• Publication: The Red and Black (University of Georgia student newspaper)
• Author: Jeff Coen, Staff Writer
• Original Publication Date: Monday, April 27, 1992

Jennifer Stone, the University senior who was strangled to death last week, was sexually assaulted before she died, officials from the state Bureau of Investigation said Saturday.

The bureau confirmed earlier speculation that Stone, a 22-year-old from Roswell, was raped. Athens-Clarke County police said Sunday they had no suspects in the case and had not made any arrests in connection with the killing.

Athens-Clarke police Maj. David Camp wouldn’t comment on the findings of the forensics team that spent the weekend in Stone’s apartment at 187 Hull St. behind Manse Antiques.

Police said Saturday they had brought in about 70 of Stone’s friends and acquaintances for questioning but added that none of them are suspected in the slaying.

Police said they believe Stone was killed late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. Her body was discovered Thursday evening by three friends who went to check on her because she had missed a meeting.

“Three male friends of Ms. Stone’s found the body,” said Bureau Chief Joseph Lumpkin of the Athens-Clarke County police. “They came by after Ms. Stone did not attend a work meeting for an advertising class they had.”

A forensics team scoured the downtown residence this weekend, which Lumpkin called “a typical student apartment,” looking for any evidence that might help them solve the case. But Lumpkin wouldn’t comment on what they found.

“We don’t want to say anything that might hinder the investigation,” he said.

Lumpkin said police were concentrating most of their efforts on the bedroom, where the body was found lying on a double bed. He said they hadn’t found anything that would indicate a forced entry.

Although the apartment didn’t appear to be ransacked, the cause of death — strangulation — indicates there was a struggle of some kind, Camp said.

“We found very little evidence in the apartment to suggest a major struggle,” Camp said Sunday. “By that I mean we didn’t find lamps knocked over or other damage of that variety. But the fact that she was strangled would lead anyone to believe that there was a struggle of some sort.”

Police removed Stone’s body from the apartment around 2:30 p.m. Friday. They then drove it to the state crime lab in Decatur, where an autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation.

Curious students drove by the area in their cars Friday, trying to get a look at the scene, while a few walked up through the swarm of cameras and reporters to ask about the latest details in the case.

Dana Getzinger, a University alumna who was stabbed in her off-campus apartment in 1988, was at the scene Friday. The founder of Safe Campuses Now, Getzinger said Stone’s death should focus more attention on her organization’s agenda — awareness and prevention of campus crime.

“I was a wreck when I heard about it this morning,” Getzinger said. “To a lot of people, she’s just news, but this really hits me. I was shaking. This is just terrible.”

Getzinger said her organization will help provide counseling at Kappa Delta, Stone’s sorority.

Police ask that anyone who may have seen something suspicious near the crime scene to call them at 613-3340.