relapse.
One clinic counselor told police that during her last telephone inquiry into the whereabouts of her clients Edward and Stephanie Hunsberger, she'd managed to reach Dr. Jay Smith himself who told her that the young couple would not need further monitoring.
"I've gotten them a Placidyl and some real good pot," he told the startled counselor. "They're going to de-tox themselves. "
When she recovered from that revelation and told Dr. Smith she didn't think that was a good idea, he surprised her further by saying, "Thank you for the help you've given Stephanie and Eddie. And by the way, I have access to good pot that I got in Trenton. If you're ever interested."
When Jay Smith got arrested, he was found to be carrying the social security card of his daughter, Stephanie Hunsberger. And the police discovered that somebody had been forging the name of Edward Hunsberger and Stephanie on several welfare checks that had been sent to the Smith home for six months after the young couple was last seen. The cops didn't bother trying to prove forgery against Jay Smith because there were enough charges to investigate, but they were really starting to wonder about the Hunsbergers' disappearance.
The detectives had a theory about the night of his arrest. The local owner of a large supermarket chain owned a van exactly like the one Jay Smith was peeking into. The police wondered if the school principal had been plotting a kidnap.
More than one cop expressed exactly the same sentiment as they tried to piece together a profile of the elusive and mysterious principal of Upper Merion. "For a long time," a cop said, "that guy was a loose cannon, careening all over the place."
Shortly after his arrest, while he was in the Chester County Farms Prison trying to arrange bail, he received a letter of sympathy and support from a colleague. And that colleague received a speedy reply from the beleaguered educator. The reply was written in August, 1978, and mailed from the prison farm. The letter from Jay Smith to William Bradfield began:
Dear Bill,
Please cut out the Dr. Smith stuff. Jay or Jack is what friends call me. I prefer "Jack." I count you as a friend. . . .
In that letter Jay Smith asked for three books: Moby Dick, Ivanhoe and Warriners Grammar. He said that he intended to begin teaching other prisoners if he couldn't get a bail reduction to gain his freedom.
And while Bill Bradfield and Jay Smith were busy writing letters, Susan Reinert was busy writing a letter about him. It was sent to her therapist and was dated September 3rd.
Dear Ros,
Our former principal. Dr. Smith, has been arrested on robbery charges. The papers have been full of bizarre stories so I'm sure the opening of school will be "interesting. " I always thought he was strange but not criminal.
I have seen Bill. Nothing much different. I still love him. He now says he loves me but there are no more plans for our seeing each other than there have ever been. I have gotten a little more interested in dating others again. Will see what happens.
Love, Susan
The diary notes of Susan Reinert indicate that she was groping for new determination to change the direction of her hopeless affair with William Bradfield.
In a sad piece of self-analysis she wrote: "Rejection, low selfworth, constant battle. He would rather live with someone who wants to kill me than to live with me."
By the time school opened, the police noted that all of the crimes for which Jay Smith was charged had occurred on Saturdays when an educator is free. Then they discovered from Dorothy Hunsberger that she had last seen her son Eddie and Jay Smith's daughter Stephanie on a Saturday in February. And it didn't take long for local journalists to discover that when Edward and Stephanie Hunsberger had disappeared, all of their possessions were left behind in the Jay
Smith home. They had vanished from the earth with only the clothes on their backs.
Naturally, it didn't take long for a reporter to
One clinic counselor told police that during her last telephone inquiry into the whereabouts of her clients Edward and Stephanie Hunsberger, she'd managed to reach Dr. Jay Smith himself who told her that the young couple would not need further monitoring.
"I've gotten them a Placidyl and some real good pot," he told the startled counselor. "They're going to de-tox themselves. "
When she recovered from that revelation and told Dr. Smith she didn't think that was a good idea, he surprised her further by saying, "Thank you for the help you've given Stephanie and Eddie. And by the way, I have access to good pot that I got in Trenton. If you're ever interested."
When Jay Smith got arrested, he was found to be carrying the social security card of his daughter, Stephanie Hunsberger. And the police discovered that somebody had been forging the name of Edward Hunsberger and Stephanie on several welfare checks that had been sent to the Smith home for six months after the young couple was last seen. The cops didn't bother trying to prove forgery against Jay Smith because there were enough charges to investigate, but they were really starting to wonder about the Hunsbergers' disappearance.
The detectives had a theory about the night of his arrest. The local owner of a large supermarket chain owned a van exactly like the one Jay Smith was peeking into. The police wondered if the school principal had been plotting a kidnap.
More than one cop expressed exactly the same sentiment as they tried to piece together a profile of the elusive and mysterious principal of Upper Merion. "For a long time," a cop said, "that guy was a loose cannon, careening all over the place."
Shortly after his arrest, while he was in the Chester County Farms Prison trying to arrange bail, he received a letter of sympathy and support from a colleague. And that colleague received a speedy reply from the beleaguered educator. The reply was written in August, 1978, and mailed from the prison farm. The letter from Jay Smith to William Bradfield began:
Dear Bill,
Please cut out the Dr. Smith stuff. Jay or Jack is what friends call me. I prefer "Jack." I count you as a friend. . . .
In that letter Jay Smith asked for three books: Moby Dick, Ivanhoe and Warriners Grammar. He said that he intended to begin teaching other prisoners if he couldn't get a bail reduction to gain his freedom.
And while Bill Bradfield and Jay Smith were busy writing letters, Susan Reinert was busy writing a letter about him. It was sent to her therapist and was dated September 3rd.
Dear Ros,
Our former principal. Dr. Smith, has been arrested on robbery charges. The papers have been full of bizarre stories so I'm sure the opening of school will be "interesting. " I always thought he was strange but not criminal.
I have seen Bill. Nothing much different. I still love him. He now says he loves me but there are no more plans for our seeing each other than there have ever been. I have gotten a little more interested in dating others again. Will see what happens.
Love, Susan
The diary notes of Susan Reinert indicate that she was groping for new determination to change the direction of her hopeless affair with William Bradfield.
In a sad piece of self-analysis she wrote: "Rejection, low selfworth, constant battle. He would rather live with someone who wants to kill me than to live with me."
By the time school opened, the police noted that all of the crimes for which Jay Smith was charged had occurred on Saturdays when an educator is free. Then they discovered from Dorothy Hunsberger that she had last seen her son Eddie and Jay Smith's daughter Stephanie on a Saturday in February. And it didn't take long for local journalists to discover that when Edward and Stephanie Hunsberger had disappeared, all of their possessions were left behind in the Jay
Smith home. They had vanished from the earth with only the clothes on their backs.
Naturally, it didn't take long for a reporter to
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