Investigation
A reconstruction of the murder gave investigators the idea that the murderer perhaps entered Bauerdorf's apartment by passkey and lay in wait downstairs until she got ready for bed. Another possibility is he rang the doorbell after she retired. Penprase believed it unlikely that Bauerdorf was accompanied home by a serviceman. She might have met someone at the canteen who drove her home and left her at the door. Later he returned to kill her after she prepared for bed.
A neighbor, who requested anonymity, told sheriff's Capt. Gordon Bowers he was awakened by screams around 2:30 a.m. He first heard a scream which made him sit upright in bed. This was followed by a female voice yelling "Stop, stop, you're killing me!." He said the screaming soon subsided. Thinking it might be a family argument, and being sleepy, he went back to bed.
A date book diary was found in the bedroom containing the names of servicemen. Army authorities joined with the Sheriff's Department in a search for clues. A sailor was questioned in Long Beach, California, but was determined not to have been her attacker. Authorities hoped that someone who saw the young woman leaving the canteen, accompanied by an escort, would come forward. Numerous letters received by Bauerdorf were scrutinized by investigators.
A particular soldier was thought to have been infatuated with Bauerdorf. He was described as "swarthy". He had cut in on Bauerdorf during nearly every dance on the night of her death. Investigators checked U.S.O. centers and other canteens to try to find and question him. The soldier eventually contacted police and was completely exonerated, according to news accounts, although he was never identified.
Bauerdorf was with June Ziegler at the canteen on the night prior to the murder. She told the sheriff's office that Bauerdorf dated a serviceman who was 6'4" less than a month before her murder. He was a buddy of another serviceman whose name was frequently mentioned in the diary. According to Ziegler, Bauerdorf remarked that the tall soldier was very much taken with her. However she did not return his interest and quit going out with him. The soldier was sought for questioning by officers.
Rose Gilbert said Bauerdorf never entertained friends alone. The secretary revealed that Bauerdorf occasionally asked men to stop in briefly. However she never asked them to remain. Her education in a convent and a girl's school in California gave her very stringent ideas of propriety, according to her father's assistant.
At a coroner's inquest October 20, a jury of nine men found that Bauerdorf's death was a homicide and proposed a thorough investigation to apprehend her killer. During the hearing, Fred Atwood, janitor of the apartment building provided new evidence for deputies. He said he heard woman's heels clicking back and forth on the floor, followed by a loud crash, like a tray dropping on the floor. He was awakened by this noise around midnight on October 11. He recognized the sounds as coming from Bauerdorf's apartment. He said there was no one with her.
Atwood also said he entered the apartment the next morning about 11:10 a.m., accompanied by his wife. They found Bauerdorf's body lying semi-nude in her bathtub. Two of the deputies confirmed the janitor's testimony that Bauerdorf was alone before her slayer evidently lured her to her darkened door. Atwood said he discovered the night light bulb being screwed around a couple of turns. He responded that he had never seen this happen before. Officers testified that the apartment showed no indication of a struggle. Yet the autopsy proved that Bauerdorf had given a mighty struggle to live. Sam Wolf, brother of Bauerdorf's stepmother, denied that the victim suffered fainting spells.
The sole clue was a bit of elastic bandage wedged down her throat as a gag. Officials hoped that by tracing it they might solve the murder.
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