The Chilling Murder of Edna Posey

  The Juniata River cut quietly through Perry County, Pennsylvania, winding past woodland banks and stretches of isolated countryside where people escaped to fish, hike, and enjoy the stillness of nature. In the spring of 1984, the area carried the peaceful atmosphere typical of rural central Pennsylvania, but over Memorial Day weekend, that quiet setting became the backdrop for one of the most disturbing murders in the state’s history.

 What began as an ordinary Sunday morning beside the river quickly turned into a horrifying discovery that would haunt investigators for decades. A cardboard box resting near the water concealed evidence of extraordinary brutality. The remains inside had been mutilated so severely that authorities initially had no idea who the victim was, and the case became known simply as the torso murder.

That woman was Edna Marie Posey. Born Edna Marie Rawlings on August 19th, 1953 in Washington, D.C., Edna faced years of personal struggles before her death. She battled alcoholism and mental illness, difficulties that affected nearly every part of her life. Despite those hardships, the people closest to her believed she’d been trying to change.

By 1984, she reportedly wanted stability more than anything else. Edna made an especially painful decision involving her 12-year-old son, Randy. Realizing she could not properly care for him while dealing with her own problems, she arranged for him to stay with Donald Ruby, a scoutmaster she knew, and Ruby’s wife, Lee Mason, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The arrangement was not intended to be a permanent one. According to Randy, his mother hoped to recover, become financially stable, and eventually bring him home again. To begin that process, Edna relocated to the southern Maryland and Virginia area, distancing herself from people and environments tied to her addiction.

 Her son later explained that she carefully saved money while undergoing treatment, even skipping meals so she could afford to reunite with him sooner. Those around her believed she had been determined to improve her circumstances. During Memorial Day weekend in 1984, Edna traveled back to Lancaster to visit her son.

She arrived at the Ruby household on Friday, May 25th. By all accounts, the evening passed normally. Randy later recalled having a meaningful conversation with his mother before everyone went to sleep. Nothing appeared unusual, and there were no signs of conflict. The following morning, however, everything changed.

 When Randy woke up, his mother was gone. Donald Ruby and Lee Mason were also missing from the house. According to Randy, this situation immediately struck him as abnormal. He later stated that while living with the couple, he had rarely been left unsupervised. Yet, on that morning, he found himself completely alone for several hours.

He said, “quote Dawn was gone, Lee was gone, and that was the one and only time, the entire time I lived with Dawn and Lee, that I was left alone for any period of time.” As the day continued, Edna still did not return. Randy became increasingly uneasy because his mother had planned to take him back once she regained stability.

Her sudden disappearance made little sense to him. The next day, on May 27th, 1984, a fisherman walking near the Juniata River in Watts Township noticed a large cardboard box near the embankment. Something about it immediately appeared strange. Dew covered the surrounding grass, yet there was a visible trail where the box had apparently slid downhill from the roadside.

 When the fisherman looked inside, he discovered human remains wrapped in plastic. Investigators soon determined the victim had been dismembered. The body had been decapitated. Both arms were removed at the shoulders, and both legs were severed at the knees. Authorities searched extensively for the missing body parts, but none were ever recovered.

 The condition of the remains complicated the investigation immediately. Without a head, hands, or complete body, determining the victim’s identity became extraordinarily difficult. The killer appeared to have intentionally removed identifying features, leaving investigators with almost nothing to work with. She was subsequently listed as a Jane Doe.

Medical examiners ruled the death a homicide, but the exact cause of death could not be determined because of the severe mutilation, detectives had no identification, no witnesses, and no confirmed missing person connected to the remains. For 10 months, the victim remained nameless. Eventually, investigators prepared to bury the unidentified woman.

 Before doing so, authorities released information publicly in hopes that someone might recognize the victim. That decision finally produced a breakthrough. A woman contacted police after noticing similarities between the unidentified remains and her missing sister-in-law, Edna Posey. Investigators compared known details about Edna to the remains and found several matches, including distinctive marks on the torso and personal clothing items.

 The Jane Doe was finally identified. For investigators, identifying Edna transformed the case entirely. Detectives could now retrace her final days and focus on the people who last saw her alive. Their attention quickly centered on Donald Ruby. Ruby admitted he had been with Edna shortly before she vanished. According to his account, he drove her to Middletown, Pennsylvania on May 26th and dropped her off at a convenience store.

He claimed he assumed she later traveled elsewhere, possibly returning to a psychiatric facility in Florida, where she had previously received treatment. However, investigators noticed inconsistencies in Ruby’s statements. Initially, he claimed he alone drove Edna that day. Later, he altered the story and said his wife accompanied them.

 Employment records complicated matters further by showing that Lee Maser had reportedly been working during part of the time frame she claimed to be with Ruby and Edna. Additional testimony during the investigation raised even more concerns. Randy described several uncomfortable interactions he experienced while living with Ruby. He told investigators about wrestling matches that made him uneasy and alleged that Ruby once suggested taking nude photographs of him.

Randy also claimed Ruby had taken him to an adult bookstore. At trial, an FBI agent testified that Ruby’s behavior and background as a long-time scoutmaster fits characteristics associated with tendencies. Prosecutors argued these details reflected disturbing behavior patterns relative to the case. Another element of the investigation appeared particularly suspicious to Randy years later.

He believed the cardboard box used to dispose of his mother’s body resembled boxes he had previously seen in Ruby’s cabin during camping trips. In 1986, Donald Ruby was arrested and charged with Edna Posey’s murder. Prosecutors argued that he killed her sometime during the night of May 26th or early May 27th before transporting the body to Perry County.

During the 1987 trial, forensic testimony suggested the estimated time of death aligned with the period Edna stayed at Ruby’s home. Following an 11-day trial, Ruby was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. For many observers, the conviction appeared to close the case, but years later, scientific developments would completely reshape the investigation.

Ruby appealed his conviction, eventually securing a second trial in 1993. By then, advances in DNA technology allowed investigators to re-examine evidence collected from Edna’s remains. The results dramatically altered the prosecution’s case. Forensic testing identified biological evidence from three separate men recovered from Edna’s torso.

None of the DNA profiles matched Donald Ruby. The revelation stunned investigators and attorneys alike. The man convicted of murder had no genetic connection to the physical evidence recovered from the victim’s body. The defense also introduced testimony from forensic entomologist Dr. Neil Haskell, who analyzed insect evidence photographed at the crime scene.

His findings challenged the original timeline presented during the first trial. Based on blowfly egg Haskell concluded Edna likely died only hours before her body was discovered. That revised estimate created major problems for prosecutors. If the newer timeline proved accurate, Ruby could not have committed the murder because he had reportedly been in Lancaster, approximately 19 miles away, when the killing likely occurred.

 Environmental evidence also supported the revised timeline. Investigators noted that morning dew surrounding the box remained mostly undisturbed, except for the path where the box slid down the embankment. That detail suggested the body had been placed there shortly before discovery, rather than sitting overnight. Meanwhile, Lee Macer changed her previous testimony.

She admitted lying during the first trial when providing an alibi for Ruby. According to her later statement, fear motivated her dishonesty. Faced with conflicting timelines, new DNA evidence, and recanted testimony, the jury acquitted Donald Ruby during the second trial. After years in prison, he walked free.

The acquittal left the case in limbo. Although Ruby had once been considered the definitive killer, investigators now had to reconsider nearly every aspect of the case. Most importantly, authorities still did not know who the three unidentified men connected to the DNA evidence were. As the years passed, the case attracted renewed public attention through television coverage, including an episode of the crime documentary series Forensic Files in  2003.

Despite increased exposure, no arrests followed. Decades later, investigators continued pursuing new forensic methods in hopes modern science could succeed where earlier investigations failed. Corporal Kyle Tobin explained that advances in genetic genealogy offered promising possibilities. Another potentially important development emerged when a witness came forward years after the murder.

The individual told police that around the time of Edna’s death, a co-worker invited him to a gathering involving two other men and a woman they had recently met. Feeling uncomfortable, the witness declined. The following day, the witness arrived at the co-worker’s property for a concrete job and noticed something unsettling.

 The co-worker had been cleaning a saw covered with red liquid. Edna’s son said, “Quote, the next day he showed up at that person’s place where they were going to do some concrete work together. And that person was cleaning his concrete saw and there was red liquid there that might have been grease, might have been blood. Investigators later added the information to the active case file and began examining whether any connection existed between those men and the unidentified DNA evidence recovered from Edna’s remains.

Despite decades of investigation, the murder of Edna Posey remained unsolved. Her killer or killers have never been identified. The missing portions of her body were never found and many questions surrounding the crime continued haunting both investigators and surviving family members. For Randy, the pain never disappeared.

He said, quote, “The day I learned of her death, I didn’t believe it.” His mother had spent her final months trying to recover, save money, and build a future where she could bring her son home again. Instead, her life ended violently beside a quiet Pennsylvania river, leaving behind one of the state’s most disturbing cold cases.

Over four decades later, the silence surrounding Edna Posey’s death remains unbroken. The peaceful banks of the Juniata River conceal a mystery that investigators still hope modern science can finally solve.  Mhm.