Lynn Maria Seethaler
She was skinny and tall with beautiful blue eyes and brown hair. She was very pretty, very nice and very popular.
While in her Sophomore year of high school, Lynn met Janice Piertropla.
Janice Pietropola
She was short with beautiful brown eyes and brown hair. She was very nice, sweet and very smart with a strong worth ethic.
In January of 1969, Janice and her family moved from Wilkinsburg to Penn Hills.
Janice started Penn Hills High School part of the way through her Freshmen year. While at school she had good grades and was in Commercial, Student Secretary, Honor Guard, Booster Club, Junior Homeroom Treasurer and Secretary.
She was waitress at the Golden Circle Restaurant and later did secretarial work at Howard Hanna. She saved her money and bought a new, white Volkswagen Beetle.
Janice graduated Penn Hills High School in 1972.
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After graduation Lynn worked as a secretary for Dunn & Bradstreet, Inc, Shadyside. She lived at 345 Whittier Drive in Penn Hills. And Janice worked as a secretary for the Urban Redevelopment Authority in East Liberty. She lived on 128 Golden State Drive, Verona. She was considering college and a career in journalism.
It was late June of 1973, Lynn and Janice were both 19-years-old and going on vacation to Virginia Beach. They almost changed their minds. 6 other girls were supposed to go with them, but the other ladies pulled out at the last minute. Lynn and Janice both reluctantly decided to go.
Back then, there was not much crime at Virginia Beach. The resort was seasonal and was made up mostly of mom and pop motels. There were clubs and bars such as The Shack, The Peppermint Beach Club and Rogue's Gallery.
On Monday, June 25th, 1973, Lynn and Janice checked into the Farrar's motel on 10th street at Atlantic Avenue. Farrar's was family owned, one story and had 30 units, including four cottages. Lynn and Janice stayed in the first cottage closest to the beach. It had one bedroom, a living room with a couch that pulled out into a bed, a kitchen and a bathroom.
Lynn and Janice hung out with other people, went out on dates and enjoyed the sun and ocean.
They sent their families post cards documenting their adventure.
On Saturday, June 30th, Lynn and Janice were supposed to check out of their motel room. It was 11 a.m. and 25-year-old Mr. Taylor was working in the office and wondering why he hadn't heard from the girls yet. He wanted to get housekeeping in there to get the room ready for the next guest. He grabbed a key and headed to their cottage. He knocked and after getting no response he cracked open the door. He could see a foot on the floor living room. Mr. Taylor assumed that they were sleeping and went back to the office.
Mr. Taylor got a feeling that something wasn't right and headed back to Lynn and Janice's cottage. He pounded on the door and then pushed it open. It was partially blocked by one of the ladies. To his horror, the lady on the floor was dead and so was the other one who was in the bedroom. Mr. Taylor said that there was an awful stillness in the cottage. He pulled the door back shut and went to the office and called the police.
Virginia police and detectives rushed to the scene.
Both Lynn and Janice had been strangled. Lynn had had her neck slashed with a broken wine bottle and had been shot in the head twice with a .22 caliber gun. Janice had been raped and shot in the right side of the head three times.
Police believed the murderer removed the screen and entered through a window.
In the afternoon on June 30th,1973 a news reporter called Janice's mother Lucille to talk about Janice's and Lynn's murder.
"Janice is dead! Janice is Dead!" Lucille wailed.
Judy, who was 16 years old at the time, ran down the stairs screaming so loud that the neighbors came out of their houses. 15 minutes later, detectives walked up the front steps.
Janice's family gathered at Lynn's house. Janice's father, Michael, and his four brothers, took a shot of whiskey before driving to Virginia Beach to identify the girls.
The search was on for Lynn's and Janice's killer. The investigation was spearheaded by Virginia Beach homicide Detective William Haden.
The two men at the resort, that ladies had went out on dates with, had been interviewed and cleared. So were the rest of the people that Lynn and Janice had hung out with. Even Mr. Taylor was questioned and eliminated as a suspect.
Hundreds attended Lynn's and Janice's funerals.
Janice was buried in her pink Senior prom dress.
46 years after Lynn's and Janice's were murdered, Virginia police arrested Ernest Broadnax after following a strong lead and after DNA evidence found at the ladies' murder scene match his profile in the national database.
At the time of his arrest, Broadnax, also known as "Pop", was 80-years-old and living at an apartment building for veterans in St. Albans, a middle-class neighborhood in Queens. He volunteered at the Second Chance Deliverance Church, which was just a few blocks away from his home. He walked with a cane and had various health issues.
People that knew Broadnax from church were shocked when they found out about his sinister past and had previously thought of him as family.
The assault conviction was for a 2005 attack in which Broadnax struck a person in the arm with a metal pipe. The victim suffered a fractured arm and had to undergo multiple surgeries. Broadnax pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Both Lynn's and Janice's parents died before they found out who killed their daughters.
As of July of 2019, there has been no preliminary hearing because Broadnax had yet to be ruled competent for adjudication.
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