On December 4, 1967, the body of a woman was discovered on the third floor of Texas Tech University’s Science Building on the night before the annual Carol of Lights celebration. The murder was later detailed in Fatal Exam by Alan Burton and Chuck Lanehart, revealing that the night's events, which, according to the book, “suddenly left the city and Texas Tech gripped in fear.”
The body was discovered to be Sarah Alice Morgan, a custodian at Texas Tech. The attack was in room 304-J, a lab room in the science building. The murderer was later revealed to be a student at Tech University, Benjamin Lach.
According to the book, following the murder, Gun sales rose, and Tech police provided maximum security on campus to respond to the community's fear. But class continued as scheduled, even in the science building.
According to the book, the details of the murder are brutal. Morgan was killed by a scalpel and a bone saw found in the lab, and he "nearly decapitated her." The book explicitly uncovers the entire timeline of the events that happened that night and the effect the case had on campus and Lubbock as a whole.
The writers, Alan Burton and Chuck Lanehart, both attended Texas Tech University. Lanehart went on to become a criminal lawyer, which helped him uncover this specific case.
“There was a lot of fear not only on campus but around the entire town,” He said, “my wife was in high school at the time of this crime. She was a local girl. And she remembers that you know everyone was terrified before the arrest. This guy was going around killing people with a scalpel. He was known as the scalpel killer.”
Although the murder was well-known at that time, Lanehart said it had lost its relevance. He said this is most likely due to how much time has passed.
According to Supernatural Texas – A Field Guide (2009), Texas Tech University is considered one of the most haunted campuses in the state, with the Science Building listed as a “ghost site.”
The book Fatal Exam notes the eerie aura surrounding the science building and the ghost stories about the Carol of Lights. These rumors have lingered on campus for decades, even for students who know nothing about the murder.
“Today's students and faculty members at Texas Tech are unlikely to be familiar with this bizarre and tragic story,” the book said, “not long after the murder, according to lore, the slain woman's image began to appear in the hallway of the science building.”
The Science Building has undergone several renovations since 1967. Today, the room believed to be the site of the murder is Room 331. Despite the changes, the building’s design continues to be criticized.
In the first thirty years after its construction, Ruth Horn Andrews, daughter of Texas Tech’s first president, Paul W. Horn, wrote, “There stands not the envisioned Hall of Texas, but a squatty structure of anomalous design denominated the Science Building.”
But still, the building has been an honored part of the Texas Tech campus largely due to its role in Carol of the Lights, held in the Science Quadrangle.
Another pivotal part of the story was the contribution the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal had in helping police solve the murder.
“The police were kind of at a loss as to how to solve the case, and the AJ did a whole lot of investigation and research to find who could be the killer,” Lanehart said “they went as so far to take a picture of who they thought the main subject should be, which was Benjamin Lach and they went to his classroom, in cooperation with the police, and took a picture”
According to the book, the events that convicted Lach were a stakeout by police who felt suspicious of someone breaking into professors' classrooms to steal answers to tests. A staged exam from one of Lach's professors revealed the truth on March 13, 1968. Lach was attempting to steal the test answers by using keys he stole from Morgan, the night he murdered her, who had a master key.
According to the book, Lach was the prime suspect in December because of a matching description of someone talking to Morgan the night of her murder. But in March, Lach was convicted and sentenced to 40 years, but he only served 15 years.
Now, according to Lanehart, Lach lives a quiet life with a small family.
According to the book, there was a different eerie aura at the 1967 Carol of Lights since it was held the day after the murder. Even now, there are rumors of a sympathetic spirit who wanders the halls of the building.
So this weekend, at the Carol of Lights, as you're celebrating the holidays, remember to pay your respects by honoring the life of Sarah Alice Morgan and her contribution to the university