PA PA - Holly Branagan, 17, Bethlehem, 28 March 1979

[JulieR]

One other note on the phone, didn't Holly's brother and his friend go to the house in the morning and find Holly? Didn't they use the phone> or did they run out of the house and go back to the friends house and call the police. Since Holly was in the Kitchen, maybe he called from Holly's room and left the phone off the hook, although he said he tried calling all night and the phone was off the hook.....way to many question?

 

[StealthTheory]

I apologize if these questions have been answered already but didn't see them
...

1 - Was Holly's father seeing anyone new? I know their mother has passed.
I wonder if he had a jealous new person in his life that wanted his children out of the way. Did he ever re-marry?

2 - What is all this junk about a secretary B? Is this the father's secretary? How far was his office from their home?

3 - no one in the neighborhood reported seeing any cars near her home?

4 - Did any of her friends live extremely close to her home/as in they could run home without being seen easily? Did any of her friends have parents also not home/out of town?

5 - The supposed phone call asking if her father was out of town yet makes me wonder if it even took place, or if she had a guy friend she wanted to stay over. Would her brother tattle on her?

 

[Balthazar]

I wouldn't think it odd at all to be in the kitchen. A lot of families live their lives out of the kitchen as the main room of the house. Dumping junk on the kitchen table after school or work, the mail. If you don't subscribe to that at all, maybe she was just getting a glass of water?

The reason I asked about what they were doing in the kitchen was because the phone in Holly's bedroom was off the hook and the bathroom light was on - as if Holly was getting ready to go out for pizza. I was trying to figure out if she was entertaining her killer in her bedroom or if the killer came to the door and they went directly to the kitchen, then went to Holly's room to clean up.

What if this person brought the dog to the front door and claimed that the dog had gotten loose?

 

[morf13]

The reason I asked about what they were doing in the kitchen was because the phone in Holly's bedroom was off the hook and the bathroom light was on - as if Holly was getting ready to go out for pizza. I was trying to figure out if she was entertaining her killer in her bedroom or if the killer came to the door and they went directly to the kitchen, then went to Holly's room to clean up.

What if this person brought the dog to the front door and claimed that the dog had gotten loose?

About the phone being off the hook,if it was,wouldnt there be a busy signal? I thought i read that there was no answer?

 

[FHSclassof79]

Do you really think the fire Holly's brother Sean's was in was an accident? Do you have any information on that, I wonder if he wasn't getting close to finding out who did this, rumors going around. I know the police were looking at him, but I just have a hard time believing that fire was an accident. Seems like someone wanted them both gone.

Story that I heard about her brother's incident was that he was employed at a service station at the time and was cleaning the garage floor with gasoline. Garage filled with fumes and either he or someone else turned on the light or some other electrical device powered on creating a spark and Kaboom! I never believed the rumors that he had something to do with her death but if he did he certainly paid for it.

 

[FHSclassof79]

I apologize if these questions have been answered already but didn't see them
...

1 - Was Holly's father seeing anyone new? I know their mother has passed.
I wonder if he had a jealous new person in his life that wanted his children out of the way. Did he ever re-marry? AFAIK he wasn't seeing anyone at the time, not sure if he ever remarried.

2 - What is all this junk about a secretary B? Is this the father's secretary? How far was his office from their home? Know nothing about it.

3 - no one in the neighborhood reported seeing any cars near her home? AFAIK no, if they did LE didn't release the info.

4 - Did any of her friends live extremely close to her home/as in they could run home without being seen easily? Yes. Did any of her friends have parents also not home/out of town? Don't know, don't think so.

5 - The supposed phone call asking if her father was out of town yet makes me wonder if it even took place, or if she had a guy friend she wanted to stay over. Would her brother tattle on her? Wouldn't have happened with school the next day.

-----

 

[Stella]

Holly's murder is so similar to the 1964 murder of Beverly Jarosz in the Cleveland suburb of Garfield Heights. Teenage girl, home alone, stabbed to death in broad daylight. Her best friend was probably waiting for her on the front porch at the time of the attack, yet her killer got away. Another unsolved one. Also, I wonder if there were life insurance policies on Holly and her brother. Anyone know?

 

[FHSclassof79]

I went to school with Holly and like her I was a senior too. Although I knew who she was and she knew who I was we were not "friends", she had her circle of friends and I had mine and the two circles didn't associate with each other. Never the less, her senseless murder always bothered me. I know that it has been 30 years since that time so things are a bit cloudy but there are a couple of things that happened that day that I have questions/doubts about.

1. Did she actually call her father's office at 4:45 PM to see if he left yet?

2. At 4:30 PM she was talking to her friend when "someone" showed up at her house. Now other than what her friend said, was there any other evidence that anyone actually did show up at her house at 4:30 PM?

From what I remember, none of her neighbors had seen any activity at her house. No cars coming, going or parked in driveway so were they just not paying attention or wasn't there anything to see going on? I believe the friend Holly was talking to at 4:30 PM was a neighbor of her's so that friend would have known how to get to Holly's house without being seen if it was at all possible. Claiming that someone showed up at her door at 4:30 PM could have been an attempt to divert suspicion away from her and to someone else. Also, was there any evidence that this friend actually showed up at 6:00 PM to pick up Holly to go get pizza?

Now I hate bringing this up cause it sounds like I'm accusing this friend who could be completely innocent but whomever murdered Holly was known to her and probably a friend of her's.

 

[Balthazar]

FHSclassof79: I have had similar thoughts about this. I don't know any of the players involved, never met Holly or even lived near there. There's just not enough information to go on to know for sure what happened.

 

[JulieR]

Some information I found in early newspapers:
Holly rode the bus home the day of the murder arriving home about 2:45?
I wonder if police asked the bus driver if anyone else got off at that stop, that normally didn’t?

There was a phone service man working on the lines the day of the murder…….he was cleared. The following morning after the murder of Holly a neighbor said she got a call for Holly Branagan, @ 7 am the lines were crossed. If this is true then why did Sean keep getting a busy signal.
Police said in an early report Holly was on the phone with a friend when the door bell rang she put down the phone in her bedroom and went to the door, picked up the down stairs phone and told the girl she had a visitor and she would call her back, this was 4:30
If this report is true, how did she call the office @ 4:45 to check and see if her father left? Maybe it wasn't Holly that made that call???? Maybe it was the murderer calling checking to make sure Holly's dad was out of town? This could have been a set up? This person knew Sean was not going to be home?
When the police came to the house, the bedroom phone was off the hook. (Really makes me think the friend on the other end, knew much more then she is saying.)
How many girls that age say I have a visitor?
Newspaper reports said locked doors.
Sean called from a neighbors home.
Knife came from a kitchen drawer.
One bathroom light on.

While there were a few defensive wounds on Holly’s hands the police said there wasn’t a huge struggle. Grandfather clock in the hall way was broken and stopped at 5:20
Could this clock have been staged and set at that time? One report said it all took place in the kitchen area, but the clock was in the hallway.

Small amount of marijuana was found in Holly’s pocketbook, the police didn’t make a big deal of this and I am not either, but I wonder if any drugs were in her system during the autopsy? Friends said she was a good girl smoked and drank a little, but that was it. The reason I bring this up is the police saying there was not a huge struggle, if she was high, it would have slowed her down and her response time would explain only a few defensive wounds. It would also be reasonable that whoever did this was someone she got high with....someone of that group of friends.

A few of Holly’s friends said they were getting threatening phone calls after Holly was murdered, I wonder if this is true?

A few friends got lawyers, why? Why as a parent, why would you get your child a lawyer? Could it be because you remember how your child was acting that day, or you seen something that wasn’t right like bloody clothes? I wonder if these parents that got lawyers, if the friends were of a small group that was hanging together that day? I wonder how many got lawyers? Remember back in 79 you didn’t hear a lot about people getting convicted without cause. Unless the police were coming a number of times talking to my child, or trying to make it sound like it was more then it was I would not get my child a lawyer.

Early reports say the police have no way of knowing if more than one person was involved and they haven ruled out a strong woman.
I must say I have a hard time with this one, they can’t tell if more then one person was in the house? The killer/killers must have taken the time to clean up pretty well, there had to be foot prints in blood she was stabbed in the front and found face down with the blade broken in her upper right back. The small number of defense wounds really bother me, unless she was stabbed once or twice in the front and turned to run leaving the remainder of the wounds being in her back. Seems like someone could have been holding her arms behind her back, she could have broke free once for the small amount of wounds on her hands. I hope they checked her body for bruises and signs of a fight, it appears to me they were only looking at the crime scene. I am not busting the police department here but by their own mouths they said we have never seen anything like this and we are a small department.
Could the police tell if this person was left handed or right handed by the angle of the blade?

Anyone know if Holly was seeing anyone? Could she have been seeing an older man, say one that had a wife or girlfriend?

 

[reportertype]

Forgive me if I missed the answer to this, but who exactly did Holly speak with when she called her dad's office? Was it a secretary who would know Holly's voice beyond a doubt?

 

[StealthTheory]

Maybe the parents got the kids' lawyers if just because they knew their kids probably smoked marijuana and were afraid of drug charges.

 

[Lorraining]

Was the crazy secretary "B" Mr. Branagan's secretary at that time? Was she the one that Holly would have spoken with to ask if her father had left?

 

[starkrial]

I have been collecting information and researching Holly's case for about 15 of the 30 years that it has been open and cold. I have shared most of what information is available at this point.

In the past two weeks I have become a bit overwhelmed with the many details and diverse theories so I am taking a short break.

If anyone has anything they would like to discuss please feel free to email me at starkrial@yahoo.com.

I am slo adding Holly's memorial site that I created a few months ago. Please visit and light a candle for Holly. Or leave a tribute. It's all we can do to keep her memory from fading back into a cold unsolved case.

Here is the link:
http://holly-branagan.gonetoosoon.org/memorial/

Thanks and keep up the great sleuthing. This site is awesome.

 

[starkrial]

Forgive me if I missed the answer to this, but who exactly did Holly speak with when she called her dad's office? Was it a secretary who would know Holly's voice beyond a doubt?

The only report available states that Holly spoke to a secretary at her Dad's office. No specific secretary is named on public record. The people at the office were a close small group, my guess they knew Holly from the time she was young, so yes, they would know her voice.

The office was about 5 minutes from the house.

Was B still employed there? I believe she was still employed as Mr. branagan's personal secretary.

She didn't have her breakdown until about 2 1/2 years later.

 

[reportertype]

Thank you starkrial.

I'm puzzling over this; it's an interesting case. I feel horrible for her father.

 

[jfriedman]

A press conference was held on 1-6-10 at the Northampton County, Pennsylvania DA's office. DA John Morganelli will empanel a grand jury by early February 2010. Among 31 other unsolved cases in the county, the first case that will be heard is Hollys. 23 jurors and 7 alternates will be sworn in by the first week of February and at least a dozen witnesses will be summoned to testify regarding Branagans murder. The last time Northampton County, PA had convened a grand jury was 10 years ago. The Branagan killing was not discussed. Morganelli and investigators have updated the case significantly and feel positive.

If you would like to discuss this case, please contact me: jim.friedman@nbc.com

 

[liz b.]

I am just reading about this case,and it is fascinating. One other marked similarity to the Lindy Biechler case : both victims were killed within a very tight time frame. It is almost as though the killer(s) knew they would be alone at that specific time.
Here is a possible scenario for Holly's murder :

1. She is on the phone,and the doorbell rings,or someone knocks at the front door. She ends the call. Very possible she did not know or expect the visitor.Otherwise she would probably have said to the person on the other end of the phone " I have to go -- I think so and so is at the door."

2. She opens the door, and it is a man in workclothes.He says something like " I'm here to look at the compressor on the furnace. " Something she would not understand.He would also tell her that her father had set the appointment a few weeks before.

3.At that point she might well have let him in, especially i he was skilled in seeming non threatening and purposeful. But, as he goes to look at the furnace, her instinct tells her to call her dad to check to see if he really did make this appointment. Too late,because he's gone.

It could be that she was stalked and watched just like Lindy was. If so, this was an intelligent and highly focused killer. Very scary,and I cannot account for the huge amount of rage present at both murders.

I just feel strongly that both murders were connected.

 

[TheMutt]

jfriedman I hope you'll be keeping us informed as to what the GJ finds

 

[SuzyLee]

Have the police cracked open the handle on the knife? Dead cells from the killer could easily have gotten trapped in there, something that couldn't be removed like fingerprints.