Susan Reinert Murder – Part 1

On June 22, 1979, Susan Reinert and her two children, Karen and Michael, would pull out of their driveway in Ardmore, PA never to be seen alive again.  Susan Reinert’s murder, and her children’s disappearance, would lead law enforcement on a twisted journey to bring to the killers to justice.   

Our story predominantly takes place in Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County which is approximately 25 miles NW from Philadelphia along the Main Line Railroad. One of those communities is King of Prussia which includes Upper Merion High School which even back in the 1960s and 1970s had a reputation for having high academic standards. So we are going to start down this rabbit hole in 1963.

Timeline of Events:

Fall Of 1963

Susan Myers, a newly hired English teacher, started at Upper Merion H.S. at the age of 23. Soon after she met William Bradfield who was the head of the English Department. He was her mentor and was 7 years her senior. Within a year the two were lovers. They began a 17 year “some time” secret relationship. 

Susan Myers was described as being moderately attractive to William Bradfield’s former college wrestler stature. He stood 6 feet 3 inches, had a brown beard, and blue eyes that depending on his mood would appear icy or poetic. William was a well-known womanizer who had a knack for pursuing unattractive women. He preyed on their insecurities and loneliness. This went for men as well.

Ten years into their relationship Bill agreed to move in with Susan, but only the condition that their relationship remains a secret. This was due to the moral turpitude clause in the teaching contract. Bill also had been married twice before.

Wife #1 was Fran.  They had met in college. It was described as a spiritual marriage. They had 2 sons, Martin and William who were born 1 year apart. Fran left when the boys were around 5 or 6.

Wife #2 was Muriel. She was not as attractive as Fran but was a born mother. It was a Common-law marriage. They had one son, David. William provided a home for her and the children in Chester County.

1966 – Dr. Jay C. Smith

Dr. Jay C. Smith started his first day at Upper Merion High School in his full dress Army Reserve Uniform. Jay C. Smith was a colonel with the 79th Army Reserve Unit. He had served under John Eisenhower. Eisenhower was the son of the 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. As first impressions go he made quite an impact and not necessarily positive.

No one could ever find him during school hours. He was always locked in his office. He made up words to fluster the staff and had a perverse need to shock. Jay C. Smith would talk to attractive female staff about finding work in the sex industry. Dr. Jay C. Smith washed his hands up to 15 times per day. After school hours he could be found walking around in his underwear. He would bring trash from home and throw it out at the school. There were strange chemical smells always coming from his office.

He ran a laissez-faire type school. Teachers could run their classrooms as they saw fit. Jay C. Smith was a sadist with a penchant for pornography, bestiality, and BDSM. He would remain the principal for 12 years.

Dr. Jay C. Smith was married to a woman named Stephaine who appeared to be the exact opposite of Jay. She was warm and friendly and called everyone “hun.” Stephanie and Jay had two daughters, Stephanie and Sheri.

1972/1973 – Susan Reinert Begins At Upper Merion Senior High School

Susan Reinert began as an English teacher at Upper Merion Senior High School. At the time Susan was married to Ken Reinert. He was a former Air Force Captain who was a navigator on a B 52 bomber. After retiring from the Air Force he took a job at a Philadelphia bank. The Reinert family settled down in Ardmore, PA, but the marriage was in trouble.

1974 – Susan Admits Affair

Susan hosted a literary shoot-out at her home that Bill Bradfield and others from the Upper Merion English Department attended. This seemed to be the beginning of their secret relationship. Susan told a friend and co-worker Sharon Lee and her occasional psychologist, Rosalyn Rivkin (in Echoes in the Darkness she has the last name of Weinberger) that she was in a secret relationship with Bill Bradfield. She said that within 5 years after he was emotionally and financially secure they would be man and wife.

May 1974 – Susan Writes Letters

Susan would write letters to Bill that she would never mail.  In one such letter, she wrote: “missing you and resenting restriction caused by Sue Myers.”

August 1977 – Sears & Roebuck Robbery

In August 1977, the Sears & Roebuck store in St. Davids was robbed. The robber dressed in a look-alike Brink’s armored guard uniform. He walked into the Sears store and gave a signed ID card to the cashier with the name of Carl S. Williams. The robber walked out with $34,073 in cash.

December 1977 – Security Guard Impostor

A security guard walks into the Sears & Roebuck store in the Neshaminy Mall around 2 pm. He gave an id card to the cashier with the name of Albert J. Wharton. The name matched but the signature did not. She asked about the money they had requested and the guard told her that it was on another truck, which had never happened before. The cashier contacted store security, but the guard got impatient and demanded his card back. He grabbed it and took off.

1977 – Faculty Altercation

Sue Myers kicked Susan Reinert in the shin in an altercation in the faculty lounge at school stating “if you care for yourself and your kids you’d better leave Bill alone.”

Susan Reinert had been attending group therapy and was told by several group members not to put up with Bill Bradfield’s treatment of her and his excuses. They told her he was up to no good, and very manipulative. Susan Reinert confided in her friend and co-worker, Pat Schnure, that Bill was worth waiting for.

May 1978 – Jay C. Smith Out As Principal

The faculty at the Upper Merion Senior H.S. learned that Jay C. Smith would be leaving his position as principal for a new role in the administrative offices as the Special Services Coordinator. The reason for this move was because Jay C. Smith had been caught shoplifting at various businesses in the area.

Summer 1978 – Classes At St. John’s College

In the summer of 1978, Bill Bradfield took classes at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Chris Pappas, a former student, who he had mentored also attended. Chris introduced Bill to Joanna Aitken. In the book Echoes in the Darkness she is referred to as Rachel. Bill had an on-again-off-again relationship with Joanna that would last for years.

August 19, 1978 – Man Carrying Guns Wears Cow Hood

A young couple was sitting on the curb outside of a pizzeria at the Gateway Shopping Center when they noticed a brown Ford Granada circling the lot and then parking next to a van.  A man wearing a cow-like hood over his entire face and carrying guns in each hand exits the vehicle and goes to peer inside the van.

The young couple crawls away to get to a payphone and call the police. When police arrived the couple was giving a description of what they had witnessed when they noticed the brown Granada slowly cruising in their direction. Police immediately begin to pursue the erratically driven car.  They eventually pull over the car on the Route 202 on-ramp at Valley Forge Road. Guess which road Jay C. Smith lived on?

Dr. Jay C. Smith is Detained

When the police ordered the suspect out of the vehicle one of the officers notices a .22 Ruger in the car. The suspect is detained and found to be Dr. Jay C. Smith. They place him under arrest and start a search of the vehicle. They discovered:

• 4 loaded handguns
• The sleeve of a football jersey fashioned into a hooded mask
• Bolt cutters
• Other tools used to break into cars
• Oil filter with 2 bullet holes in the top (homemade silencer)
• A syringe filled with an unknown substance and another one in the suspect’s pocket.
• This substance was later found out to be Ethchlorvynol. Another name for it is Placidyl, which is a tranquilizing drug that induces unconsciousness within a minute when it is injected.
• Had his daughter, Stepanie’s social security card.

Dr. Jay C. Smith was taken to jail and officers overheard him on the phone directing someone to go to his house before the police got there and make sure to remove everything, especially the files.

Police Begin a Stakeout

Police begin a stakeout and at 2 am, they watch as a car pulls into Jay C. Smith’s driveway and a man described as looking like Woody Allen begins to load up boxes into his trunk from a basement apartment. The man turned out to be a former librarian and close friend of Jay C. Smith. What the police discovered was:

• 818 mg of marijuana
• Vials of contraband pills and capsules
• Stolen school equipment and reproductions of famous paintings from the school district
• 4 gallons of nitric acid
• 2 silver badges and uniforms
• Bogus ID cards from the US Army
• Bottles of drugs such as Valium, Librium & Placidyl
• 5 more oil-filter silencers
• Latex gloves
• A pile of blue combs bearing the name of Jay C. Smith’s army reserve unit
• Guns registered using a fake id. The police later found that the id used was that of a male teacher at Upper Merion HS. His wallet stolen from his desk.
• A library of books with titles of The Canine Tongue, Her Bestial Dreams, Her Four-legged Lover, The Bestial Erotic’s and Animal Fever. Jay C. Smith believed that dogs could be used as sex surrogates that would help divorce rates.
• There were also lots of swinger publications, both straight and gay.
• A significant quantity of chains and several locks

Jay C. Smith was charged with the Sears theft at St. Davids store, the attempted theft of Neshaminy Mall Sears, prowling with loaded guns at Gateway Shopping Center, property theft from Upper Merion School District and possession of contraband drugs. Of special note is that all of Jay C. Smith’s crimes occurred on Saturdays, even the last time his daughter and her husband were seen.

Jay C. Smith’s Daughter

Dr. Jay C. Smith’s daughter Stephanie was married to Eddie Hunsberger. Both were drug addicts with a history of going in and out of rehab. Eddie had been convicted of drug offenses and armed robbery and was on probation.

On February 25, 1978, Stephanie and Eddie were visiting his parent’s home in North Wales PA to complete his taxes.  Eddie usually visited his parents once a week so this was not out of the norm. Stephanie and Eddie told the Hunsberger’s that they had to go somewhere but would be back in a little while. They never returned and after a few weeks, the Hunsberger’s contacted Jay C. Smith who told them the following. They moved to California because Eddie found out there was a warrant for his arrest and that they owed money to some drug dealers.

Eddie’s mother investigated and could find no such warrant. They left all of their stuff behind including an uncashed income tax check. Both Stephanie and Eddie were to begin treatment at a methadone clinic, but when they failed to show the program contacted Jay C. Smith in March 1978. He told them that he would be detoxing Stephanie himself with Placidyl, which is a tranquilizer, and some really good pot.

Jay C. Smith cashed both Stephanie and Eddie’s welfare checks after their disappearance for six months; forging their signatures. A warrant for Eddie’s arrest was issued in September 1978, but to this day neither Stephanie nor her husband Eddie have resurfaced.

August 1978 – Trying To Arrange Bail

Jay C. Smith was in Chester County Farms Prison trying to arrange bail.  He received a letter from Bill Bradfield offering sympathy and support. A correspondence began between the two men.

Fall 1978 – Still In Love

Susan Reinert informed her psychologist that while she and Bill are still in love, nothing had really changed in their relationship, and she is starting to be “a little more interested in dating others again.” Susan Reinert’s mother passed away leaving her a $34,000 inheritance and a wedding ring valued at $1,500.

Around this time, Bill Bradfield awoke one morning and claimed to Sue Myers that Jay C. Smith was innocent of the Sears robbery.  He claimed that Jay C. Smith was with him in Ocean City, MD at the time of the first robbery. Sue Myers pointed out that he had never mentioned that to her before and his response was that it didn’t seem important at the time.

Around this time Bill was telling Vince Valaitis that Jay C. Smith was a hitman for the mafia and that he was going to kill Susan Reinert – claiming that Jay C. Smith and Susan were having an affair. Vince said they needed to go to the police, but Bill told him “no” they had no proof. Bill also told Sue Myers about his clandestine meetings with Jay C. Smith but did not know why Jay C. Smith wanted to kill Susan Reinert, only that they could not go to the police. Bill claimed he could control Jay C. Smith.

Susan Gives Bill An Ultimatum

According to Roslyn Rivkin, Susan Reinert gave Bill an ultimatum he had gotten very angry about.  When he calmed down, he pointed out that if he walked out on Sue Myers it might prove fatal, claiming that she is hysterical and unstable, and he didn’t know what she would do. Susan was ending their relationship and he knew it. He asked for a little more time to ease Vince Valaitis into a relationship with Sue Myers so it would be less traumatic for her. He told Susan he was moving out and back in with his parents.

Susan Reinert told Roslyn Rivkin, Pat Schnure, and Sharon Lee that she was marrying Bill Bradfield in the coming summer of 1979 and they intended to move to England with her children. She planned on not telling the children yet because she was afraid that he ex-husband would try to stop her from taking the kids.

While this is going on, Bill Bradfield wanted Sue Myers to sign a cohabitation agreement. This is an agreement between two people living together, but not married. He feared that Susan Reinert had named him as a beneficiary on a “small” insurance policy and if Jay C. Smith were to kill her, Bill might be caught up in the investigation because his name is on the policy. He claims he wanted to protect Sue from being drawn into a sticky civil lawsuit.

Bill had to list his current and future assets:

• A $250,000 life insurance policy from his mother that he was the beneficiary to.
• $500,000 no description is given.
• A $500,000 inheritance expected in the near future.

December 1978 – Insurance Policy

Susan Reinert contacted the USAA insurance company trying to secure a $500,000 life insurance policy naming William S. Bradfield Jr. as the beneficiary. Her application was denied based upon the grounds that such a large policy would over insure her life.

That same week Susan contacted Jay C. Smith by letter asking for a reference as an exchange teacher for a position in England for the 1979-1980 school year; which Jay C. Smith agreed to do. Bill Bradfield kept telling the others that Jay C. Smith was planning on killing Susan Reinert and if he didn’t then she may be killed by somebody she picked up because she dates black men and frequents bars; she seemed to have a death wish.

Around this time, Sue Myers found a typewriter that was designed for a handicapped student at Upper Merion in the attic of their apartment building.  Bill claims that he bought it from Jay C. Smith. Sue demanded that Bill take it back to the school, but this incident convinced her that Bill was meeting with Jay C. Smith.

Bill was also seeing Wendy Zeigler at the end of the Christmas break before she returned to college in California. Wendy told Chris Pappas that Bill had promised to marry her once she graduated. Bill was also telling Wendy that Jay C. Smith was threatening to kill Susan Reinert because she was somehow going to interfere with the alibi testimony that Bill felt obligated to offer at Jay C. Smith’s upcoming trial.

January 1979 – Business Opportunity?

Bill Bradfield continued working with Chris Pappas to get evidence that would put Jay C. Smith away. Bill claimed that Jay C. Smith gave him all the instruments of murder because he didn’t want the police to find them with his trial approaching.

Susan Reinert contacted her brother telling him about a business opportunity. She told him that her friend, Bill Bradfield, knew of an “agent” who would offer 12% interest for a short-term investment. She was giving Bill $25,000 and Bill was putting up $12,000 and asked if Pat would put in $13,000 for a total investment of $50,000. Pat declined wishing his sister would end her long relationship with Bill as Pat felt Bill was a womanizer.

Susan was also trying to get a larger life insurance policy this time a “term” policy that would only payout in the event of her death. New York Life insured her for $100,000 even though she wanted $250,000. She was able to negotiate a $150,000 life insurance policy, based on her fiance owning a farm in Downingtown (his parents) and a retail business in the Montgomery Mall (a failed business with Sue Myers and Vince Vailitis).

February 1979 – More Mischief

Susan contacted USAA again. This time requesting coverage to $250,000 with a $200,000 accidental-death rider. This was a one-year policy that would only pay William S. Bradfield as “intended husband” if she died within that year. The policy covered murder.

Bill Bradfield visited his wife, Muriel Bradfield, which lead Sue Myers to discover she was not a common-law wife, but in fact, his legal wife, as was Fran. He asked for a quickie divorce claiming that she might get caught up in a lawsuit due to the failing business and he wanted to protect her from harm.

On February 21st Susan Reinert attempted to withdrawal $25,000 in cash but was unable to. The bank manager refused on the grounds he was trying to protect her from what sounded like a scheme. Susan ended up transferring her money to another bank and slowly withdrew sums of money totaling $25,000.

Spring 1979 – Death Tools

Bill gave Chris acid and some other “death” tools to hide for Jay C. Smith. Bill told Chris that Jay C. Smith would torture people to elicit cooperation. He would use an eyedropper to put acid in their eyes. Bill also gave him a .357 Magnum and a .30 caliber rifle along with a bag of bullets. He asked Chris to grind down the serial number and alter the barrel.

Bill also told him that Jay C. Smith likes to do his talking while they drive around. He reminded him to remain silent because Chris’s parents could be killed by Jay C. Smith.

At some point during the spring of 1979, Bill Bradfield traveled to Santa Fe, NM for a wedding and to do a “favor” for Jay C. Smith having to do with forged welfare checks. He told Chris that they needed to go to Taos, NM and to see a Spanish speaking couple that Stephanie and Eddie had been staying with. When they got to Taos, Bill Bradfield used a payphone explaining he just had to arrange the visit, but not actually go see the couple.

Once back in PA, Bill told Chris it had all been a devious plan set up by Jay C. Smith for them to go to Taos. Jay C. Smith admitted to him that he had in fact forged and cashed the welfare checks and he had also hinted to having killed and disposed of Stephanie and Eddie Hunsberger, who have never been found.

Mysterious Phone Call

While Bill and Chris were in Taos, a friend and co-worker of Stephanie Smith (Jay’s wife) took a call at their workplace.  Stephanie Smith was in the hospital for cancer treatment. The Taos operator connected the call and a male caller said:

“Hi! This is Eddie Hunsberger. Everything is okay with my wife and me. Please pass on the message to Mrs. Smith.”

My Thoughts

Going to say here that the caller was Bill Bradfield. This is the point where I feel there is truth in the belief that Bill and Jay C. Smith were working together.

April 1979 – What is Bill Bradfield Up To?

Bill talked with Vince Valaitis about the troubles he was having with Susan Reinert. She had named him are executor of her estate and guardian of her children. She was trying to trap him! He claimed that he had only been to her house to help with some household chores such as putting in an air conditioner and moving some furniture. Bradfield offered to give $500 to Vince for all the work he was doing at their craft store.  He claimed the money was from his personal fortune.

Around this time, Bill kept telling people, including other teachers that he might be mentioned in a will or an insurance policy belonging to Susan Reinert. He had also learned that Susan Reinert was seeing a kinky person who used human feces in their sex rituals.

Bill showed Chris Pappas $28,500 in the trunk of his car saying that it came from selling off some property and it was his life savings.  He asked Chris to wipe off the money for fingerprints. Bill claimed that if Jay C. Smith killed Susan Reinert and she named him in her will and on her insurance policies police would probably take fingerprints when they found the money. He wouldn’t want them to find Chris’s fingerprints on the money. He was doing it to protect him.  Does this sound familiar?

Safe Deposit Box

Bill wanted Chris to rent a safety deposit box for him in Chris’s name. What ended up happening was Bill wanted Wendy Zeigler to have access to the box. Chris went to Southeast National Bank in West Chester, rented a box, and took extra signature cards for Bill and Wendy. At this point, several people (teachers, former students, and one lawyer) knew per Bill Bradfield that Jay C. Smith was planning on killing Susan Reinert. Tragically, no one bothered to tell Susan or any of her closest friends.

May 1979 – Susan’s New Will

Susan Reinert hired an attorney and had a new will drafted in the event of her death.  Her brother would no longer be executor and her children were no longer her beneficiaries. The sole beneficiary, executor, and trustee of her estate would be her future husband “William S. Bradfield Jr.”

May 30, 1979 – Alibi Testimony

Bill Bradfield was subpoenaed to give his alibi testimony at Jay C. Smith’s robbery trial in Harrisburg, Dauphin County. Jay C. Smith’s attorney John J. O’Brien, had gotten a change of venue due to pre-trial publicity. O’Brien tried to discredit eyewitness testimony throughout the trial but was unable to do so.

Stephanie Smith, now in advanced stages of stomach and liver cancer, took the stand and testified that her husband could not have committed the crimes he was charged with. She and Jay were in Ocean City, MD that day in August 1977 when the St. David’s Sears store was robbed. She testified that their daughter Stephanie and her husband Eddie had gone with them. Jay had taken off for a few hours to meet with an educational consultant. On the ride back home, Jay had told his wife that he had run into Bill Bradfield.

Guilty Verdict

Bill took the stand and is described as flat, lifeless, and rigid in his testimony.  Bill claimed that on August 27, 1977, he was visiting a fellow teacher in Ocean City and happened to run into Jay C. Smith at the entrance to a restaurant at 12:25 pm.  He said that Jay C. Smith accompanied him to visit the other teacher, but he was not home so they left a note, went back to the restaurant for lunch, and said goodbye at 3 pm.

When questioned by the prosecutors as to why he did not eat first before going to visit his fellow teacher since they were already at the entrance to a restaurant, Bill got mad, started stammering, and would not let the prosecutor speak.  Bill went on to say that a neighbor, Rudy, had witnessed both Jay C. Smith and himself at Fred Wattenmaker’s door. Rudy the neighbor was called to testify and he denied ever seeing Bill that day in 1977 and in fact had not met him until 1978. The jury deliberated for less than two hours and came back with a guilty verdict for the robbery at the Sears store in St. Davids.

Susan Reinert talked with her friend, Pat Schnure after the trial and admitted that Bill had lied on the stand. She knew he lied because she was with him at the shore on August 27, 1977.  When she confronted him, he claimed that she was confused as to the date.  

Bill Bradfield, furious and depressed that they did not believe him (per a newspaper article) told Chris Pappas that Jay C. Smith was extremely angry with Susan Reinert for jilting him and that Jay C. Smith was going to beat her severely before he murdered her.

May 31, 1979 – Susan Calls Her Therapist

Susan called her therapist, Roslyn Rivkin, about Bill’s testimony in the Jay C. Smith trial.  She also called a week later stating that she felt Bill had perjured himself because Bill was sure that Jay C. Smith was innocent and that he rationalized his perjury stating he was seeking a “higher justice.”  

Susan told her therapist that she was not finished with this.

“I must know the truth. We made a date to talk about it and I’ll have to be satisfied.”

Susan Reinert

June 1979 – Creating An Alibi

On more than one occasion that spring, Bill Bradfield’s faded blue VW Beetle was seen parked in front of Susan’s house.  In early June, one of Susan’s neighbors, Donna Fornwalt, witnessed Bill Bradfield leaving Susan’s house. Susan came out of the door crying and calling his name. This could have been due to her confronting him about perjuring himself at Jay C. Smith’s trial.

By this time, Susan had four life insurance policies, some of which had an accidental death rider that would kick in if she were to die accidentally or be murdered within a year. Her future husband stood to inherit $730,000. She asked for two copies of her life insurance policies because her executor wanted one, but the company refused. Her copies of the policies were delivered to her on June 20, 1979. She told the insurance agent that she planned to leave the country in a matter of days.

Around the time that Susan was being delivered her last insurance policy, Bill had driven to Cape May, New Jersey to book two rooms for himself and three companions. Joanna (Rachel) had gone along with him and he dropped her off at an inner-city Philadelphia hotel where she had been staying for a month as Mr. and Mrs. Bill Bradfield.

Both Susan Reinert and Susan Myers were under the impression that they were going to England with Bill, but Bill had already enrolled in a summer program at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM for the summer.  The first day of class was to be on Monday, June 25. The plan was for both Bill and Chris to fly down on Friday, June 22, and plane tickets were purchased. 

Going to the Shore

Chris questioned why they were going to the shore the weekend before classes were to start in New Mexico instead of flying down early.  Bill told Chris that he needed to go to the shore on Friday because he had a feeling that Jay C. Smith was going to kill Susan that weekend. It would be his last chance prior to his sentencing hearing on weapons and drug charges. Bill wanted Chris to provide him with an alibi. Chris pointed out that being 2,000 miles away would provide the perfect alibi, but Bill said that he might be called as a character witness for Jay C. Smith’s sentencing which was to be held on Monday in Harrisburg.

Bill also wanted Vince Valaitis and Sue Myers to go to the shore. Vince told him he would not be able to attend because he had taken a summer job and did not feel he could call off.  Bill told him he had to go, plans had already been made. Vince started to protest so Bill told him that Jay C. Smith was going to harm Susan Reinert that weekend and he needed his closest friends to protect him and ended with “you’re going” and he did.

June 22, 1979 – Friday

Chris Pappas was instructed by Bill to buy tickets for the Monday, June 25th night flight to Albuquerque, NM and he told him that he would be by to pick him up sometime tonight and to be ready. At 3:30 pm, Bill picked up Wendy Zeigler and drove her to a motel on Route 30.  He told her all that had been happening with Jay C. Smith and how tired he was with trying to “get the goods” on Jay C. Smith in order to protect everyone. Bill told her that Sue Myers was on Jay C. Smith’s list. This is the first time she was mentioned.

At 7:30 pm, Bill took Wendy to the Southeast National Bank and had her go in and remove all the money in the safe deposit box and bring it to the car.  He explained that if Jay C. Smith really did kill Susan Reinert in the next few days, his accounts might be frozen because he was named in her will. Wendy was then instructed to take the money to her home in Wayne, PA, and stash it where her parents would not find it.

At 8:30 pm Bill dropped off Wendy at her friend, Jenny’s house (she also knew about Jay C. Smith wanting to kill Susan Reinert).  Chris was also there at the time. Bill Bradfield was not seen by anybody for the next 3 hours (8:30 pm to 11:30 pm).

Freak Hailstorm

On Friday afternoon, Susan contacted her former in-laws about whether or not her car would make it to Allentown the next morning for a Parents without Partners workshop she was presenting. Her concern was due to the gas rationing that occurred in the 1970s. She planned to take Michael to visit his grandparents for the week on Monday and Karen was going to stay with her father and go to a gymnastics camp.

Later that Friday evening, Susan called the president of the regional council for Parents without Partners saying that she would not be able to attend the workshop the next day. At 9 pm that evening, a freak hailstorm hit the area. Mary Grove, Susan’s next-door neighbor, had a sixteen-year-old granddaughter named Beth Ann who babysat for both Michael and Karen in the past.  She was over and collected hailstones outside with the two children.  

Around 9:30 pm Susan called the kids inside and a few moments later Mary Grove heard Susan’s car pull out of the driveway and head toward Belmont Avenue. At 11:15 pm Bill arrived at Vince’s door wearing a blue parka even though it was a hot and muggy night.

Sue, Vince, Chris, and Bill drove to Cape May, NJ at midnight.  At some point during the trip, Bill jerked upright and stated, “this is it! I’m afraid this is the weekend Jay C. Smith could kill Susan Reinert!” He went on to say that he tried to protect her and had even circled her house 14 times, but lost Jay C. Smith in the hailstorm. At 3:30 am the group arrived at Cape May and went to eat. At 5:00 am the group arrived at the Heirloom Apartments but were not able to get into their rooms until 7:00 am.

June 24, 1979 – Sunday

Around 7 pm, two men from South Carolina who were traveling to work at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant in Middletown, PA checked into the Host Inn. The Host Inn is now the Red Lion Hotel. They spotted an orange 1978 Plymouth Horizon in the parking lot with its hatchback partially opened. They thought they saw a white laundry bag but forgot to notify the front desk that someone had left their hatchback open.

June 25, 1979 – Monday

At 2 am a Swatara Township police officer was on a routine patrol in the Host Inn parking lot.  He spotted the orange hatchback and did a radio check on the license plate. He found the car was registered to Susan G. Reinert of Ardmore.  He went into the hotel and found that there was no guest registered under that name. Upon exiting he received a radio call of a fatal traffic accident and took off without checking out the vehicle.

Bill Bradfield checked out that morning and made sure everybody’s name was on their bill and wasn’t satisfied that the check would serve as the receipt.  He wanted a written receipt and asked that he be included on the bill. After dropping Chris off he claimed that he needed to call him about some books that were required reading that summer.  Bill stopped and used a payphone and made a long call before getting back in the car. Chris later admitted that he never received a call from Bill.

At 6 pm Vince and Sue helped Bill pack up his VW thinking he was driving to Santa Fe. Meanwhile, Chris met Bill at the airport where he learned that Joanne was going to drive the car alone to Santa Fe while they flew.

Meanwhile, at 5:20 am a Dauphin County Police and Fire Radio dispatcher had received a call from a man who identified himself as “Larry Brown.”  He reported that there was a sick woman in a car at the Host Inn parking lot. The same officer arrived back on the scene and this time checked out the hatchback and saw a pale naked body curled up in a fetal position wrapped in chains with her hands tied behind her back.

*Resources are included in Part 2

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