The Murdered
Sigrid Stevenson
Mercer County
In 1977, Sigrid Stevenson was a reserved and free spirited 25 year old, attending the Trenton State College (now known as The College of New Jersey,) majoring in music performance, in a quiet suburb of Ewing, New Jersey. Sigrid was originally from Livermore, California. Her father was a Professor at Princeton University.
Sigrid had a love for music and was well-known for her excellence in playing the piano. She had hopes to earn her bachelor’s degree so she could teach music. Unfortunately, her dreams were cut short by tragedy.
On the night of September 4, 1977, Sigrid had attended a play at the Trenton State College, entitled “J.B.” Afterwards, she stayed behind and snuck into the College’s Kendall Hall theater, hoping to get in a few hours of piano practice, four days before the semester officially started. Sigrid was apparently known to hang around after hours. It is unknown if she was sleeping at the theatre or not. There was speculation that Sigrid did not have a permanent home at the time, and was waiting to dorm at the campus.
At around midnight, a campus Police Officer named Thomas Kokotajlo had been patrolling the building when he noticed Sigrid’s green bicycle still chained to the fence outside, and he decided to go inside to investigate further. The building was locked but it had a faulty door that could be opened if pulled hard enough. Upon entering the Kendall Hall theater, the officer encountered Sigrid, lying face down, naked and bludgeoned to death on the main stage. The perpetrator draped the cover from the piano over Sigrid’s lifeless body. Her blood was splattered on her music sheets and there was blood on the stage trailing from the piano to the body. Her face was so damaged, it was almost unrecognizable. Some articles state that either friends or a professor had to identify her by her hair. An autopsy determined that Sigrid’s cause of death was a fractured skull and severe blood loss from cuts on her face and scalp. Some of her belongings were found, such as her wallet that contained some cash and travelers checks. Some unspecified articles of clothing were found at the scene as well.
Questions arose; was Sigrid murdered by someone she knew, or was it a stranger? If it was someone she knew, this person could have walked into Kendall Hall with her, could have already been inside the theater, or knew she would be there and came in after everyone else had left the building. Was Sigrid being followed? If it was a stranger, was Sigrid well-known to the public? Was the building used by the public? Was there someone who had been obsessed with her? What about a significant other? The way she was beaten in the face suggests a very personal motive.
Sigrid’s parents both passed away without knowing who murdered their daughter.
No one has ever been officially named as a suspect in her case.
If you have any further information, please contact the Ewing Township Police Department at 609-882-1313.
There is also an email address called savesigrid@gmail.com where authorities collect comments from the public about Sigrid. It is strongly encouraged that you come forward if you have any information.
Sources:
M.I.A 
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