyfriends.
One of these was 18-year-oldRoger McNamara, who had dated
Beverly for the past sevenmonths.
Roger was devastated by herdeath and voluntarily went to
the police station forquestioning.
He revealed that he had been atBeverly's home the night before
she was killed, but claimed tohave no information about her
(08:06):
murder.
To clear his name, roger agreedto take a polygraph examination
, a common practice at the time,though now considered
scientifically unreliable.
According to the detectives,roger passed the test with
flying colors and he wassubsequently ruled out as a
suspect.
Around the same time,detectives turned their
attention to a 29-year-old manincarcerated in Estabula County
(08:29):
Jail on charges of contributingto the delinquency of a
15-year-old girl.
He had a troubling history andhad been in the area, but when
questioned, he vehemently deniedany involvement in Beverly's
murder.
He also provided an airtightalibi, supported by multiple
witnesses, effectively rulinghim out as a suspect.
As well.
As the first week of theinvestigation, blurred by the
(08:51):
Jarrow's family grappled withtheir grief, while detectives
wrestled with a lack of concreteleads With no clear direction,
they began considering a new andunexpected possibility Beverly
might have been killed by awoman.
The theory was bolstered by thenature of the crime intensely
personal, with overkillsuggesting deep-seated anger or
jealousy.
Despite this shift in focus,detectives still considered the
(09:14):
possibility that Beverly hadbeen killed by someone she knew,
or at least someone who hadbeen watching her closely Carl
DeLau, head of the ClevelandHomicide Unit, voiced his
thoughts on the matter, statinghe went there for the express
purpose of committing a crime.
Therefore, I recommend moreintensive questioning of friends
, neighbors, friends of friends,more intensive investigation of
(09:35):
collectors of any kind.
I feel the answer lies here.
Theories swirled and aconference was held among the
detectives to brainstorm newangles to consider.
By the following day, captainWilliam Horrigan announced that
the conference had been fruitful, yielding several promising
theories.
Detectives returned to GarfieldHeights to comb the area for
additional clues, working underthe hypothesis that Beverly
(09:58):
could have been killed by awoman.
Dr Samuel Gerber, the countycoroner, weighed in, stating it
has been my theory all alongthat either sex could have done
it.
This new direction in theinvestigation led to unintended
consequences.
Rumors began to spread, withsome speculating that Barbara
Klonowski, Beverly's best friend, was somehow involved in the
(10:19):
murder.
The media coverage only fueledthe gossip and soon Barbara
found herself the target ofharassment.
Prank phone calls, accusatoryletters and cruel whispers
haunted her daily life.
Despite the lack of evidence,she was vilified by those who
wanted someone to blame.
In an effort to clear Barbara'sname, sergeant Lee Peters
addressed the media directly,stating unequivocally that she
(10:42):
was innocent and had long beenruled out as a suspect.
While detectives were busychasing down new leads,
17-year-old Lindley Bain wasfound dead in the basement of
his family's home.
His sister had made the grimdiscovery.
Lindley had ended his life witha shotgun, the weapon propped
against his chest with a pencilused to reach the trigger.
He, like Beverly, had been ajunior at Garfield Heights High
(11:04):
School.
The devastating news spreadquickly and soon.
Rumors began to swirl thatLindley might have been
Beverly's killer.
Some speculated that, overcomeby guilt and grief, he had taken
his own life.
Investigators considered thistheory seriously.
The timing of Lindley's deathand his connection to the high
school seemed too coincidentalto ignore.
(11:24):
When they searched his room,they found a photograph of a
girl inscribed with the name Bev.
The discovery seemed to bolsterthe suspicion, but when the
photo was shown to Beverly'sfamily and friends, they
confirmed it was not her.
Even so, detectives pressed onwith their investigation into
Lindley's possible involvement.
They compared his fingerprintswith those collected from the
(11:46):
crime scene, but there was nomatch.
Lindley was conclusively ruledout as a suspect in Beverly's
murder.
His death unrelated to thehorrific crime.
With that avenue closed,investigators returned to the
rope that had been used to bindBeverly.
By this time they had tracedthe rope's origins to a
manufacturing firm in Maryland.
While this seemed like apromising lead at first, it soon
(12:08):
became apparent that the trailwas frustratingly cold.
The rope was a standard varietysold by retailers across the
United States.
Identifying the specific personwho had purchased it was like
trying to find a needle in ahaystack.
The investigation once againseemed to be hitting a dead end.
Despite this setback, thedetectives pressed on.
They combed through everydetail, every lead and every tip
(12:31):
that came their way.
Over the next couple of months.
There would be several otherpersons of interest, including a
man who had allegedly beenwatching Beverly at the
Cleveland Museum of Art, amiddle-aged man who had cut his
hand, an encyclopedia salesmanand a transient teenager.
All of these leads werefollowed up, but all of them led
to a dead end.
With each person of interest,they passed a polygraph
(12:54):
examination, which immediatelyruled them out as a suspect.
Another person of interest wasStephen Stankovitz, the man who
had called the family's home theday Beverly was killed.
However, detectives could neverfind a man with that name.
One suspect was William Rahard,who had been arrested for the
abduction of 7-year-old DonnaAdkins.
He told detectives he plannedon keeping her for the rest of
(13:16):
his life.
He also told detectives he hadkilled Beverly, but nothing ever
came of his confession, atleast not at the time.
Decades later, it was claimedthat Rehard led detectives to a
trimming knife in a locker in abus station.
Shortly after the confession,rehard took his own life.
As the months slowly trickledpast, beverly's family grew more
(13:36):
desperate for answers.
Every promising lead had turnedout to be another dead end, and
as the investigation stalled,so did their hopes of finding
justice.
The pain of losing Beverly wascompounded by the agony of not
knowing who had taken her fromthem.
Eventually, the months bledinto years and the years into
decades.
On the 20th of August 1988,former detective Captain William
(13:59):
Horrigan was at home when hisphone began to ring.
Though he had retired manyyears earlier, the case had
haunted him for the past 25years, a nagging reminder of his
inability to bring Beverly'skiller to justice.
Over the years, horrigan hadreceived a number of tips, even
after leaving the force.
People found his number in thephone book and he always
followed up on these leads.
(14:19):
Unable to let go, he knew thecase like the back of his hand
and still always followed up onthese leads.
Unable to let go, he knew thecase like the back of his hand
and still clung to the hope thatone day a tip would come in
that would finally reveal thetruth.
On this day, the caller on theother end claimed to know who
had killed Beverly.
Horrigan's heart quickened, butthe caller provided no concrete
information before hanging up.
Frustrated but still hopeful,horrigan's mind raced with
(14:42):
possibilities.
Then, about twenty minuteslater, the phone rang again.
The same voice asked Horriganto meet him at Captain Frank's
Pier located on East NinthStreet.
Horrigan hurried to the pier,his hopes cautiously rising, but
when he arrived, the meetingturned out to be just another
disappointment, another falselead in a case filled with false
(15:02):
leads.
The man had no real informationand whatever fragile hope
Horrigan had nurtured was dashedonce more.
He left the pier feeling thefamiliar weight of despair, the
ache of unfulfilled duty.
By the 25th anniversary ofBeverly's death in 1989, her
father, thaddeus, was stillliving in the house where she
had been murdered.
The home now stood as a somberreminder of their loss.
Beverly's mother Elena.
In 1989, her father, thaddeus,was still living in the house
where she had been murdered.
(15:22):
The home now stood as a somberreminder of their loss.
Beverly's mother, elaynor, hadmoved out nearly a decade
earlier, after she and Thaddeusdivorced in 1980.
The strain of losing a child,especially in such a violent and
unresolved manner, hadfractured their marriage.
They found it nearly impossibleto speak Beverly's name, though
, as Elaynor would later say, itwas there under the surface.
(15:44):
Always, as the anniversaryapproached, journalists reached
out to Thaddeus hoping for aninterview, but he declined,
explaining that reopening thoseold wounds would be too much to
bear.
He did, however, share that inthe years following Beverly's
murder, he had received severalchilling phone calls from a man
who claimed to have wasted hisdaughter.
The caller, who sounded high ondrugs, never gave a reason,
(16:08):
never revealed his name.
Horgan continued to followevery lead that came his way
right up until his death in 2004, at the age of 93.
He went to his grave with aheavy heart, carrying the regret
of not being able to solve thecase that had defined his career
.
Thaddeus passed away in 2012,having spent the rest of his
life in the family home, whichhe kept exactly as it was in
(16:30):
1964.
He had hoped that one day, ajury might need to see the house
as it had been when hisdaughter was brutally taken from
them.
Elena Jaros died in 2018, takingwith her the same unanswered
questions that had hauntedThaddeus and Horgan.
The years had turned intodecades and those decades had
consumed their lives.
They had all died withoutknowing who had killed their
(16:52):
eldest daughter, without everunderstanding why.
Some speculate that Beverly'skiller may have been one of the
persons of interest who emergedover the years.
There had been many potentialsuspects, each scrutinized and,
in most cases, dismissed afterpassing a polygraph examination.
At the time, these tests wereconsidered a reliable measure of
truthfulness, but today theyare recognized as flawed and far
(17:15):
from foolproof.
It's been over six decades sinceBeverly Jarosz was murdered in
her own home, a young life fullof promise, taken in a brutal
and personal way.
Her family never stoppedseeking justice, her friends
never forgot her kindness, andthe community of Garfield
Heights still whispers her name.
The room where she died is gonenow the home long since sold,
(17:36):
repainted and reimagined by newlives unaware of the tragedy,
once sealed behind its walls.
But for those who remember, thequestion still lingers sharper
than ever who walked into thathouse on December 28, 1964?
Who left behind silence andheartbreak, and how did a murder
so violent, leave so few clues.
Maybe someone out there stillknows something, maybe time has
(17:58):
dulled the fear and now a voicemight emerge, someone who heard
a story, saw something unusualor simply connected dots.
No one else could.
Sometimes justice takes decades, but it only takes one person
to break the silence.
Till next time, take care ofyourselves, thank you.
On a cold December afternoon in 1964, the quiet
Cleveland suburb of GarfieldHeights was shattered by a
brutal and senseless act.
Beverly Jarosz, a bright,college-bound 16-year-old girl
with dreams of becoming a writer, was found strangled and
stabbed to death in her ownbedroom.
There were no signs of forcedentry, no stolen items and no
(00:21):
solid suspects.
Sixty years later, her murderremains unsolved.
I'm Thomas, and this is HumanWreckage the podcast that dives
deep into cold cases, unansweredquestions and the haunting
silences that follow.
Today we explore the chillingmystery of Beverly Jaros, a case
that gripped a community,baffled investigators and left a
(00:41):
trail of whispered theories andforgotten leads.
Beverly's death wasn't just acrime.
(01:20):
It was a puzzle soaked incontradictions A house that
should have been secure, a girlwith no known enemies and a
killer who left behind moreconfusion than clues.
What really happened that day?
Who could have committed such aviolent act and why?
In this episode, we'll retraceBeverly's final hours, examine
the evidence or lack thereof,because sometimes the scariest
(01:42):
mysteries aren't hidden in theshadows.
They're sitting quietly inplain sight.
It was a cold but dry day inGarfield Heights, ohio, on the
28th of December 1964.
A layer of frost clungstubbornly to the ground and a
brisk breeze rustled the barrenbranches of the trees lining
Thornton Drive.
Barbara Klonowski had madearrangements to visit her close
(02:03):
friend, 16-year-old BeverlyJaros.
Beverly lived with her familyin a modest house nestled in the
heart of the neighborhood.
Barbara arrived at Beverly'shome at 1.25 pm and knocked on
the front door.
There was no answer.
She tried again, this time abit louder, but still silence.
Frowning.
Barbara made her way around tothe side door.
(02:23):
It was slightly ajar, but theside door.
It was slightly ajar, but thestorm door was locked tight.
She stood there for a momentfeeling a strange unease
creeping over her Through thecrack in the door.
She could hear the radioblaring from inside the house.
Just as she turned to leave,she heard a series of loud
thumps coming from upstairs.
She later said it sounded asthough something heavy had been
(02:44):
knocked over or perhaps a drawerslammed shut.
She listened intently, but thehouse fell silent again, save
for the relentless blare of theradio.
After a few moments she decidedit was best to leave and return
home.
The plan for the afternoon hadbeen to meet up with their
mutual friend, margie, at herhouse.
When Barbara and Beverly didn'tshow up as expected, margie
(03:05):
called her to find out what hadhappened.
Barbara recounted the strangescene at Beverly's house the
unanswered door, the blaringradio, the strange noises from
upstairs.
Margie immediately calledBeverly's grandmother, who in
turn contacted her son, thaddeus, who was still at work.
He left work immediately,arriving home at around 4 pm.
He called out to his daughteras he entered the house, but
(03:28):
there was no response.
The silence was only broken bythe loud rock music echoing
through the house.
It wasn't the sort of musicanyone in the family would play,
especially not Beverly.
Thaddeus made his way toBeverly's bedroom.
The door was slightly ajar.
He pushed it open slowly.
Immediately he saw bloodsplattered across the walls and
(03:48):
floor.
The furniture was overturned,drawers pulled out and
belongings scattered.
Then he saw her Beverly's bodylay crumpled on the floor near
the bed, bound with a ropecruelly wrapped around her neck
and ankles.
Beverly lay face down on thefloor beside her bed and her boy
was peppered in stab wounds.
Beverly was also nude, exceptfor the upper half of a slip.
(04:09):
Her torn clothing was litteredacross her bedroom floor and the
rope had been cut into threeshort lengths.
One piece was draped across herbody, while the other two were
found underneath her.
Detectives arrived at thefamily's home as it was cordoned
off with crime scene tape.
In Beverly's bedroom they foundseveral bloody palm prints and
fingerprints that didn't belongto anybody in the family.
(04:30):
They additionally found a chunkof plaster that had fallen from
the sloping ceiling overBeverly's bed.
It was theorized that theplaster had been kicked loose as
Beverly struggled with herkiller.
An autopsy showed that Beverlyhad been stabbed around 40 times
.
Most were deep, but some wereslash and stab wounds to her
(04:52):
hands, face and chest.
Nine of the stab wounds were toher back.
They extended from her neckdown to her waist and most were
inflicted in a series of three.
She had been dressed when shewas stabbed and then her killer
had removed her clothing WhileBeverly hadn't been raped.
It was suspected that themurder was sexual in nature, but
the killer was disturbed byBarbara at the front door.
The autopsy also found evidenceof strangulation, and the
(05:14):
pathologist commented that thestab wounds and strangulation
indicated that the killer was arobust, rather large person and
suggested that it must have beena man that killed her.
The murder weapon had not beenfound at the crime scene, but
the pathologist theorized thatthe weapon was around four to
five inches long.
Beverly had died from acombination of stabbing and
(05:34):
strangulation.
An investigation into Beverly'smurder got underway promptly.
Detectives learned that earlierin the day, beverly and her
sister Carol had been at thehome of their grandmother, maria
Vanek.
Shortly before Barbara arrivedat the family's home, beverly
was driven home by hergrandmother's 18-year-old
neighbor, while Carol stayedbehind.
He was ruled out as a suspect.
(05:56):
Detectives looked intopotential boyfriends that
Beverly may have had.
Shortly after Barbara arrivedhome alone to await Beverly, she
had received a phone call athome.
It was from a man whoidentified himself as Stephen
Stankovitz, and he was lookingfor Beverly's father, who was at
work.
Beverly had written the man'sname down on a piece of paper.
Back at the crime scene,sniffer dogs followed a scent to
(06:19):
McCracken Road, which was closeto the family's home, but from
here the scent abruptly dropped.
Detectives speculated thatBeverly's killer had fled from
the home and then left from thislocation in a vehicle.
Detectives began to focus on thetheory that Beverly had been
killed by a secret admirer.
In the months leading up to hermurder, she had been receiving
(06:39):
gifts at home.
The first was a ring andbracelet that was found at the
back door, and the second was apiece of costume jewelry that
arrived in the mailbox.
Furthermore, somebody had madea number of phone calls to the
family home, but each time thephone was answered, the caller
hung up.
According to her parents, theyhad called 10 to 12 times per
day.
On occasion, the last call hadcome about three weeks before
(07:02):
Beverly was killed.
Her parents had believed thatthe caller was the same person
who was leaving the giftsaddressed to Beverly.
Detectives were especiallyfocused on the rope used to bind
Beverly.
It was quickly determined thatthe rope hadn't come from the
Jaros' household.
Instead, the killer had broughtit with them.
Suggesting premeditation.
With this critical, lead,detective Captain William Horgan
(07:24):
assigned five detectives toscour the entire neighborhood
seeking the source of the rope.
The detectives went door todoor, questioning residents and
examining their properties.
A few neighbors had usedsimilar rope to tie back their
bushes to protect them from thewinter snow.
Despite this promising start,the trail quickly went cold.
With the investigation stalling,detectives shifted their focus
(07:46):
to Beverly's personal life,particularly her former
boyfriends.
One of these was 18-year-oldRoger McNamara, who had dated
Beverly for the past sevenmonths.
Roger was devastated by herdeath and voluntarily went to
the police station forquestioning.
He revealed that he had been atBeverly's home the night before
she was killed, but claimed tohave no information about her
(08:06):
murder.
To clear his name, roger agreedto take a polygraph examination
, a common practice at the time,though now considered
scientifically unreliable.
According to the detectives,roger passed the test with
flying colors and he wassubsequently ruled out as a
suspect.
Around the same time,detectives turned their
attention to a 29-year-old manincarcerated in Estabula County
(08:29):
Jail on charges of contributingto the delinquency of a
15-year-old girl.
He had a troubling history andhad been in the area, but when
questioned, he vehemently deniedany involvement in Beverly's
murder.
He also provided an airtightalibi, supported by multiple
witnesses, effectively rulinghim out as a suspect.
As well.
As the first week of theinvestigation, blurred by the
(08:51):
Jarrow's family grappled withtheir grief, while detectives
wrestled with a lack of concreteleads With no clear direction,
they began considering a new andunexpected possibility Beverly
might have been killed by awoman.
The theory was bolstered by thenature of the crime intensely
personal, with overkillsuggesting deep-seated anger or
jealousy.
Despite this shift in focus,detectives still considered the
(09:14):
possibility that Beverly hadbeen killed by someone she knew,
or at least someone who hadbeen watching her closely Carl
DeLau, head of the ClevelandHomicide Unit, voiced his
thoughts on the matter, statinghe went there for the express
purpose of committing a crime.
Therefore, I recommend moreintensive questioning of friends
, neighbors, friends of friends,more intensive investigation of
(09:35):
collectors of any kind.
I feel the answer lies here.
Theories swirled and aconference was held among the
detectives to brainstorm newangles to consider.
By the following day, captainWilliam Horrigan announced that
the conference had been fruitful, yielding several promising
theories.
Detectives returned to GarfieldHeights to comb the area for
additional clues, working underthe hypothesis that Beverly
(09:58):
could have been killed by awoman.
Dr Samuel Gerber, the countycoroner, weighed in, stating it
has been my theory all alongthat either sex could have done
it.
This new direction in theinvestigation led to unintended
consequences.
Rumors began to spread, withsome speculating that Barbara
Klonowski, Beverly's best friend, was somehow involved in the
(10:19):
murder.
The media coverage only fueledthe gossip and soon Barbara
found herself the target ofharassment.
Prank phone calls, accusatoryletters and cruel whispers
haunted her daily life.
Despite the lack of evidence,she was vilified by those who
wanted someone to blame.
In an effort to clear Barbara'sname, sergeant Lee Peters
addressed the media directly,stating unequivocally that she
(10:42):
was innocent and had long beenruled out as a suspect.
While detectives were busychasing down new leads,
17-year-old Lindley Bain wasfound dead in the basement of
his family's home.
His sister had made the grimdiscovery.
Lindley had ended his life witha shotgun, the weapon propped
against his chest with a pencilused to reach the trigger.
He, like Beverly, had been ajunior at Garfield Heights High
(11:04):
School.
The devastating news spreadquickly and soon.
Rumors began to swirl thatLindley might have been
Beverly's killer.
Some speculated that, overcomeby guilt and grief, he had taken
his own life.
Investigators considered thistheory seriously.
The timing of Lindley's deathand his connection to the high
school seemed too coincidentalto ignore.
(11:24):
When they searched his room,they found a photograph of a
girl inscribed with the name Bev.
The discovery seemed to bolsterthe suspicion, but when the
photo was shown to Beverly'sfamily and friends, they
confirmed it was not her.
Even so, detectives pressed onwith their investigation into
Lindley's possible involvement.
They compared his fingerprintswith those collected from the
(11:46):
crime scene, but there was nomatch.
Lindley was conclusively ruledout as a suspect in Beverly's
murder.
His death unrelated to thehorrific crime.
With that avenue closed,investigators returned to the
rope that had been used to bindBeverly.
By this time they had tracedthe rope's origins to a
manufacturing firm in Maryland.
While this seemed like apromising lead at first, it soon
(12:08):
became apparent that the trailwas frustratingly cold.
The rope was a standard varietysold by retailers across the
United States.
Identifying the specific personwho had purchased it was like
trying to find a needle in ahaystack.
The investigation once againseemed to be hitting a dead end.
Despite this setback, thedetectives pressed on.
They combed through everydetail, every lead and every tip
(12:31):
that came their way.
Over the next couple of months.
There would be several otherpersons of interest, including a
man who had allegedly beenwatching Beverly at the
Cleveland Museum of Art, amiddle-aged man who had cut his
hand, an encyclopedia salesmanand a transient teenager.
All of these leads werefollowed up, but all of them led
to a dead end.
With each person of interest,they passed a polygraph
(12:54):
examination, which immediatelyruled them out as a suspect.
Another person of interest wasStephen Stankovitz, the man who
had called the family's home theday Beverly was killed.
However, detectives could neverfind a man with that name.
One suspect was William Rahard,who had been arrested for the
abduction of 7-year-old DonnaAdkins.
He told detectives he plannedon keeping her for the rest of
(13:16):
his life.
He also told detectives he hadkilled Beverly, but nothing ever
came of his confession, atleast not at the time.
Decades later, it was claimedthat Rehard led detectives to a
trimming knife in a locker in abus station.
Shortly after the confession,rehard took his own life.
As the months slowly trickledpast, beverly's family grew more
(13:36):
desperate for answers.
Every promising lead had turnedout to be another dead end, and
as the investigation stalled,so did their hopes of finding
justice.
The pain of losing Beverly wascompounded by the agony of not
knowing who had taken her fromthem.
Eventually, the months bledinto years and the years into
decades.
On the 20th of August 1988,former detective Captain William
(13:59):
Horrigan was at home when hisphone began to ring.
Though he had retired manyyears earlier, the case had
haunted him for the past 25years, a nagging reminder of his
inability to bring Beverly'skiller to justice.
Over the years, horrigan hadreceived a number of tips, even
after leaving the force.
People found his number in thephone book and he always
followed up on these leads.
(14:19):
Unable to let go, he knew thecase like the back of his hand
and still always followed up onthese leads.
Unable to let go, he knew thecase like the back of his hand
and still clung to the hope thatone day a tip would come in
that would finally reveal thetruth.
On this day, the caller on theother end claimed to know who
had killed Beverly.
Horrigan's heart quickened, butthe caller provided no concrete
information before hanging up.
Frustrated but still hopeful,horrigan's mind raced with
(14:42):
possibilities.
Then, about twenty minuteslater, the phone rang again.
The same voice asked Horriganto meet him at Captain Frank's
Pier located on East NinthStreet.
Horrigan hurried to the pier,his hopes cautiously rising, but
when he arrived, the meetingturned out to be just another
disappointment, another falselead in a case filled with false
(15:02):
leads.
The man had no real informationand whatever fragile hope
Horrigan had nurtured was dashedonce more.
He left the pier feeling thefamiliar weight of despair, the
ache of unfulfilled duty.
By the 25th anniversary ofBeverly's death in 1989, her
father, thaddeus, was stillliving in the house where she
had been murdered.
The home now stood as a somberreminder of their loss.
Beverly's mother Elena.
In 1989, her father, thaddeus,was still living in the house
where she had been murdered.
(15:22):
The home now stood as a somberreminder of their loss.
Beverly's mother, elaynor, hadmoved out nearly a decade
earlier, after she and Thaddeusdivorced in 1980.
The strain of losing a child,especially in such a violent and
unresolved manner, hadfractured their marriage.
They found it nearly impossibleto speak Beverly's name, though
, as Elaynor would later say, itwas there under the surface.
(15:44):
Always, as the anniversaryapproached, journalists reached
out to Thaddeus hoping for aninterview, but he declined,
explaining that reopening thoseold wounds would be too much to
bear.
He did, however, share that inthe years following Beverly's
murder, he had received severalchilling phone calls from a man
who claimed to have wasted hisdaughter.
The caller, who sounded high ondrugs, never gave a reason,
(16:08):
never revealed his name.
Horgan continued to followevery lead that came his way
right up until his death in 2004, at the age of 93.
He went to his grave with aheavy heart, carrying the regret
of not being able to solve thecase that had defined his career
.
Thaddeus passed away in 2012,having spent the rest of his
life in the family home, whichhe kept exactly as it was in
(16:30):
1964.
He had hoped that one day, ajury might need to see the house
as it had been when hisdaughter was brutally taken from
them.
Elena Jaros died in 2018, takingwith her the same unanswered
questions that had hauntedThaddeus and Horgan.
The years had turned intodecades and those decades had
consumed their lives.
They had all died withoutknowing who had killed their
(16:52):
eldest daughter, without everunderstanding why.
Some speculate that Beverly'skiller may have been one of the
persons of interest who emergedover the years.
There had been many potentialsuspects, each scrutinized and,
in most cases, dismissed afterpassing a polygraph examination.
At the time, these tests wereconsidered a reliable measure of
truthfulness, but today theyare recognized as flawed and far
(17:15):
from foolproof.
It's been over six decades sinceBeverly Jarosz was murdered in
her own home, a young life fullof promise, taken in a brutal
and personal way.
Her family never stoppedseeking justice, her friends
never forgot her kindness, andthe community of Garfield
Heights still whispers her name.
The room where she died is gonenow the home long since sold,
(17:36):
repainted and reimagined by newlives unaware of the tragedy,
once sealed behind its walls.
But for those who remember, thequestion still lingers sharper
than ever who walked into thathouse on December 28, 1964?
Who left behind silence andheartbreak, and how did a murder
so violent, leave so few clues.
Maybe someone out there stillknows something, maybe time has
(17:58):
dulled the fear and now a voicemight emerge, someone who heard
a story, saw something unusualor simply connected dots.
No one else could.
Sometimes justice takes decades, but it only takes one person
to break the silence.
Till next time, take care ofyourselves, thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.