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Was an eccentric piano prodigy murdered by a scorned lover, a campus police officer, an actor in the local play… or someone else entirely? CASE DETAILS  Sigrid was an accomplished pianist since childhood. On September 4, 1977, campus police officer Tom Kokotajlo is working the night shift at the College of New Jersey (then named Trenton State College). He notices a green Schwinn bike parked in front of the school’s main theatre, Kendall Hall, which is odd — the fall semester is not supposed to start for four more days. The theatre doors are locked, but Kokotajlo decides to inspect the building anyway. Once inside, Kokotajlo discovers the dead body of a 25-year-old music graduate student, Sigrid Stevenson. Sigrid is lying face-down, center stage, in a pool of blood. Ewing detectives quickly arrive on the scene to investigate. Sigrid, an accomplished piano student, is positioned with one of her arms outstretched. Streaks of blood around her body lead to an upright piano. Was she playing just before she died? Sigrid’s blouse is gathered up around her neck, used to strangle her amidst what appears to have been a violent struggle. Aside from the blouse, Sigrid is naked. Curiously, the rest of her clothes are in a reasonably neat pile beside the piano, along with her shoes and her backpack. None of these items have a speck of blood on them.  Kendall Hall was known for being easy to sneak into at night. Upon examining the body, Dr. Rafaat Ahmad determines that Sigrid was sexually assaulted, and the murder weapon that killed Sigrid was a long, cylindrical object, like a pipe or a stick. Dr. Ahmad also discovers strange marks around Sigrid’s wrists, suggesting that Sigrid was bound at some point during the attack. Was Sigrid bound by rope? Or did the killer use handcuffs? Sigrid’s purse, diary, and a bag of her belongings are discovered in a small green room near the stage. However, crucial evidence is missing from the crime scene. The murder weapon is never recovered, and neither is the item used to bind Sigrid’s wrists. The DNA gathered from the scene is not substantial enough for testing in the late 1970’s. Finally, and perhaps most puzzling, investigators are unable to find a single footprint left behind by the killer despite the massive amount of blood at the crime scene.  The murder weapon matches the description of a police baton, which performers in the local play also used. Ewing investigators immediately zero in on two different types of suspects. The first, campus police officers. All officers have keys to the theater, handcuffs, a gun, and nightsticks, which fit the profile of the murder weapon. The second pool of suspects is a small troop of actors who had performed in a play in Kendall Hall the night before the murder. Sigrid had attended this play, and some of the actors had access to the theatre. Also, in a strange twist, several actors played cops in their performances, carrying handcuffs and batons.  Investigators refuse to let Sigrid’s case go cold. Despite a huge pool of suspects and over 100 interviews, investigators fail to name a single suspect in the murder of Sigrid Stevenson. In the years that follow, Sigrid’s case goes cold. Slowly, her brutal murder becomes an urban legend on the campus, and the facts of the case begin to fade away–that is until a film student from the College of New Jersey decides to take a fresh look at the case almost fifty years later. If you have information about the murder of Sigrid Stevenson, contact the Mercer County Homicide task force at (609) 989-6406. Unlock more content at www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/unsolved-mysteries-volume-4. |
