Interesting find.
Here’s one article from the (local PA) Lebanon News Dec 6, 1975 reporting on her death:

and another from the same paper in Jan 1976 reporting on a arrest of rapist, whom they intended to question about Biechler (I presume Lancaster was small enough, that having two violent criminals seemed suspicious):

There is a Janice Crum in Mechanicsburg, too. Mechanicsburg is the next city close to Lancaster.

http://www.salespider.com/ppl-59672525/janice-crum

The address is 101 Lancaster Blvd. with phone number available, too (717) 766-124X with the highest number being blanked out for privacy reasons. Anybody who could give her a call? I do think the letter is authentic and so might be the additional sentence of Janice Crum, however I doubt if this might have been Z.

It could be quite easy to ask her for the name and/or if she had such a friend. Maybe she’ll be relieved and therefore I’d at least call twice. In her letter is mentioned that the guy was frequently at Manor Shopping Center, which is sort of around the corner of 104 Kloss Drive (Biechler’S address) and that he spent time on the fields there. Could be a good start to enter a conversation. Manor Township Police Department (950 W Fairway Dr) btw was very close to 104 Kloss Drive, with Sheeler in it, so I guess the assailant of Biechler in fact had known Sheeler. Eventually he had met Biechler just right after coming out of the Police Station. Maybe his name was Mark Dominick Capollupo, maybe not (but interesting find, especially the car part..).

QT

QT, police searched(and presumably)located and questioned every Janice Crum in the area. I think if anything, the person that wrote the letter knew Janice Crum and used her name, but that Janice Crum had no knowledge of the crime or involvement

QT, police searched(and presumably)located and questioned every Janice Crum in the area. I think if anything, the person that wrote the letter knew Janice Crum and used her name, but that Janice Crum had no knowledge of the crime or involvement

Hi Morf,

I am not sure if that ever happened. Somewhere I’ve read that they could not locate a Janice Crum. Also we have been discussing the Janice Crum issue for a while, mainly with some Janice Crum’s living e.g. in California. However the one in Mechanicsburg eventually has never been contacted by anybody, and, due to lack of internet, she could not have been contacted by police in the past although living only 40 miles away..

Of course I do understand to act cautious..however we are standing on one point and gaining access to any successes happens very slowly. Sometimes it might be easier to give someone a call to get some additional information..not to forget: Her name was written on a letter with the knowledge about a homicide. In such a case, the victim’s interest imo is more important than not ‘disturbing’ a person who is potentially not involved into it. But that, imo, is even questionable if she’d deny to being involved. To be honest? If I was from Manor Township police department, or one of Lindy’s relatives, I’d interrogate her for at least 4-8 hours.

QT

Left a message for Janice. We’ll see if she calls back.

I don’t believe that the P.S. portion of the Biechler letter was written by a different person and neither did investigators. An acquaintance or even an alter ego? Perhaps… but "Janice Crum", whoever she is and whether or not she existed, had nothing directly to do with this crime, IMHO. The inclusion of the name is just bizarre. I do think it’s worth pursuing to see if police ever spoke to her or if the case rings a bell with her whatsoever. There appear to be only about a half dozen people by that name in PA and this person is definitely the closest, although Mechanicsburg is a 45 minute drive from where Lindy Biechler lived and there is one previous address listed farther away. We’ll see… Hopefully she won’t mind me interrogating her over the phone for 4-8 hours.

Left a message for Janice. We’ll see if she calls back.

I don’t believe that the P.S. portion of the Biechler letter was written by a different person and neither did investigators. An acquaintance or even an alter ego? Perhaps… but "Janice Crum", whoever she is and whether or not she existed, had nothing directly to do with this crime, IMHO. The inclusion of the name is just bizarre. I do think it’s worth pursuing to see if police ever spoke to her or if the case rings a bell with her whatsoever. There appear to be only about a half dozen people by that name in PA and this person is definitely the closest, although Mechanicsburg is a 45 minute drive from where Lindy Biechler lived and there is one previous address listed farther away. We’ll see… Hopefully she won’t mind me interrogating her over the phone for 4-8 hours.

Great entropy..then we possibly have it clarified, e.g. if she claims not having any idea or never having been asked by police..great work. You deserve a big (hurrayyy)

QT

I take it that you have not heard back from her Entropy?

Nada. Her message expressed a not so subtle dislike of telemarketers so I tried to assure her I wasn’t selling anything. Might have been away for a holiday weekend or, more likely, wants no parts of talking to a strange "investigator". I may try one more time this week.

Nada. Her message expressed a not so subtle dislike of telemarketers so I tried to assure her I wasn’t selling anything. Might have been away for a holiday weekend or, more likely, wants no parts of talking to a strange "investigator". I may try one more time this week.

Maybe also mail her a letter

Excellent idea, morf. I think that actually might be easier and less threatening. It’s not exactly easy explaining to someone in a voicemail about their name appearing in a letter that may or may not pertain to a 1975 murder case. I might have had better luck if I was trying to sell her a set of encyclopedias! I’m sure you’ve had the same experience before…

Any luck with this Entropy??

I called one more time, morf, and left a message but have received no response. I’m honestly reluctant to pursue the issue further but maybe you (or someone) would want to send a letter explaining the interest, which might be less threatening? I gathered from her voicemail message that she does not like to be contacted by strangers.

I called one more time, morf, and left a message but have received no response. I’m honestly reluctant to pursue the issue further but maybe you (or someone) would want to send a letter explaining the interest, which might be less threatening? I gathered from her voicemail message that she does not like to be contacted by strangers.

Will see what I can do, worth a try,thanks for the effort

If there was a like button somewhere, I’d pusssssh it.

QT

Morf, just a thought. If you are writing to our Janice Crum, my gut feeling is that she might respond much better to a woman. I hate to be dishonest in contacting her but I think a woman would have a much better chance of getting a response. Maybe Mrs. Morf can sign off on it or, if you’re calling her, maybe you can disguise your voice?