The Murder of Kathy Lynn Beatty

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It is good to see that there is renewed interest in this unsolved case. Hopefully witnesses and persons of interest who were reluctant to talk in 1975 will be forthcoming now that they are adults.

It is possible that Kathy was assulted by acquaintences that July evening in 1975, and that someone knows the identity and specifics.

While rumors and beliefs concerning this case (which started in 1975)should be revisited, renewed consideration should also be given to Mr. Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. who worked at the Vitro Laboratories building adjacent to Kathy's Aspen Hill neighborhood and across the street from the K-mart.

Mr. Coffey came to Montgomery County Police attention in 1987 as a possible suspect in both the Lyon Sisters' disappearance and the attack on Kathy Lynn Beatty. He left town very suddenly without notice to his employer immediately after the attack on Kathy Beatty was written about in the Washington Post and it was mentioned that Kathy was still alive.

Coffey later wrote to Vitro explaining his sudden departure with a lie about his wife and daughter being involved in a serious auto accident out of state. He asked that his final paycheck (through 31 July 1975) be mailed to him.

Coffey was later convicted of numerous counts of Child Molestation and was convicted of the 1979 Murder of 10 year old Amanda Ray in North Carolina. He is also a suspect in a number of other child murders. Prior to these Maryland cases (in 1974), Coffey had been convicted of the rape of a 13 year-old girl in Virginia Beach, VA.
 
I will never understand how someone could have pertinent info or hear a confession given at a party and never say anything. Perhaps some of us just have a heightened sense of social responsibility than others but I know if I ever heard anything I thought was relavent to a murder I would contact authorities immediately. What gets me the most is if asked people talk but until asked they remain mum for thirty some years. I don't comment much on this thread but I check up on it regulary. It is heartening to see interest is getting renewed in Kathy's case.
 
Indigator said:
I may be pulling at straws but I belive that Vitro Laboratories was part of Vitro Corporation and this company had an office in Warminster, PA. Does anyone know if Coffey was working for Vitro in 1975? There is a missing girl, Wendy Eaton, who disappeared under circumstances similair to the Lyons girls on 5-17-1975. ...
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Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. was indeed working for Vitro Laboratories in May of 1975. I believe that his dates of employment were from some time in April through the end of July 1975.

Vitro had four different offices in Maryland in 1975, all in the Wheaton, Rockville, Silver Spring area. Coffey is known to have worked at two of those offices, and possibly all of them. He was a computer expert, and may have been sent from one office to another as ADP support.

I have a history of Vitro somewhere, but do not recall if they had an office in Warminster, PA. They were engaged in US government contracts, primarily in Naval Weapon Systems. So, even if they did not have corporate offices in other cities, they most likely had job sites and customers in other cities and states.

Besides Wendy Eaton (age 15, went missing 17 May 1975 from Media, PA), two other Pennsylvania girls about her same age also disappeared in the Summer of 1975:

Edna Christine Thorne, 15, went missing 24 June 1975 from Philadelphia, PA

Tracy Anne King, 14, went missing 18 July 1975 from Littlestown, PA
 
There has been some discussion about this case in the Cold Case section of Websleuths, and it includes a link to the Montgomery County Police website. There is a photo of the keys found next to Kathy Lynn Beatty's purse.

The keyring was one of those round ones with a black leather fob attatched. Only two keys are on it.

One key is a Schlage brand house key of the kind that goes into a door knob. This would be the kind used in houses in the 1960's thru mid 1970's.

The other key is a GM ignition key. The website describes it as belonging to a 1972 General Motors vehicle. GM changed key blanks each year, so that usually you cannot even stick the key from one year model into the lock or ignition of the next year model.

This may be one of those times when the LACK of evidence may mean something. There is NO vehicle door lock key on the ring. This could mean that the vehicle was a pick-up truck or maybe a van. I am researching that possibility.
 
Richard said:
There has been some discussion about this case in the Cold Case section of Websleuths, and it includes a link to the Montgomery County Police website. There is a photo of the keys found next to Kathy Lynn Beatty's purse.

The keyring was one of those round ones with a black leather fob attatched. Only two keys are on it.

One key is a Schlage brand house key of the kind that goes into a door knob. This would be the kind used in houses in the 1960's thru mid 1970's.

The other key is a GM ignition key. The website describes it as belonging to a 1972 General Motors vehicle. GM changed key blanks each year, so that usually you cannot even stick the key from one year model into the lock or ignition of the next year model.

This may be one of those times when the LACK of evidence may mean something. There is NO vehicle door lock key on the ring. This could mean that the vehicle was a pick-up truck or maybe a van. I am researching that possibility.
Click to expand...

In the sixties, there were certain cars that only had one key. That key both opened the door and turned the ignition. Did this continue on into the seventies? If so, it could explain the reason for only one car key.
Or it could be a spare car key?
 
The more I think about this, I think a key ring with only two keys has to be a "spare" key ring, or the key ring of a teenager. A teenager most likely would only have two keys.
 
SharetheLight said:
In the sixties, there were certain cars that only had one key. That key both opened the door and turned the ignition. Did this continue on into the seventies? If so, it could explain the reason for only one car key.
Or it could be a spare car key?
Click to expand...

I can state with absolute certainty that in 1970, GMC and Chevrolet pick-up trucks had only one key which worked in both ignition and doors. I say that because I drove a 1970 pickup and still have my key for it.

I checked with a friend who has both a 1973 and a 1974 Chevy Pickup. He says that both of those year models had two keys; one for doors and one for ignition.

I have not yet nailed it down in regard to what key or keys that 1971-72 Chevy trucks or vans had.

By the early 1960's all GM cars had two keys - one for ignition and the other for trunk/glove compartment, and later that second one was for doors as well. By the time the blanks looked like the one on the Montgomery County Police website, the rectangle shaped one was for ignition and the oval shaped one was for doors. The exception being that for a few early 1970's years the ignition key on trucks also unlocked the doors.

Dodge trucks and vans used only one key for all throughout the 1970's. Ford trucks and vans were the same up to some point and then they changed to the two key system.
 
Richard said:
I can state with absolute certainty that in 1970, GMC and Chevrolet pick-up trucks had only one key which worked in both ignition and doors. I say that because I drove a 1970 pickup and still have my key for it.

I checked with a friend who has both a 1973 and a 1974 Chevy Pickup. He says that both of those year models had two keys; one for doors and one for ignition.

I have not yet nailed it down in regard to what key or keys that 1971-72 Chevy trucks or vans had.

By the early 1960's all GM cars had two keys - one for ignition and the other for trunk/glove compartment, and later that second one was for doors as well. By the time the blanks looked like the one on the Montgomery County Police website, the rectangle shaped one was for ignition and the oval shaped one was for doors. The exception being that for a few early 1970's years the ignition key on trucks also unlocked the doors.

Dodge trucks and vans used only one key for all throughout the 1970's. Ford trucks and vans were the same up to some point and then they changed to the two key system.
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What about cars?? One could very easily just use the ignition/door key. If they needed to pop the trunk you could do it from the inside of the car. In the early seventies did cars have to use two keys, in that the ignition key no longer would unlock the door? I don't think we should be so quick as to rule out cars in this scenerio.

I am still thinking this could have been a spare ring. Who only has two keys on a ring? Except perhaps a teenager. It is my understanding a teenager could very likely be the perp in this case.
 
There were not trunk openers in teh cars in those days. You HAD to use a key to open the trunk.
 
Then I'd say it's either a spare ring OR the keys of a teenager.
I can't get past the fact that an adult would carry more keys on their regular ring.
 
SharetheLight said:
Then I'd say it's either a spare ring OR the keys of a teenager.
I can't get past the fact that an adult would carry more keys on their regular ring.
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Men generally carry their keys on rings which are kept in their pockets. Yes, you do tend to accumulate a collection over time.

It is for that reason, however, that the first thing I do when traveling is to lighten the load and put my main ring of keys into my luggage and carry only the keys that I need. If this guy was from out of town, staying in Montgomery county for a while, perhaps he did the same - carrying only the key to his vehicle and the key to the door where he was staying.

Or, maybe this was a borrowed vehicle and the ring contained the ignition key and a key to a garage where it was usually kept.
 
Did house keys in the '70's have the name of the builder on them? I know that when we bought our house, all of the keys had the name of the builder on them. As how many keys people carry on their key rings? I only carry my key fob and my house key, so the only actual key is for my house. So I do not find it odd that the ring only contained two keys. Also, is there a way for GM to track the key, which would then maybe tell us where the car was bought? Is that even possible?

There is just something about this case that tugs at the heart.

M ~
 
mnegri1973 said:
Did house keys in the '70's have the name of the builder on them? ...
.... Also, is there a way for GM to track the key, which would then maybe tell us where the car was bought? Is that even possible?...~
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I do not believe that it was common practice for keys to have a builder's name on them. Certainly, anyone can have a locksmith stamp code letters, numbers, or even names on keys. But in my experience, I have not seen this very often.

Regarding the car key, back in the 1970's quite often the ignition key could also open the door. The second key was for the trunk and glove compartment. Later, the second key was for the doors as well, with the ignition being only for starting the car/truck. General Motors had a code system for their keys which were stamped in little "punch-outs" on each origional key. This code allowed a locksmith to make a new key without having to use the origional as a pattern.

Assuming that you had some other sort of lead as to where the car may have been purchased, you MIGHT be able to narrow it down as to which car it went to, but probably this would be a large undertaking.

Because GM changed their blanks every year, it is possible to say what model year the key goes to, but it is also possible that someone could have changed the locks/ignition on the car.
 
A couple of years ago, I posted the possibility that this case might be related to Kathy's case. Nobody commented one way or the other at the time.

Recently, I ran across this unsolved case again and though that I would re-post it to see if anyone has any thoughts or comments.

Note that this girl was murdered only a few weeks after Kathy was attacked. This girl was dumped in a drainage ditch near a large department store. Note also that the girl's description is similar to that of Kathy.

-------------------------------------------------

Unidentified White Female
Discovered on August 16, 1975 in East Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut.
Estimated date of death: August 11, 1975.

Vital Statistics

Estimated age: 18 - 28 years old
Approximate Height and Weight: 5'5" - 5'6"; 125 lbs.
Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair, parted in center. Brown/hazel eyes. She had pierced ears. She may have had a small mole under the chin. She possibly had comestic surgery to reduce the size of the nose.
Dentals: Available. Probable orthodontic care.
Clothing: No clothing located.

Case History

The woman’s strangled body was found by a truck driver on a rainy August 16, 1975, floating in a drainage ditch behind the former Bradlees department store on Frontage Road. She was wrapped in a canvas tarpaulin and she was gagged and bound by black antenna wire around her neck, waist and knees. Police believe she was killed somewhere else and dumped on Frontage Road. She died of asphyxiation by suffocation at least five days prior to discovery.

Dried white paint spots on the tarpaulin might indicate the murderer had connections with the painting trade.

Investigators
If you have any information about this case please contact:
East Haven Police Department
Detective Division
Detective Sgt Scobie
203-468-3827

Source Information:
ID Wanted Organization
The Doe Network: Case File 93UFCT

LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/93ufct.html
 
Richard said:
According to Montgomery County Police Detective Bill Campbell, in an interview with Washington Post reporter Charles W. Hall on March 13, 1987, Fred Howard Coffey, Jr. worked at Vitro Corp. in Aspen Hill as a computer data system employee from April 24, 1975 to July 31, 1975. Campbell stated that according to company records, he interviewed for a job there on April 1, 1975. When Coffey suddenly quit his job in late July, he told his employer, Vitro that his wife and daughter had been injured in a Kentucky car accident. Campbell stated that the story was false and was identical to one he used in leaving another job.

A note of clarification: Coffey simply left the area without giving his employer any notice a few days prior to 31 July. It was later that he sent a letter to Vitro with his explanation for leaving and a request for his last paycheck. 31 July would have been the last day of that pay period. Coffey's rapid departure from the area coincided with publication of a Washington Post news article which described the attack on Kathy Beatty, and which stated that she was still alive and in the hospital.

Fred Coffey's residence address while working at Vitro was a room at the Holiday Motel, 807 S. Frederick Ave. Gaithersburg, MD. That motel was demolished a few years ago and a personal goods storage facility is now located on the site.

According to MCP Sergeant Gary Smith (in a Washington Post interview 22 June 1987), police tried to pinpoint when Coffey first came to the Holiday Motel, and they also tried to get old Maryland motor vehicle records to verify reports that he had bought a car in Montgomery County about the time of the Lyon girls' disappearance (25 March 1975). Unfortunately, by 1987 those records could no longer be located and were thought to have been destroyed.

Sgt. Smith also stated in his interview that attempts had been made to link Coffey to a set of keys found near Kathy Beatty.

Kathy and those keys were found only a few hundred yards east of Fred Coffey's place of employment.
Click to expand...

Just throwing this out there, more as a curiosity, then a more likely fact, but wanted to put it in here to read.
i seen the picture, of them keys that was posted........3of them, there somewhere....a Chevy key, a door key, and something else but i have forgotten.......in the girls case, hes education, makes a good POI, on that short list........above average intelligence,.....but the main reason, i posted here, after reading more on the girls...........I wonder if this person knew John Brennan Crutchley ?...somehow in there inner circle, similar type jobs etc.....seems they both had a thing for coming and going with jobs.... just wondered, if they had crossed paths before, and even develop some kind of relationship.?

forgot to add...

this blood poisoning, i read about here, was that due to the injuries, or should i take that as meaning some kind of poisoning through injection??
i was reading about another killer, while looking at the girls case, and i came across one whom killed, or killed one with a injection of something.
i just don't remember now whom it was i was reading about, as far as the killer, that is why i asked here..........

Just remembered, this other murder was a injection of some kind of animal drug i believe it was, if Kathy had also been injected with something to poison her, maybe we could make a match, and perhaps they were injected with the same poison.

ALL MOO, NOTHING FACTUAL OR FOR CERTAIN, UNLESS KNOWN TO BE, ALL SPECULATION AND ASSUMPTIONS ON MY PART
​
 
Kathy's autopsey was not made public to my knowledge, so I do not know the exact nature of all her injuries. I do know that she had received a major blow to the head and that she was unconcious when found on Friday Morning, 25 July 1975.

She was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and lived for 12 days before she died. She did not regain consciousness prior to death. In a story some months later, her mother stated that Kathy had died of blood poisoning - that is a sepsis or infection - as a result of her injuries.

Nothing was stated about any kind of injection or "poisoning" with any kind of substance.
 
Richard, the follwoing shows travel from Franklin NH to Aspen Hill, MD.
the girls home which is located on Plyers Mill Road, runs right into 97 it looks like.........Kathy Lynn Gloddy was from Franklin and Kathy Lynn Beatty was from Aspen.......is this the reason why, certain POI were suspected, and was a connection, or better an assumption, these two girls may have been abducted by same person, or at least one of the two , and also the missing lyons sisters??......And could it be possible, with what you know, that the lyons sisters may be in aspen or franklin.

just looking a for connection i guess, to the two kathys, or a connection to at least one of those two, and the two lyons sisters.
but im confused, on where to go.......look forward to your input.

thank you in advance...coffy or crutchley...yes , i still have that crutchley person in my mind, and it wont go away!.....and he does look like the composite of the murdered student in the library at penn state in 69 i think it was..

this person [SIZE=-1]Edward Dukette is the one LE, feels almost certain he killed GLoddy.......hes dead now, but heres the link just case you wanted to see it
[/SIZE]http://www.fox44now.com/Global/story.asp?S=10961103

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3970684480_7cd25b1694_o.jpg
 
Man suspected in unsolved NH murder dies in Fla.
Associated Press - August 20, 2009 6:35 AM ET

FRANKLIN, N.H. (AP) - The New Hampshire Attorney General's office says a man considered a potential suspect in a 38-year-old unsolved murder has died in Florida.

Senior Assistant Attorney General Will Delker tells The Citizen that Edward Dukette was a "person of interest" in the death of 13-year-old Kathy Lynn Gloddy in 1971.

The 66-year-old Dukette, who died last week, was a tenant in the home owned by Kathy's father. She was raped, beaten, strangled and run over by a car.

In 2006, Dukette walked into a Florida jail and said "he needed to be arrested." He allegedly said he was with a girl named Gloddy when she died but "couldn't remember if he raped her." Dukette later recanted.

When asked what Dukette's death means to the investigation, Delker said he still considers it an open homicide.


Information from: Citizen, http://www.citizen.com


-----------------------------

I do not know if the case of Kathy Lynn Gloddy and that of Kathy Lynn Beatty are connected, although there certainly are some similarities. Whether they constitute a pattern, or simply a coincidence is hard to say with so little information.

The murders of the two girls occurred four years apart and quite a distance from eachother.

It would be very interesting to see a timeline on the person of interest in the Gloddy case. Where was he at various times? What crimes did he commit? What connection - besides his confession - is there between him and Kathy Lynn Gloddy? Was he ever in Maryland, specifically Wheaton, and when was that?


As to a possible connection between the Gloddy case and the Lyon case, that would depend on more information. The known information about the Lyon disappearance does not closely match what is known in the Gloddy case, in my opinion. But perhaps more information might indeed turn up some connections.
 
yes, the infamous roadblock.

not enough LE files to continue on with.

Perhaps, in the future, there will be further developments and we can continue on.
​
 
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