Developing: Pakistani Plane Escorted by UK Fighter Jets — 2 Men Arrested

Doc Thompson’s 24-hour radio marathon, ‘#24forok,’ continues until 9 am ET — Listen Live!

Crime

School Aide Fired After Anonymous Tip Exposes Her Involvement in 1965 Torture & Killing of Young Girl

Oct. 24, 2012 7:30am Billy Hallowell

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa teacher’s aide was fired Tuesday after school officials recently learned she was the member of an Indianapolis family who tortured and killed a girl in the basement of their home in 1965.

Paula Pace had worked for the BCLUW consolidated school district based in the central Iowa town of Conrad since 1998. She was a teacher’s aide at the district’s high school.

KWWL.com – News

Superintendent Ben Petty said the school board fired Pace for providing false information on her application. Petty said he could not comment further about the case. The board made the decision after meeting in special session to discuss the matter.

The district was notified by Grundy County Sheriff Rick Penning, who said his office received an anonymous telephone call last Wednesday informing him that Pace was Paula Baniszewski, formerly of Indianapolis, who had been convicted of manslaughter for participating in the torture and murder of 16-year-old Sylvia Likens in 1965.

“They wanted to make us aware of it because of the crime that was involved and because she was in the school system,” Penning said. “We turned it over to the school and we’re kind of out of it because there’s no criminal offense per se.”

He said the caller indicated they had picked up on Pace’s previous identity from a Facebook posting.

“Whether it was somebody on a vendetta or somebody just in the public interest started putting it on Facebook, people just started picking up on it,” the sheriff said.

Penning said his officers investigated the case and found that Pace had completed her prison sentence and was released on parole.

The case has been referred to as one of the most notorious crimes in Indianapolis. The story has generated fiction and nonfiction books, a play and movies including the 2007 dramas “An American Crime” and “The Girl Next Door.”

The case begins when Sylvia Likens and her sister, Jenny, were left by their parents with Gertrude Baniszewski and her seven children in the summer of 1965. In the following months, Sylvia was beaten, burned with cigarettes, branded with a hot needle, and suffered other abuse. Her malnourished body was found in the basement of the home Baniszewski rented on Oct. 26, 1965. The cause of death was brain swelling and internal bleeding of the brain.

A trial later revealed the torture came at the hands of Gertrude Baniszewski; her daughter Paula, who was 17 at the time; her son Johnny, then 13; and other neighbor children who would watch and at times participate.

In 1966, Gertrude Baniszewski was convicted of first-degree murder and Paula was found guilty of second-degree murder. Both were sentenced to life in prison in Indianapolis. Johnny Baniszewski and two other boys aged 16 and 15 were convicted of manslaughter. They were released on parole in 1968.

In 1971, the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the convictions of the two women, saying jurors had been prejudiced by publicity and that the trials should have been held separately.

The mother was convicted of first-degree murder again at a second trial. She was paroled in 1985, changed her name to Nadine Van Fossan and moved to Iowa. She died in 1990.

Paula Baniszewski, however, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter to avoid another trial.

The Indiana Department of Corrections records indicate she was sentenced in August 1971 to a sentence of two to 21 years. She escaped in 1971 but was recaptured. Her prison records show an escape charge was added in December 1971.

Baniszewski, who is now 64, was released from prison on Dec. 6, 1972, and discharged from parole in March 1974.

It is unclear when she moved to Iowa and when she changed her name to Paula Pace. She lives in Marshalltown, and telephone numbers listed in her name have been disconnected. She did not immediately respond to an email address listed for her.

She began working for the BCLUW school district in 1998, said the district’s attorney, Mike Smith.

He said he could not discuss personnel issues and could only confirm she was employed by the district as a teacher’s aide. It was not immediately clear if the district did a background check when she was hired.

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (27)

jessieH
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 6:33pm
Pigs don’t belong in school, they belong over an open fire.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
AllLost
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 4:13pm
Not certain I stand with the firing. Granted, I don’t know all the details, but the way it was presented this girl was in a cultish home with a domineering adult that threatened and at times provided great harm to this woman when she was a child.

She served her time and deemed rehabilitated. She had been working for over a decade at the same job without incident.

If we do not accept those who have done horrible wrong back into society we should kill them as it is kinder and better for society.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 6:13pm
  I think the real hero in this story is the anonymous tipster. You murder someone, you have to live with the consequences. It will follow you for the rest of your life. You have to accept that fact. If she didn’t lie on her job app, this wouldn’t even be an issue. If she chose not to work in a school, this wouldn’t be an issue. If she worked at McDonalds, then nobody would be trying to get her fired. Looks like she continues to make bad choices. There are consequences for your actions.
  
  Report this comment
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 6:20pm
  Shows how much better women are treated in the penal system compared to men. She escaped from prison in 1971 and was charged with escaping, so they released her the very next year. If a man escaped, he would have another 10 years added to his sentence, but a woman escapes and they pretty much let her out. She didn’t even get a slap on the wrists, more like a pat on the ****.
  
  Report this comment
- sillyfreshness
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 6:22pm
  Shows how much better women are treated in the penal system compared to men. She escaped from prison in 1971 and was charged with escaping, so they released her the very next year. If a man escaped, he would have another 10 years added to his sentence, but a woman escapes and they pretty much let her out. She didn’t even get a slap on the wrists, more like a pat on the ****
  
  Report this comment
nesmond
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 3:36pm
The story of Sylvia Likens broke my heart. Everything that young lady had or would ever have was taken from her in that basement. I believe whatever that child suffered is nothing compared to the peace and comfort she now receives in our Heavenly Father’s presence. And the punishment her tormentors received in this life are nothing compared to what is waiting for them. Rest in Peace Sylvia.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
cranberry
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 2:55pm
I remember watching the movie, it was just awful. How people can do that to an innocent person is something I’ll never understand. Cleaning toilets is not good enough for this “teachers aid”.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
txannie
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 12:03pm
One question….If the mother of these girls left them with this neighbor, did she ever come back? Why is she not charged also? If she had not left them with this family, these girls might not have been in this situation. Does anyone else think the girls mother has something to do with their abuse and death?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- G-WHIZ
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 12:16pm
  A “neighbor” can look “normal and friendly” everytime they are seen or visited by other neighbors. Lookit the MENENDAS BROTHERS who went outside to reload their semiauto-shotguns and went back in to finnish their work! The JURY was chosen because they were smitten with THEIR HANDSOMNESS! Some of the jury was interviewed afterwards and : ” but THEY WERE SOOOO HANDSOM!!”
  
  Report this comment
- objectivetruth
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 1:43pm
  The parents were carni workers.Her mother was in jail on a minor charge.The father made the agreement for the victim and her sister to stay there.He admitted that he didn’t check the home,She seemd OK and back then to inspect a home would have been considered rude.If you are truly interested in this story may I suggest the following links
  http://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/baniszewski.htm
  http://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/the-murder-of-sylvia-likens-was-justice-really-served/
  Warning it will make you either want to scream or cry.
  
  Report this comment
katzmeow44
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 10:23am
I’ve watched both of those movies. Just when I think American Crime is horrific and unsettling, then I see The Girl Next Door (not knowing it’s about the same event until halfway through) that movie was twice as horrid as the first one. I still can’t imagine those things happening to a human being. The mother deserved the death penalty and since she was a sex offender, she deserved to be put in general population for a bit of torcher of her own.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- rosegrower
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 11:40am
  I live in Indiana and on the date Gertrude B. was released from prison, the Indy Star reran articles about this crime. It was unbelievably horrific – Sylvia Likens was forced to eat her own waste and one witness who saw her wandering the neighborhood (before being locked in the basement) said she had weeping sores all over her body. Her sister was crippled and was beaten daily and starved as well. I actually feel sorry for Ms. Pace – she was as much a victim as was Sylvia, because the kids were threatened with the same kind of torture if they didn’t participate. Yes, Gertrude should have been given the death penalty. However, karma has a way of creeping up – she died a very painful death from cancer. No one cried, BTW.
  
  Report this comment
Blitz
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 10:00am
What is it with the demonic and that smirk? Enjoy it now fallin ones cuz payday is on HIS WAY.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
FreedomFromHypocrisy
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 9:21am
Scary….this lady reminds me of the movie Misery. Sociopaths should never be allowed back into society….if you liberals want compassion, let them live under house arrest in your family’s home….quit making them other people’s problems!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- G-WHIZ
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 12:07pm
  King-O’ has a megga-huge estate to retire to….lets send them there to live-in-house with them.
  Algore has a huge property and megga-barn-sized mansion…let’s give them his address!
  There are thousands of commie-libs-billionairs to house these deserving individuals. Hurry–hurry-hurry! Open your arms and let these victims into your hart.
  
  Report this comment
SocialistSlayer
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 9:10am
I’m sure she can get a job in obama’s white house or work for Acorn if he is re-elected !

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
stogieguy7
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 9:07am
The mother was paroled in 1985? What? And this woman (17 at the time – old enough to be complicit) was allowed to plead this out to a much lesser charge?

This is exactly why the death penalty should be used early and often.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
grimjack3791
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 8:56am
Wow, that’s crazy. Jack Ketchum’s fictionalized version of this story, “The Girl Next Door”, is seriously one of the most gruesome and disturbing stories you will ever read.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Juniemoon
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 9:09am
  Oh yeah, I watched that on Netflix. Horrible. This story had me wondering if this was it, but I remember boys being involved, not girls. Am not going to watch that one again ever.
  
  Report this comment
SaturdaysWarrior76
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 8:00am
This is a horrible, despicable person. Words can’t describe how despicable and low she is. And she has that same smirk on her face now, that she had in her mugshot in 1965.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
piper60
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 7:53am
What we have here, is a school district doing CYA work. The woman, monstrous as she was in the 60′s, has paid her debt to society. On the other hand, they might be thinking that she might crack again and do some awful crime again.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- VTDave
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 9:12am
  Re-read the damn article and pay close attention to the amount of time she served. She came nowhere near “paying her debt to society”. Individuals like this deserve nothing less than the death penalty. The son and the “neighbor” boys that participated should have gotten more of a punishment as well.
  
  Report this comment
- FesteAinoriba
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 10:55am
  While I understand VTDAVE’s sense that justice was cheated, I feel some compassion towards a teenage girl who was encouraged to do despicable things by the authority figure she was most dependant on for helping frame her world view: her mother. How many of us would have survived a homelife where our own parents encouraged us to participate in pathologically evil acts. I’m not excusing the daughter’s willing participation, but simply acknowledging that her options were extremely handicapped by the way she was raised.
  
  Report this comment
- crisnick
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 2:23pm
  It’s more than CYA work. She hasn’t repaid her debt to society by most people’s standards. She also attempted escape instead of willingly serving the sentence she deserved. Perhaps she was coerced by her mother and that’s sad, but she is still “damaged goods” and should not be working around children because there’s a very good chance she still has deep psychological issues. If she never revealed this on her job application, then that’s perfect grounds for firing her.
  
  Report this comment
manandwolf
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 7:50am
watch the movie girl next door, its about her and her sick family, it will make you cringe. i dont understand how she could have been released a year after escaping? no additional felonies? its truly disgusting that there was no justice.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Leader1776
  Posted on October 24, 2012 at 8:38am
  Exactly. That sentence was ridiculous and the fact she attempted escape says she had no remorse.
  
  Report this comment
sta
Posted on October 24, 2012 at 7:50am
Homeschool.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.