In 1977, we still knew very very little about these types of killers and the technology was not really there to get forensic evidence like we can today. This murder was sexually motivated. He didn’t take her money or belongings. He brought and used his own tools and resources such as handcuffs and what ever else which indicates that he’s been planning this for some time. It also means he may have been watching / stalking her. Most likely he is someone known to be on campus where it wouldn’t seem unusual for him to be walking around at 11:30 at night, like an employee or teacher or student etc.Also, in the security officer’s report, the emergency lights were on indicating he most likely shut the power to the building off before he began with the murder. It also tells us he may have wanted her scared if he shut down the power beforehand. There was a maintenance worker that was suspected that was fired and never given a polygraph which may actually have been a good thing. Psychopaths can beat a polygraph test and if they do pass a polygraph, a psychopath will feel as if he’s invincible. Unstoppable. Superman! as to the bodily injuries, there were broken ribs, multiple contusions, head trauma, splatter patterns of blood which all indicate she was beaten. There was also a contusion at the top upper portion of her uterus which means that he most likely was putting something large inside her to assault her sexually. They said earlier, she met with a cast member that played a police officer in the play performance that night. Complete with handcuffs and a nightstick. I think it may have been possible that those items he wore for the play may have been used to assault her, but not used by that cast member. Instead someone who may have been jealous of her becoming close with this man earlier that night. We have learned from the BTK killer that not all of these types of killers have sex with their victims as BTK never had sex with any of his victims at all and I think it was the same situation here. Seminal fluid was found on the crime scene, however I don’t think it was from assaulting the body sexually, I think it was from after he had “displayed her”, as in masturbation. After he was finished, he picked up all his belongings including the murder weapon and what else he may have used, left her belongings next to the body at the piano and placed her body on display on the main stage for all to see “his work”. This indicates he knew she was a music student, he knew she would perform on stage, he also put her on the grandest stage of the building which means he held a high opinion of her (possibly obsessed / infatuated), and covered the body with a piano sheet which may mean he was trying to preserve her dignity in some way or something. It may even be that he felt shame after ejaculation which we saw with Jean Devier in Adairsville GA in the 70s after he raped and murdered a young girl and placed her jacket over her head and face. Also, the pools of blood in multiple locations around the piano might mean that he had beat her while she was playing the piano and she fell back onto the stage before he performed the rest of the murder and displayed the body the way he wanted to. I know this all sounds sadistic and horrible but it’s common among serial sexual sadist killers. I’d be willing to bet there may be several other murders out there from around that time frame with similar characteristics he may be responsible for. As we’ve learned from multiple compulsive killers of that era in prison, this kind of sexual compulsion for them isn’t something that they can avoid or resist doing again.
This post reminded me of something I did read. I know psychics are usually taken with a grain of salt but I still found some similarities " A local psychic, who preferred to remain unnamed, visited Sigrid’s former stomping grounds recently and came up with interesting results.
“When she was on stage, this guy was watching her for a little while. Either her back was turned while she was on the piano, or she was too involved with her music to notice,” the psychic said. “I think he was in uniform and had curly hair. He had something on his pants, something like keys. She knew him, but not well. He made an advance, but she fought back. He got angry and when he got tough, she scratched and did something near his eye. That’s when he got violent.”
“He knew she was there that night,” the psychic continued, “and this guy was sick. Borderline stalker. There was a place on stage where he could hide and watch her. He had made advances at her before, but she had ignored him, made small talk. But that night was different. After he killed her, he discarded his clothes in a dumpster behind a store nearby.”
The psychic also claims Sigrid is still hanging around because she has yet to forgive her killer, who may still be alive. “He didn’t appear to be old. Probably his late 20s or 30s. So he’d be in his 50s or 60s today. I think he has health problems and may have moved far away. She has not forgiven this person; she isn’t happy about how this case has gone at all. This man is not remorseful and thinks she got what she deserved.”
https://weirdnj.com/weird-news/murdered-music-major-haunts-college-of-nj-trenton-state/
Sometimes that stuff can be useful. But I’ve been studying killers like this for about 12 years. They all seem to have commonalities but with their own sort of signature on it. This situation I can definitely tell you wasn’t random or spontaneous. When murderers of this type kill in the way that he killed Sigrid, it becomes more and more obvious that this was premeditated murder. He had been planning this for a long time. It could have been days or weeks. But, it might be even less time considering she recently arrived, and the school year hadn’t even started yet. Telling by how organized this murderer was, it’s very clear to me that this was not his first murder.
It is very possible that he had been stalking and watching her as this is a common behavior among serial sexual sadist murderers. They develop a complete obsession over a person they would like to “keep with them forever”, and eventually kill them in the way they need to in order to get the sexual gratification off of it, then in their minds they now can keep that person with them forever as if they are part of their “collection”. If it was in fact a man in uniform such as one of the security staff, it would make a whole lot of sense because these murderers enjoy returning to their crime scenes frequently to relive the experience of the murder. They receive gratification off of that as well. As far as I have understood from interviews with other serial killers that have been caught, it’s a compulsion they can’t ignore or resist. Like putting a line of cocaine in front of an addict and telling him not to touch it. They wouldn’t be able to do that.
She may be right about why Sigrid hasn’t left the theater yet, but I don’t think it’s a forgiveness thing. I think it’s more that she wants justice for such a heinous crime. I would think most people even after their deaths would want justice for something like this so that this won’t happen to someone else. As soon as I read that people believe she haunts the theater, that’s the immediate feeling I got on it.