NJ NJ - Joan Freeman, 22, Clifton, 31 August 1968

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/from_the_archives_in_hunt_for_killer_police_will_r.html

Freeman, a West Paterson resident who graduated from Passaic Valley High School, had worked at Hoffmann-La Roche for about three years, Snack said. On a Saturday afternoon — Aug. 31, 1968 — she was working overtime in a second-floor office in Building 34, recording employees' hours from time cards.

Her killer came at her from behind, striking her in the back of the head with a wooden mallet. Time cards flew out of Freeman's hand like confetti, scattering across the floor. Her attacker struck her repeatedly in the face, then cut her throat. A guard making a routine sweep of the building found her body several hours later.

Snack said Freeman had been "triply killed," meaning any of her wounds would have been fatal. "It was just a brutal murder," Snack said. "She didn't deserve to die that way."

There isn't much info out there about this very old cold case, but I did find a couple of interesting tidbits. Buried deep on this page (use Control+F to find Joan's name), there's a post by someone claiming to be a relative, giving a little info about the Freeman family in the aftermath of Joan's murder and a short list of possible suspects:

http://www.oldnutley.org/fromnutleyNine.html

Also, Joan is allegedly a ghost, haunting the place where she died:

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/west-paterson-nj/TJTTRQKABE7AF9NCP
 
That level of overkill, in a fenced and guarded area...sounds like a rejected suitor from work?
 
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From the archives: In hunt for killer, police will revisit a 1968 mystery (2005)



There isn't much info out there about this very old cold case, but I did find a couple of interesting tidbits. Buried deep on this page (use Control+F to find Joan's name), there's a post by someone claiming to be a relative, giving a little info about the Freeman family in the aftermath of Joan's murder and a short list of possible suspects:

http://www.oldnutley.org/fromnutleyNine.html

Also, Joan is allegedly a ghost, haunting the place where she died:

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Has anyone looked into this in the past 10 years
 
Is anyone interested in helping me look into this case. Seems like it been totally forgotten about.
 
I would - however, there is not much out there in terms of news. Poor thing seems forgotten about. I knew a cousin of hers, they had suspicions but never got any information.
 
Her death is weird in that it was a Saturday on Labor Day Weekend and there wasn't that many people working. Her death happened real late in the day like at 5:30 pm too. I do wonder why she was working real late in the day doing employee time cards. Maybe she arrived at work like lunchtime at around 11am-1pm rather than 9-10am. I have heard via the internet somewhere that Joan normally worked in a different building than the one where she was working(Building 34) where she was killed. That thread said that the A/C in the building where she normally did work didn't work or something to that effect it wasn't working properly. I'm not sure if that's true or not.
 
4eed109b-4324-41dd-8f97-323c6145d0f1_zps9w4t2but.jpg



Also, Joan is allegedly a ghost, haunting the place where she died:

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/west-paterson-nj/TJTTRQKABE7AF9NCP

Yeah usually people who die like Joan did aren't happy to die like they did so they become ghosts.

I do wonder if her killer worked in Building 34 or some other building that day or regularly? Was it common for employees to work in different buildings in that complex from time to time? Also, Joan was working in the library reportedly. Did anybody take something anything out of the library and had to sign for what they took out the day of August 31st, 1968? Finally, was their any guys that she was seen interacting with on a common basis on the job? Could the killer have been a woman that was jealous of her maybe though?

I looked on a weather site and the weather in Clifton, NJ that day had a "mean temperature" of 70 degrees on August 31st, 1968 so it wasn't really that hot on average. The maximum temperature was 79 degrees though that day. Where I am getting at is I am referring to my first post on this thread that the A/C may not have been working or working properly in the Building that Joan usually worked in.
 
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I wonder if her killer is maybe somebody she went to High School with and coincidentally they worked at the same place. Joan went to High School at Passaic Valley Regional High School in Little Falls, NJ which served High School students that lived in Little Falls, Totowa, and West Paterson(now called Woodland Park.) Maybe he was just a regular guy or a little nerdy and had a crush on her. Joan lived in West Paterson at that time and her job was on the Clifton/Nutley border which wasn't that far really from where she lived and grew up.

I am curious if her killer planned her murder a few hours earlier prior to the actual murder. A couple of the murder weapons weren't found but the wooden mallet was found. I find that strange. I just find this whole case strange.
 

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