{"id":16753,"date":"2018-10-19T18:07:21","date_gmt":"2018-10-19T18:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/butcherbaker.net\/wordpress\/?p=16753"},"modified":"2022-09-01T09:30:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T16:30:32","slug":"beth-van-zanten-whodunit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lelandhale.com\/butcherbaker\/wordpress\/2018\/10\/19\/beth-van-zanten-whodunit\/","title":{"rendered":"Lonesome Death of Beth van Zanten: Whodunit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lonesome death of Beth van Zanten remains a “whodunit.” No one was ever convicted of\u00a0this crime, much less arrested. That doesn’t prevent me from having a “reasoned” suspicion.<\/p>\n

At the end of the string, there are\u00a0three suspects: Beth’s cousin Greg; convicted serial-killer Robert Hansen; and certified psychopath\u00a0Gary Zieger, also a serial killer. Let’s consider each of them in order.<\/p>\n

\"whodunit\"
\nBeth van Zanten<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cousin Greg<\/strong>: In the classic “motive-opportunity-evidence” triangulation of criminal investigations, Greg scored highest in “opportunity.” He lived in the same house as Beth, even had the bedroom next to hers. A motive was alluded to — that there was sexual tension between them — but never adequately\u00a0established. Along the evidence dimension, the best information\u00a0was Greg’s request that Beth babysit for him on the night she disappeared. The trouble is, Greg cannot convincingly be put anywhere but downtown Anchorage, drunk and high with his cousin and their friends.<\/p>\n

It is also worth noting that Walt Gilmour kept a wary eye on Greg in succeeding years; Gilmour never found another reason to suspect him.<\/p>\n

Robert Hansen<\/strong>: With Robert Hansen, we’re looking at a burst of incidents, each one representing an escalation of violence worse than\u00a0its predecessor. These actions occur in the space of a month, leading up\u00a0to\u00a0Beth’s disappearance and murder. Hansen was arrested and convicted in conjunction with the first two.<\/p>\n