Someone was asking about Mary Jane Hanselman I found this old article from the SJR THE MYSTERY OF MARY JANE / AFTER 30 YEARS, THE MURDER OF A LOCAL TEENAGER REMAINS UNSOLVED State Journal-Register, The (Springfield, IL) - Sunday, November 20, 1988 Author/Byline: Dave Bakke Edition: M1,M2,S1 Section: LIFESTYLE Page: 11 It will probably take a deathbed confession to discover who committed one of the most sensational murders in Springfield history. Perhaps there is a sealed letter somewhere, to be opened only after the death of someone who knows the truth. Or the truth may never be known. Whoever raped and killed 16-year-old Mary Jane Hanselman in April 1958 has already cheated justice for 30 years. This case is like being in a dense fog and not knowing where youre at, says Springfield police officer Bill Sowers. Sowers has an interest in the case, even though it hasnt been investigated since 1960. Thats when former Police Chief Silver Suarez, along with Henry Rentschler of the state police, were either taken off the case or decided on their own that nothing more could be done. Suarez was police chief at the time of the murder. You dont have to refresh my memory, he says of the Hanselman murder. I know this case inside and out. Suarez is one of a handful of people still alive who know details of the case. But Suarez isnt talking. It was so dirty and so filthy, I said the hell with it, he says. I said I wouldnt ever talk anymore about that story. I have personal reasons for not wanting to become involved in this thing. That particular case, Id just as soon let it rest where it was. There are people who were involved who are dead now and cant back up my story. Hes not the only one who wont talk about it. Howarth, who was mayor at the time of the murder, declined to be interviewed about the case. I dont know anything about that case, anyway, Howarth said. The Hanselman family, some of whom are still in Springfield, also refused to discuss the case for this story. Records and evidence which hadnt been seen in nearly 30 years were examined by the State Journal-Register in preparing this story. In 1958, Mary Jane was a sophomore at Sacred Heart Academy. Henry, her father, was a captain in the fire department. At the time of her death, she had three sisters, Barbara, Carolyn and Helen, and a brother, Charles. Her parents had divorced several years earlier. Her stepmother, Viola, lived with the rest of the family at 219 W. Cook St. Her father was a friend of Joe Gerzin, who owned the Georgian restaurant at Ninth and South Grand. In the spring of 1958, Henry asked Gerzin to give Mary Jane a job waiting tables. Though Mary Jane had no experience, Gerzin gave her a job as a favor to her father. https://sites.google/site/dwdelaneywoodward/ A lot more details, lengthy article at the link you have to scroll down past a few other archived stories to find it.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 03:55:00 +0000
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