Hartford's Brutal Forgotten Murder
More Than Sixty Years After 20-year-old Sandra Smith Was Found Strangled and Drowned in the Bathtub of Her Hartford Apartment Few Remember Her Violent Unsolved Homicide
By Shawn R. Dagle
In the bathroom of a first-floor apartment a young woman is found partially submerged in a tub with scald burns on her face. She has been strangled and drowned and her wallet is missing.
A dark-haired man in his twenties is seen leaving the vicinity of the apartment in a brown and tan car with Connecticut license plates.
Using the description of the car investigators track suspects all the way north to Maine but come up empty handed. No arrests are made in the young woman’s murder. Within two years her case goes cold.
Decades eventually pass. Since a brief mention in the newspaper in 1980 nothing appears to have been written about the murder. To this day it appears nobody has ever been arrested in connection to the crime.
The victim - 20-year-old Sandra Smith - had moved to Torrington, Connecticut - from her native Philadelphia - years before with her parents Lawrence and Bernice.
Originally from Boston her father Lawrence had attended Drexel University in Philadelphia before becoming Vice-President of Finance for the Torrington Company – a subsidiary of Ingersoll Rand – in 1955.
In addition to Sandra, Lawrence and Bernice had two other daughters and a son.
Growing up Sandra had fainting spells and suffered a concussion. As a teenager it appears she may have attended the Centenary College for Women in Hackettstown, New Jersey before getting a job as a physical education teacher at the Institute of Living.
At the time of her murder Sandra - young and athletic - was working as a medical receptionist for Dr. Henry L. Birge – a senior ophthalmological surgeon at Hartford Hospital. She was living in a first-floor apartment at 146 Jefferson Street in Hartford with two female roommates – one of whom worked at the Institute of Living.
The evening of her death - August 2, 1961 - Sandra’s roommates had gone out on a double date to a drive-thru in Newington according to one report. Sandra had gotten a permanent that afternoon and decided to stay behind in the apartment.
A friend of Sandra’s reportedly stopped in and visited her that evening. After talking for approximately an hour the friend left shortly after 9 p.m.
Earlier that evening Sandra had telephoned her fiancé in New York. Sandra’s fiance wasn’t in and she left a message at his hotel to have him call her when he returned.
At approximately 9:30 p.m. Sandra’s fiancé called back. They spoke on the phone for approximately a half hour. Sandra appeared to be in good spirits, talking happily about their upcoming marriage plans. She informed her fiancé that she had just gotten a raise and soon they might be able to announce their engagement. Before hanging up she told her fiancé she was going to go take a bath.
At some point Sandra made her way into the bathroom and placed fresh underwear and a bathrobe on the toilet seat near the tub. What happened next is unknown.
Sometime between midnight and 12:35 p.m. – depending on the account – one of Sandra’s roommates and her date returned to the apartment. They noticed the bathroom light was on. When they went in to take a look they found Sandra partially submerged in the bathtub. She was dead – just a week before her 21st birthday.
Initially police were not sure whether Sandra’s death had been an accident given her history of fainting. It soon became clear however that foul play was involved.
The water was either still running or had been turned off depending on the account. Sandra had scald burns on her neck and marks apparently made by a person’s thumbnail as if she had been choked.
Sandra also appeared to have been struck – a blow which caused two of her upper teeth to cut into her lip. There was also a slight discoloration around her left eye and other unspecified marks on her body.
Police theorized that a prowler had attacked Sandra while she was preparing to take her bath. They went on to speculate that Sandra had been placed in the tub and the hot water turned on for a few seconds before it was switched to cold.
On her face Sandra had suffered third degree burns and blistering. Both of her breasts were also cut and bruised.
Investigators believed Sandra had been strangled and her head held under the water until she drowned.
Whoever had murdered Sandra appeared to have gained entry to her apartment through a rear doorway. There police discovered a screw eye that had been fastened to the rear screen door lying on the floor of her back porch several feet away, apparently broken off as the perpetrator tried to gain access to the apartment.
The only sign of a struggle in Sandra’s apartment was spilt bath powder.
Approximately ten minutes after Sandra hung up the phone with her fiancé a neighbor in her building told police they heard a “scuffling noise followed by sounds which sounded like sobbing” coming from her apartment.
Her landlord also reported hearing talking as he walked by the window of Sandra’s apartment that night.
One witness – passing by her apartment just before 11 p.m. – claimed to have seen a man sitting in her living room. The witness only saw the back of the man’s head. The man was described as approximately five feet, ten inches, with light brown hair that was thinning around the top.
Some witnesses in the area also reported seeing a man in his mid-twenties with dark hair driving away in a brown and tan car with Connecticut registration plates.
Sandra’s wallet – which she had kept in her straw handbag on her dresser – was missing. Inside were money and a picture of her fiancé.
During their investigation police were able to track down a former Jefferson Street resident in Maine who had driven a brown and tan car similar to the one seen near the scene of Sandra’s murder.
That man – who had a history of motor vehicle and drunkenness arrests according to reports – was questioned but police were able to confirm that he had registered at a motel in Maine the night of Sandra’s murder and he apparently was cleared.
Investigators also were looking for multiple suspects with records involving the assault of women. How those leads panned out however is unclear.
Police poured everything they had into the investigation for two years. The case however went cold.
Sandra’s case would remain largely forgotten for another two decades until 1980 when it was briefly mentioned in an article appearing in The Hartford Courant. Since then it does not appear anything has been written on Sandra’s murder. Her death – it appears – still remains unsolved.
February 23, 2023
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Sources
The Naugatuck Daily News “Girl’s Death Called Murder; Police Continue Investigation” August 17, 1961
Hartford Courant “Bathtub Killings Remains Mystery 2 Years Later” August 3, 1963
The Bridgeport Post “Police Say Girl Was Murdered” UPI August 10, 1961
The Hartford Courant “Death of a Young Woman Still Mystery to Police” Michael Kenney, April 22, 1962
The Hartford Courant “Women Plan College Party” September 11, 1958
The Hartford Courant “Lab Report is Awaited in Study of Girls Death” August 6, 1961The The Hartford Courant “Lawrence Smith Was Businessman” December 4, 1984
The Hartford Courant Obit Dr. Henry L. Birge October 27, 1991
The Hartford Courant “Police Looking for Suspect in Girl’s Murder” August 20,1961
The Hartford Courant “Suspect in Girl’s Death Questioned in Maine” August 11, 1961
The Hartford Courant “Murder Victim’s Kin Scores Leniency” Alan Southerton, April 3, 1980
The Hartford Courant “Man Released in Death Probe” August 12, 1961