Georgette Bauerdorf - Crime Scene

Crime Scene

A maid found Bauerdorf's body, face-down in a bathtub. It is believed that she was attacked by a man who was lying in wait for her. Los Angeles County sheriff's Inspector William Penprase said that an automatic night light over the outside entrance of the apartment had been unscrewed two turns so it wouldn't go on. The murderer was thought to have stood on a chair to reach the light bulb nearly eight feet from the floor. Fingerprints were found on the bulb.

The theory of someone lying in wait was reinforced by an empty string-bean can and some melon rinds, found by officers in the kitchen waste basket. Investigators think Bauerdorf may have eaten a snack before retiring upstairs to her bedroom. Examination of her stomach revealed that she had eaten string beans about an hour before her death.

Bauerdorf's jewelry and other valuables were not stolen, although almost $100 was taken from her purse. There was a large roll of $2 bills and thousands of dollars worth of sterling silver lying in an open trunk.

A Pontiac 1936 coupe, registered in the name of her sister, Connie Bauerdorf, was missing. When the car was located, there was a dent in one of the fenders. Mechanics said the damage was recent and may have been the result of a collision with another car. The Pontiac was discovered abandoned on East 25th St., just off San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, California, where it apparently ran out of gas.

Bauerdorf put up a great struggle. An examination by Los Angeles County Autopsy Surgeon Frank R. Webb found abundant bruises and scrapes. The knuckles on Bauerdorf's s right hand were smashed and bruised. There was a large bruise on the right side of her head and another on her abdomen, perhaps the result of blows from fists. She had been strangled with a piece of towel stuffed down her throat. Webb said her right thigh showed the bruised imprint of a hand "even to the fingernail marks piercing the skin."