The Vault: Recent Episodes
Forum Communications Co.
Join us as we delve into the news vault for a fresh look at the cold cases, crime & mysteries of our communities. Brought to you by the reporters at Forum Communications Company.
This episode provides the full hour-long interview with Timothy Crosby, the main suspect in the disappearance of Belinda Van Lith. The in-person interview is conducted by Forum reporter Trisha Taurinskas at the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility in January 2024.
Trisha Taurinskas can be reached at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com
Questions related to this interview can be directed to Trisha -- or left as a review in Apple Podcasts.
You can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series.
This is part 7, the final episode in the series on the disapperance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.
Belinda Van Lith (also known as Belinda VanLith) went missing from a home she was house siting on Eagle Lake, outside of Monticello, Minnesota in the summer of 1974. Her case was never solved.
A months-long Forum News Service investigation, in collaboration with the Van Lith family, led to the release of Belinda’s 1,200-page police casefile and an exclusive interview with the main suspect, Timothy Crosby.
The investigation reveals glaring failures in the early stages of Belinda’s case, including many missed opportunities to fully investigate Crosby’s possible involvement in her disappearance.
Many suspicious signs were downplayed or ignored. Law enforcement did not attempt to search the field where Crosby’s vehicle was stranded on the night Belinda went missing; They did not examine evidence stemming from Crosby’s December 1974 crimes that could have, potentially, put Belinda’s case to rest.
Meanwhile, Belinda’s casefile shows, Crosby earned a record over the next decade as a serial criminal, kidnapping and assaulting multiple women. Yet he faced only light punishment, or charges against him were dropped.
Wright County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division attempted from 2009 to 2013 to fill the gaps left behind from the initial investigation, yet their efforts did not lead to justice for Belinda or her family.
In 2010, the state of Minnesota successfully argued that Crosby was a sexual recidivist and a danger to the public. As a result, he was committed to the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility, where he is currently locked up. He has not been charged with crimes related to Belinda’s disappearance.
This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg.
Trisha can be reached at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com
To see documents from the case file and photos of Belinda, Crosby and others mentioned in this series, visit inforum.com/belinda
To support The Vault, become a Forum News Network subscriber: inforum.com/subscribe
This is part 6 in an ongoing series on the disapperance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.
Belinda Van Lith (also known as Belinda VanLith) went missing from a home she was house siting on Eagle Lake, outside of Monticello, Minnesota in the summer of 1974. Her case was never solved.
A months-long Forum News Service investigation, in collaboration with the Van Lith family, led to the release of Belinda’s 1,200-page police casefile and an exclusive interview with the main suspect, Timothy Crosby.
The investigation reveals glaring failures in the early stages of Belinda’s case, including many missed opportunities to fully investigate Crosby’s possible involvement in her disappearance.
Many suspicious signs were downplayed or ignored. Law enforcement did not attempt to search the field where Crosby’s vehicle was stranded on the night Belinda went missing; They did not examine evidence stemming from Crosby’s December 1974 crimes that could have, potentially, put Belinda’s case to rest.
Meanwhile, Belinda’s casefile shows, Crosby earned a record over the next decade as a serial criminal, kidnapping and assaulting multiple women. Yet he faced only light punishment, or charges against him were dropped.
Wright County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division attempted from 2009 to 2013 to fill the gaps left behind from the initial investigation, yet their efforts did not lead to justice for Belinda or her family.
In 2010, the state of Minnesota successfully argued that Crosby was a sexual recidivist and a danger to the public. As a result, he was committed to the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility, where he is currently locked up. He has not been charged with crimes related to Belinda’s disappearance.
This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg.
Trisha can be reached at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com
To see documents from the case file and photos of Belinda, Crosby and others mentioned in this series, visit inforum.com/belinda
To support The Vault, become a Forum News Network subscriber: inforum.com/subscribe
This is part 5 in an ongoing series on the disapperance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.
Belinda Van Lith (also known as Belinda VanLith) went missing from a home she was house siting on Eagle Lake, outside of Monticello, Minnesota in the summer of 1974. Her case was never solved.
A months-long Forum News Service investigation, in collaboration with the Van Lith family, led to the release of Belinda’s 1,200-page police casefile and an exclusive interview with the main suspect, Timothy Crosby.
The investigation reveals glaring failures in the early stages of Belinda’s case, including many missed opportunities to fully investigate Crosby’s possible involvement in her disappearance.
Many suspicious signs were downplayed or ignored. Law enforcement did not attempt to search the field where Crosby’s vehicle was stranded on the night Belinda went missing; They did not examine evidence stemming from Crosby’s December 1974 crimes that could have, potentially, put Belinda’s case to rest.
Meanwhile, Belinda’s casefile shows, Crosby earned a record over the next decade as a serial criminal, kidnapping and assaulting multiple women. Yet he faced only light punishment, or charges against him were dropped.
Wright County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division attempted from 2009 to 2013 to fill the gaps left behind from the initial investigation, yet their efforts did not lead to justice for Belinda or her family.
In 2010, the state of Minnesota successfully argued that Crosby was a sexual recidivist and a danger to the public. As a result, he was committed to the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility, where he is currently locked up. He has not been charged with crimes related to Belinda’s disappearance.
This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg.
Trisha can be reached at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com
To see documents from the case file and photos of Belinda, Crosby and others mentioned in this series, visit inforum.com/belinda
To support The Vault, become a Forum News Network subscriber: inforum.com/subscribe
This is part 4 in an ongoing series on the disapperance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.
Belinda Van Lith (also known as Belinda VanLith) went missing from a home she was house siting on Eagle Lake, outside of Monticello, Minnesota in the summer of 1974. Her case was never solved.
A months-long Forum News Service investigation, in collaboration with the Van Lith family, led to the release of Belinda’s 1,200-page police casefile and an exclusive interview with the main suspect, Timothy Crosby.
The investigation reveals glaring failures in the early stages of Belinda’s case, including many missed opportunities to fully investigate Crosby’s possible involvement in her disappearance.
Many suspicious signs were downplayed or ignored. Law enforcement did not attempt to search the field where Crosby’s vehicle was stranded on the night Belinda went missing; They did not examine evidence stemming from Crosby’s December 1974 crimes that could have, potentially, put Belinda’s case to rest.
Meanwhile, Belinda’s casefile shows, Crosby earned a record over the next decade as a serial criminal, kidnapping and assaulting multiple women. Yet he faced only light punishment, or charges against him were dropped.
Wright County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division attempted from 2009 to 2013 to fill the gaps left behind from the initial investigation, yet their efforts did not lead to justice for Belinda or her family.
In 2010, the state of Minnesota successfully argued that Crosby was a sexual recidivist and a danger to the public. As a result, he was committed to the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility, where he is currently locked up. He has not been charged with crimes related to Belinda’s disappearance.
This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg.
Trisha can be reached at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com
To see documents from the case file and photos of Belinda, Crosby and others mentioned in this series, visit inforum.com/belinda
This is part 3 in an ongoing series on the disapperance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.
Belinda Van Lith (also known as Belinda VanLith) went missing from a home she was house siting on Eagle Lake, outside of Monticello, Minnesota in the summer of 1974. Her case was never solved.
A months-long Forum News Service investigation, in collaboration with the Van Lith family, led to the release of Belinda’s 1,200-page police casefile and an exclusive interview with the main suspect, Timothy Crosby.
The investigation reveals glaring failures in the early stages of Belinda’s case, including many missed opportunities to fully investigate Crosby’s possible involvement in her disappearance.
Many suspicious signs were downplayed or ignored. Law enforcement did not attempt to search the field where Crosby’s vehicle was stranded on the night Belinda went missing; They did not examine evidence stemming from Crosby’s December 1974 crimes that could have, potentially, put Belinda’s case to rest.
Meanwhile, Belinda’s casefile shows, Crosby earned a record over the next decade as a serial criminal, kidnapping and assaulting multiple women. Yet he faced only light punishment, or charges against him were dropped.
Wright County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division attempted from 2009 to 2013 to fill the gaps left behind from the initial investigation, yet their efforts did not lead to justice for Belinda or her family.
In 2010, the state of Minnesota successfully argued that Crosby was a sexual recidivist and a danger to the public. As a result, he was committed to the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility, where he is currently locked up. He has not been charged with crimes related to Belinda’s disappearance.
This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg.
Trisha can be reached at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com
To see documents from the case file and photos of Belinda, Crosby and others mentioned in this series, visit inforum.com/belinda
We had originally planned to produce four episodes in this series. But, because we continue to uncover and receive new information and insight, we are expanding the series. This episodes includes a preview of what's to come.
We will be picking up this series with a new, extended episode next week. Until then, you can find all of our work on this case at inforum.com/Belinda. There, you’ll discover our print stories that accompany every podcast episode. Those stories include images from the casefile, and photos of Belinda, Timothy Crosby and others mentioned in this story. You can also visit our Facebook Group, The Vault: True Crime from the Upper Midwest to discuss the case with others who are listening or reading the series.
If you have any information related to this case, email Trisha Taurinskas at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com
This is part 2 in an ongoing series on the disapperance of Belinda Van Lith, and the investigation that followed.
Belinda Van Lith (also known as Belinda VanLith) went missing from a home she was house siting on Eagle Lake, outside of Monticello, Minnesota in the summer of 1974. Her case was never solved.
A months-long Forum News Service investigation, in collaboration with the Van Lith family, led to the release of Belinda’s 1,200-page police casefile and an exclusive interview with the main suspect, Timothy Crosby.
The investigation reveals glaring failures in the early stages of Belinda’s case, including many missed opportunities to fully investigate Crosby’s possible involvement in her disappearance.
Many suspicious signs were downplayed or ignored. Law enforcement did not attempt to search the field where Crosby’s vehicle was stranded on the night Belinda went missing; They did not examine evidence stemming from Crosby’s December 1974 crimes that could have, potentially, put Belinda’s case to rest.
Meanwhile, Belinda’s casefile shows, Crosby earned a record over the next decade as a serial criminal, kidnapping and assaulting multiple women. Yet he faced only light punishment, or charges against him were dropped.
Wright County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division attempted from 2009 to 2013 to fill the gaps left behind from the initial investigation, yet their efforts did not lead to justice for Belinda or her family.
In 2010, the state of Minnesota successfully argued that Crosby was a sexual recidivist and a danger to the public. As a result, he was committed to the secure Moose Lake Sex Offender Program facility, where he is currently locked up. He has not been charged with crimes related to Belinda’s disappearance.
This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas. The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg. To read the full story, with images related to the case file, go here: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/he-was-the-last-to-see-belinda-van-lith-alive-when-he-later-attacked-a-woman-he-finally-became-a-suspect
Belinda Van Lith (also referred to in various media outlets as Belinda VanLith) was 17 years old when she went missing from a home she was house sitting on Eagle Lake, just outside of Monticello, Minnesota.
Over the past several months, Forum News Service has worked with the Van Lith family, delved into the roughly 1,200-page police file and conducted an exclusive interview with the main suspect in the case. The investigation reveals the details and impact of a thorough yet stalled investigation that spanned decades and included multiple detectives, investigative agencies, search warrants, detailed interviews and land excavations.
This series is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas.
The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg.
For the full story, including images related to the case, visit this link: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/belinda-van-lith-vanished-in-1974-her-family-assumed-the-case-was-cold-then-they-got-her-1-200-page-file
Kevin Mahoney vanished from a known party house in Fargo on Oct. 2, 1993. Some party-goers told investigators that he left on foot for his brother's house in nearby Moorhead. His brother wasn't home that night, and there's no indication he made it to his destination.
Others believe Kevin never left the party house.
Kevin's sisters are dogged advocates for their brother's case. They, along with the Fargo Police Department, believe foul play was involved.
In part 2 of this series, find out what Kevin's sisters believe happened to their brother that night -- and why Fargo investigators dug up the party home's basement in search of Kevin.
Will someone finally come forward with what really happened the night Kevin Mahoney vanished?
Click here for the full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/this-missing-mans-sisters-wont-rest-until-someone-speaks-up-what-happened-to-kevin-mahoney
This episode is narrated, produced and written by Trisha Taurinskas
This year marks thirty years since Kevin Mahoney went missing from a once-notorious party house in Fargo, North Dakota. His sisters believe that somebody in the Fargo area knows something. They’re after one thing: They want the person -- or people -- who know what happened to come forward before their memories are carried to the grave.
This Fargo missing persons case has gone cold, yet the details of the investigation will make you wonder why.
For the full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/this-missing-mans-sisters-wont-rest-until-someone-speaks-up-what-happened-to-kevin-mahoney
Written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas
Donald Blom.
His name creeped into Minnesota households through newscasts when he was arrested and charged for the abduction and murder of 19-year-old Katie Poirer in 1999. Find out why investigators consider him a person of interest in the 1993 stabbing and murder of 19-year-old Holly Spangler -- and how new DNA technology could determine if Donald Blom was, in fact, involved.
Written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas
You can find the full story here: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/a-minnesota-detectives-final-mission-prove-who-killed-holly-spangler
Holly Spangler’s body was discovered in a Minnesota park, with a single stab wound to the chest on July 20, 1993.
After five days of being exposed to the elements, her body was in a state of decomposition. Little evidence was discovered nearby – and, since that day, her case has gone cold.
Now, one detective is hoping she can crack the case, put an end to the mysterious death and deliver a sense of peace to Holly’s family.
Narrated, writen and produced by Trisha Taurinskas.
Full story can be found here: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/a-minnesota-detectives-final-mission-prove-who-killed-holly-spangler
On June 7 – a little over two months after Madeline "Maddi" Kingsbury went missing – her body was found in a remote area near Mabel, Minnesota — her boyfriend's hometown.
Inside a fitted sheet, enclosed with Gorilla tape, investigators discovered Madeline Kingsbury's body, with a knotted towel wrapped around her head and neck, according to court documents.
An autopsy report later revealed she died by homicidal violence.
It was a devastating end to the search for the loving mother of two young children – and the beginning of an investigation that revealed the true nature of the domestic abuse inflicted on Madeline Kingsbury by Adam Fravel.
Adam Fravel has been arrested and charged on two counts of second-degree homicide. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.
Adam Fravel is slated to appear in Winona County Court on Sept. 22.
This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas
The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg
The Vault's audience engagement specialist is Madison Hunter
For the full story, visit: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/madeline-kingsbury-case-boyfriend-adam-fravels-troubling-texts-and-fascination-with-gabby-petito
In this episode, Tracy Briggs dives into the story of a man knonwn as the "Dakota Desperado," who left his mark on North Dakota through a life of crime and murder.
Written and narrated by Tracy Briggs
Edited by Kris Kerzman
Hosted by Trisha Taurinskas
In part two of this two-part series, learn what happens when a Minnesota father and husband is let off the hook for the death of his first wife. Does he remarry in Texas and repeat the pattern? Find out.
Written and produced by Trisha Taurinskas
Hours before Helen Lundstrom’s death, she and her husband sat at the dining room table, preparing Sunday school lessons for the weekend. It was a normal Saturday night — a weekend ritual for the church leaders.
Yet what came next was anything but routine.
Written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas
Kate Richards O’Hare was sentenced to a five-year sentence of hard labor at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. Her crime? Violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for making an anti-war speech in Bowman, North Dakota, just two years earlier.
Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/she-delivered-her-anti-war-speech-all-over-the-u-s-but-north-dakota-threw-her-in-prison-for-it
This episode focuses on the book, "Vanished in Vermillion," written by award-winning journalist Lou Raguse.
“Vanished in Vermillion,” peels back the layers of complexity that hide behind headlines. Through years of added research and interviews with those involved, Raguse tells the story in a way that captures the nuances of it all.
True crime books often focus on the crime itself and the investigation, or lack thereof, that follows. This story shows what happens when law enforcement makes critical mistakes in the investigation, and how those errors can impact the lives of those caught in the tangled web.
In this episode, Trisha Taurinskas shares her thoughts on the book, along with parts of her interview with Lou Raguse.
Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/vanished-in-vermillion-peels-back-layers-of-complexity-in-infamous-south-dakota-cold-case?ajs_aid=da7b69ca-81f8-41d5-90bb-fd7337a4d74e
Court documents newly obtained by Forum News Service show the man who was acquitted in the 1981 brutal murder of his girlfriend, 18-year-old Karla Jo Nieland, at a farm party had first asked a judge to dismiss second-degree murder charges on the grounds that he did not intend to kill her.
The newly obtained Minnesota Supreme Court documents relate to appeals the defense team filed prior to the trial of John Keep. They argue damage to Nieland caused by the horsehoe ring Keep wore on his right hand shows Keep made “backhand slaps," not "bludgeoning blows."
Keep's legal team also argued he was drunk and not in a state of mind to kill Nieland.
In addition to arguments that Keep should not stand trial for second-degree murder, his legal team also appealed to have him tried as a juvenile, based on arguments that he wasn’t a threat to the public.
Keep was 17 years old at the time of Nieland's death.
Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/karla-jo-nieland-was-murdered-at-a-1981-minnesota-farm-party-now-new-documents-reveal-complexities-in-case
Written and narrated by Trisha Taurinskas
In less than a week, 18 pipe bombs packed with lead shot and nails were either found or detonated in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. At least six people were injured in Iowa, four of whom were mail carriers .
With a country still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the FBI got involved and began the task of putting the pieces together. This time, the war on terror would lead investigators not to foreign lands but to Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin.
Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/21-years-ago-a-midwest-pipe-bomber-tried-to-make-a-smiley-face-on-national-map?ajs_aid=da7b69ca-81f8-41d5-90bb-fd7337a4d74e
Written by: Mark Wasson
Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas
The 1979 death of a young woman, Denise Daly, who fell from a moving grain truck in Carlton County, Minnesota, was initially thought to be a suicide or an accident. That was until an anonymous tip nearly 15 years later connected the incident to the 1983 fire that claimed the life of her sister, Mary Daly, and infant nephew, Christopher Daly, in Superior, Wisconsin.
First-degree murder charges against two individuals were dismissed in 1996 because of irregularities in the grand jury proceedings, Sixth Judicial District Judge Donovan Frank ruled. The grand jury returned the indictments about five hours after they watched the O.J. Simpson verdict on TV at the Carlton County Courthouse.
"Both cases involved a male member of a racial minority allegedly killing a Caucasian woman with whom he was intimately involved in a brutal fit of rage," Frank wrote in his decision. "The court agrees with the defendants that O.J. Simpson verdict —and the emotions it incited —injected prejudice or the appearance of prejudice into the grand jury deliberations. As a result, this event compromised the integrity of this grand jury process."
The State of Minnesota unsuccessfully appealed the trial court's decision Jan. 21, 1997.
The arson investigation continued regardless of the decision to drop the incitements in Denise's murder case. New evidence in the arson case surfaced in fall 1995 that eliminated some suspects and raised questions about others, but it remains unsolved.
Written by: Brielle Bredsten
Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas
Full story: www.inforum.com/thevault
Walter Liggett was shot dead while holding a bag of groceries. In part 2 of “The Slaying of Walter Liggett,” why a Minnesota governor and a former North Dakota governor were players in the tragedy.
Written by: Tracy Briggs
Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas
Link to full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/wife-of-former-fargo-newspaper-editor-swore-minnesotas-governor-ordered-the-1935-mob-hit-of-her-husband
Walter Liggett was beaten up, framed on rape charges and eventually murdered. In part 1 of this two-part report, Tracy Briggs explores the question: What was he writing about?
Written by: Tracy Briggs
Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas
Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/what-lead-up-to-an-alleged-mob-hit-on-a-former-fargo-newspaper-editor-in-1935
*This episode contains disturbing descriptions of both strangulations and hangings. Please take care while listening.
In this episode, we examine the role of the medical examiner in suspicious death cases. Can a medical examiner determine whether a death was a suicide? The answer is complex.
I have a bit of a treat for you folks who are fascinated with Al Capone. Forum journalist Tracy Briggs put together a three-part series on some incredibly fascinating — and definitely not well known — stories of Capone and his shocking connections to Minnesota and North Dakota.
I have a bit of a treat for you folks who are fascinated with Al Capone. Forum journalist Tracy Briggs put together a three-part series on some incredibly fascinating — and definitely not well known — stories of Capone and his shocking connections to Minnesota and North Dakota.
I have a bit of a treat for you folks who are fascinated with Al Capone. Forum journalist Tracy Briggs put together a three-part series on some incredibly fascinating — and definitely NOT well known — stories of Capone and his shocking connections to Minnesota and North Dakota.
Expert insight into the death investigation of Refugio Rodriguez reveals critical errors in police procedure that compromised key evidence collected from the crime scene and failed to document critical details related to the hose found around Rodriguez’s neck.
The review by a retired crime scene investigator comes as police in Montevideo, Minnesota, have referred the Rodriguez case to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension after a series of Forum News Service investigations revealed oversights and questionable decisions in the original police investigation.
Rodriguez was found dead in Chinhinta Park in Montevideo, Minnesota, on Sept. 20, 2020. The initial incident report indicated Rodriguez was found hanging from a tree by a passerby. He was, in fact, found on his knees, with a hose, attached to a tree, wrapped around his neck. Montevideo police later ruled the death a suicide and closed the case .
Sal Rastrelli, a retired crime scene investigator with more than 30 years of experience, specializes in cases involving suicides and homicides. He was provided with investigative documents obtained by Forum News Service related to the death of Rodriguez, including the police report, medical examiner’s report and crime scene images.
Full story, written by Trisha Taurinskas, can be found here. https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/national-expert-weighs-in-on-refugio-rodriguezs-death-investigation-as-new-image-of-body-surfaces
According to The Forum, the first person to notice the fire that night was Kathryn. She later told investigators she had gone downstairs just after midnight and when she flipped a light switch fire erupted. The Jenkins’ son-in-law Dean Bienusa started trying to put it out.
He said he told his family along with Kathryn to take refuge from the flames in a black 1961 Ford parked outside. Eventually, the family, including a barefoot Kathryn, ran to the neighbor’s house.
Written by Tracy Briggs
A Minnesota police investigator who closed the case on a possible murder after labeling it a suicide was simultaneously under fire for shoddy police work in another case, according to court records.
The matter raises serious concerns for the family of Refugio Rodriguez. Montevideo, Minnesota, Police Department investigator Carmen Beninga closed the investigation into Rodriguez's September 2020 death despite multiple credible leads indicating his death might have been a hitjob, a Forum News Service investigation has shown.
Full story can be found here.
On this episode, Forum Digital Managing Editor Paula Qualm interviews Forum columnist Jim Shaw about the deadly Medina Shootout. Jim recently wrote a 3-column series on the infamous shootout that occurred four decades ago.
https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/the-medina-shootout-40-years-after-the-tragedy-that-didnt-need-to-happen
Sharon Hensley left her home in Bismarck, North Dakota, in the summer of 1970 with peace and love on her mind.
She wanted to experience life in a way that she hadn’t before, alongside fellow free spirits etching their existence into the aftermath of the now famous “Summer of Love.”
San Francisco was Hensley’s ultimate destination. She succeeded in her journey, yet the life that unfolded looked nothing like the idyllic lifestyle Hensley dreamt up in her North Dakota bedroom.
Instead, that life intersected with Felix Vail, her one-time boyfriend who is now known as the nation’s oldest serial killer.
https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/missing-north-dakota-woman-may-be-victim-of-nations-oldest-serial-killer
Sheltered, wealthy and enamored with alternative medicine, Dorothea and Claire Williamson were the perfect marks for Linda Hazzard, an osteopath-turned-fasting fanatic.
The British sisters, both in their 30s, had wealth and a life of leisure, which made it possible to travel whenever they wanted.
Orphaned at a young age, the siblings had grown especially close and came to view themselves as their own little family unit. Dorothea, also called Dora, saw herself as the mother figure, treating Claire, just four years younger, like a pampered child.
The Williamsons had another peculiarity. They were hypochondriacs. Although nothing was seriously wrong with them, they were sure they weren't well. Dora talked of swollen glands and rheumatic pains, while her younger sister was told by a physician that she had a dropped uterus.
While staying at a posh hotel in British Columbia, the sisters spotted an ad for Linda Hazzard’s book, “Fasting for the Cure of Disease.”
And so began their journey with Linda Hazzard...
Written by Tammy Swift
https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/hazzard-ous-healer-how-this-minnesota-womans-deadly-fasting-methods-finally-caught-up-with-her
Linda Hazzard was a force of nature.
She stood nearly as tall as her 6-foot husband, although some wondered if her personality was so imposing that she simply seemed larger than she actually was.
A formidable figure with sharp cheekbones, a resolute chin and an unflinching gaze, everything about Hazzard exuded authority. She spoke with unwavering assurance — as if she were absolutely right and anyone who disagreed with her was a fool. While studying osteopathy in her quest to be a nurse, she became convinced that drastic fasting — ingesting only thin vegetable broths for weeks or even months — was the key to healing all disease.
Hazzard’s followers, who included prominent intellectuals and politicians, swore by her methods and proclaimed her a "gifted and intelligent" healer.
Others considered her a serial killer.
Written by Tammy Swift
https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/minnesota-woman-linda-hazzard-was-infamous-starvation-doctor-whose-brutal-fasting-methods-may-have-killed-14
Every Thursday for 11 years, from 1982 to 1993, millions of Americans settled into their sofas as the notes started playing: “Making your world in the world today takes everything you’ve got…”
The theme song to the sitcom “Cheers” was recently ranked by “Rolling Stone” magazine as the 13th best. Writers praised the song for its initial “somber” lyrics about life’s challenges to its “rousing” conclusion about the simple beauty of going somewhere warm and welcoming where "they’re always glad you came.”
For people in northern Minnesota, another element of that open feels like home. One of the photos in the opening montage was taken at a bar in Craigville, Minnesota in 1937. By Tracy Briggs https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/cheers-opening-montage-featured-this-wild-minnesota-logging-town
A Minnesota man found dead on walking path told family he was a 'goner' after identified as confidential informant. Yet despite the suspicious death, his case was closed after suicide determination.
The night before Zak disappeared, he’d been texting his mother about plans for Christmas and was arranging his work schedule at a Super One bakery in Duluth. Investigators feel that a cellphone ping may have misled the investigation from immediately searching the grounds near where he went missing.
In this episode, reporter Tracy Briggs tells the story of Engolf Snortland, who started a life of crime as a teenager in North Dakota. He'd continue it with kidnapping and robbery in Idaho. But his return to North Dakota ended up inspiring a change in the law.
Days before the "Unsolved Mysteries" episode on Joshua Guimond aired, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office released 28 images of individuals found on the computer, along with a plea to the public to help identify those pictured. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office has had those images since — at least —2008. Joshua's father, Brian, lost a lawsuit this year to get his hands on investigative materials related to his son's case, which would have included those images, among other information provided to the Netflix series.
*Correction: In this episode, it states Rev. Tom Andert was in charge of Joshua Guimond's dorm hall. It should say Rev. Tom Andert was in charge of the dorm Joshua Guimond visited the night he went missing.
Cheryl drove away from her home around 6:30 p.m., riding in style in her grandfather’s beloved 1960 Studebaker. She picked up Pamela, and together they drove to the party.
Somewhere along their travels to the party, however, Cheryl and Pamela would go missing, without a trace. The question about happened to them wouldn't be answered for 43 years.
Written by Cassie Williams, Mitchell Republic
Hosted by Trisha Taurinskas
After six days of blindfolded isolation in a basement with minimal sunlight, Haskell Bohn learned that his release had been successfully negotiated.
Finally, freedom was near. It was also the start of the FBI's hunt for his kidnapper.
By Trisha Taurinskas
Reporter Trisha Taurinskas tells the story of Haskell Bohn, who was kidnapped for ransom in St. Paul in 1932 because he was heir to a refrigeration fortune. He struck up an unlikely 'friendship' with his Sankey Gang captors, talking baseball and bull riding, according to police records exclusively obtained from a descendent by Forum News Service.
Dave Bohn thinks that in order to really understand his father’s story, you have to understand why he was a victim in the first place. Haskell Bohn was… a millionaire. Well, he was the son of a millionaire. Here’s the story.
By: Trisha Taurinskas
Prohibition-era runners brought thousands of gallons of booze into the area, and despite law enforcements raids and arrests, there was plenty of demand for 'the devil's water.'
Narrated by Trisha Taurinskas
Written by Mark Wasson
Family and friends crowded into a Hibbing courtroom Friday afternoon to watch as Carbo, 54, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1986 rape and murder of the Chisholm mother of two. Under Minnesota sentencing laws that were in effect at the time, he'll be eligible to petition for parole after 17 years.
The mystery of who robbed a Wahpeton bank in September 1932 endured until the man bragged about it 40 years later. He was “Public Enemy #1” and “the scourge of the Midwest.”
Decades ago, Minnesota conservation officers, then known as game wardens, generally didn’t carry weapons on duty. But that changed following a single deadly encounter on July 12, 1940, that left three wardens slaughtered and their killer dead in less than a minute.
Written by Kari Lucin
Narrated by Trisha Taurinskas
As medications for tuberculosis became available, the need for the sanatorium waned. While the transition to nursing home care began in the 1950s, by 1971 it officially became a St. Louis County nursing home, known as Nopeming Nursing Home.
By 2002, the county made the decision to close the facility, ending another chapter of Nopeming’s history.
Just a few years later, a new chapter began when the building was purchased by Frank Vennes Jr., a Twin Cities businessman now serving prison time for his involvement in Tom Petter’s Ponzi scheme.
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, formed as male ball players were being drafted into the military for World War II efforts, allowed more than 600 female players a chance to shine and get a paycheck to play their game on a national stage. It was immortalized in popular culture by the movie "A League of Their Own" and a new streaming show by the same name.
James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok was undoubtedly carrying at least one sidearm in the gold mining town of Deadwood in what was then Dakota Territory. So what happened to Hickok's gun?
Joel Lovelien, 38, was beaten to death outside of the Broken Drum Bar in Grand Forks the weekend before Halloween on Oct. 27, 2007, while in costume as a hockey player.
Written by: Meghan Arbegast
Narrated by: Trisha Taurinskas
The pyramid and surrounding buildings near Nekoma, North Dakota were created to defend the country’s nuclear weapons during the Cold War. They've been empty for decades. But soon the facility will be a cryptocurrency mine, whose heat will warm an on-site greenhouse.
In the minutes before 3 a.m. on June 30, 1992, as the Northland slept, a freight train carrying hazardous materials just south of Superior derailed, sending train cars carrying aromatic chemicals sailing 71 feet into the waters of the Nemadji River.
The result was catastrophic — the chemical cocktail created an orange colored vapor cloud measuring 20 miles long and 5 miles wide — and it parked itself over the populated area of Superior and neighboring Duluth. As a result, more than 50,000 residents were evacuated.
Reporter Trisha Taurinskas recalls the scary situation and speaks with then-Police Chief Scott Lyons about the events of that day.
Radar tracks put Michael Bratlie, an experienced military and commercial pilot, just past Two Harbors, Minnesota, in his two-engine plane. There the flight path ended, drawing exhaustive searches of Lake Superior and the thick woods and rugged terrain on shore.
Where did an infamous mobster go when he needed a little rest and relaxation? Residents of the North Shore and Iron Range have long boasted their backyard as the bootlegger’s land of leisure.
On July 13, 1890, the steamer Sea Wing was returning from a carnival-like day at a military encampment when it capsized from a sudden and violent storm.
Many of the excursionists made the understandable but fateful decision to retreat to the ship’s passenger cabin for protection. When the ship flipped over, they were trapped inside the upside-down boat and drowned.
Author: Matthew Stolle
Narrator: Trisha Taurinskas
In the midst of the Northern pines and quaint Scandinavian communities of the early 1930s, a sinister underbelly of organized crime was brewing in Minnesota.
While St. Paul was considered a crook’s haven for mobsters to lay low, the infamous Al Capone was known to wander up North for rest and respite.
Some point to St. Paul law enforcement as the key instigators in making Minnesota mob-friendly.
Some people claim the devil himself visited the tiny town of Villisca, Iowa, that summer night in 1912, when 8 people were killed by an ax murderer. Others say he already lived among them.
After more than a century of idle gossip and speculation, some amateur sleuths might have just figured it out.
Under the bold headline “Murdered for Money,” a Bemidji Daily Pioneer story from June 8, 1904, broke the news that a father and daughter had gone missing from the tiny town of Quiring, Minnesota.
Written by: Madelyn Haasken
Narrated by: Trisha Taurinskas
In this final episode, reporter Trisha Taurinskas explores who Sandra and John Jacobson were, through the eyes of their family members.
Sandra and John Jacobson went missing in November 1996 from Bismarck, North Dakota. John was just 5 years old at the time. Neither of them have been seen or heard from since.
On an otherwise pleasant Sunday evening in 1893, a seven-year-old boy from Sioux Falls wandered into the home of a neighbor. Apparently shell-shocked, he managed to get out a few words about the horrific incident he had just witnessed.
“They’re all dead, sir.”
The young man was Sumner Lacey, the son of Harry and Clara Lacey. He had been at his grandmother’s home earlier in the evening when his father, whose controlling nature and financial instability had finally caught up with him, pulled out a .38-caliber revolver and shot his wife and his mother-in-law, Lydia Bunker, in the head.
Written by: Erik Kaufman
Narrated by: Trisha Taurinskas
In 1972, kidnappers took his mother away and demanded his father deliver the $1 million dollar ransom. Virginia Piper's son remembers the traumatic day 50 years ago that changed his family forever.
Evidence indicates 39-year-old Christina Lynn Melvin was struck and killed between 4:45 and 4:59 a.m. on April 7, 2019, in Grand Forks. It was later determined that Melvin, a resident of Bedford, Pennsylvania, had been passing through Grand Forks on the Amtrak train.
With just 16 days before the statute of limitations ran out on the kidnapping of a wealthy Orono, Minn., woman in 1972, the FBI indicted two men in the crime. But the case was far from over. In fact, the roller coaster ride was just beginning. Here is Part 3 of "The Kidnapping of Virginia Piper — 50 years later."
In this episode, reporter Trisha Taurinskas dives into Sgt. William Connor's quest to find Sandra's journal, which he believed could have shed light on what happened to her and John. Also in this episode, learn why an address in rural North Carolina kept popping up in this case.
Following the 1972 kidnapping of Virginia "Ginny" Piper of Orono, Minnesota, the FBI interviewed an estimated 1,000 people. One of the suspects at the top of the list was a man on the verge of committing a mass murder.
The kidnapping of Virginia Piper is considered one of the most successful kidnappings in U.S. history. Now 50 years after the Twin Cities socialite was grabbed from her garden, Forum Communications takes a fresh look at the case with updated reports and new podcasts and videos, plus exclusive interviews with those involved.
Here is Part 2 in "The Kidnapping of Virginia Piper — 50 years later."
In episode 2, examination of the police file related to the missing persons case of Sandra and John Jacobson continues. In this episode, reporter Trisha Taurinskas clarifies an important aspect of the case with retired detective, Tim Turnbull. We also hear from Sgt. William Connor, who took over the case in 2004. Connor reveals the key piece of evidence that could have shed light on what happened to Sandra and John.
The kidnapping of Virginia Piper is considered one of the most successful kidnappings in U.S. history. Now 50 years after the Twin Cities socialite was grabbed from her garden, Forum Communications takes a fresh look at the case with updated reports and new podcasts and videos, plus exclusive interviews with those involved.
The police file from this 1996 case, recently obtained by Forum News Service, reveals what Bismarck Police Department found when it reinvestigated the case of Sandra and John Jacobson: an initial missing persons investigation that left key questions unanswered, vital evidence unaccounted for and potential suspects cut loose.
Reporter Trisha Taurinskas unpacks the North Dakota mystery in this multiple-part series.
Read more here: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/police-file-reveals-flawed-investigation-into-1996-missing-persons-case-of-north-dakota-mother-and-son
During the early morning hours of March 29, 1938, a gang of robbers stole over $2,000 from the Miltona State Bank in Miltona, Minnesota.
That's almost $40,000 by today's standards.
It was a late winter morning when a cashier's son was returning a borrowed typewriter to the Miltona State Bank and discovered a tampered vault door and an empty safe. Cans of cream, filled with water next to the safe, told the tale. The "Cream Can Gang" had struck again.
✍️: Thalen Zimmerman
🗣️: Kris Kerzman
The disappearance of Eric plagued Dickinson for three years. What began as a missing persons investigation, soured by allegations of police indifference and ineptitude levied by Eric’s mother Maryellen Suchan, evolved slowly from hopes of a triumphant return to considerations of declaring her missing son dead. The case began turning cold, with sparse information and only a handful of leads to guide investigators.
Three years would pass with little to no progress.
In May of 2015, after hiring a private investigator, Eric’s body would be discovered less than 10 feet from where police had previously searched. Unearthed at the construction site where he was last seen alive, the missing person case was resolved — but in the resolution, more questions would be raised as to how Eric was buried alive.
As investigators dug deeper into the disappearance of Pamela Dunn, the evidence of foul play began to pile up.
While ex-boyfriend Dave Asmussen had already provided investigators with inconsistent stories related to the vehicles he had driven the day of — and day after — Dunn’s disappearance, they knew the deeper they dug, the more they’d discover.
And, they were right.
Robert Marsh says when his father was murdered in 1981, a responding officer told him that 90% of cases similar to that of his father’s are solved. To date, the identity of Clifton Wendell Marsh’s killer remains a mystery.
When a person goes missing, law enforcement is often stuck in a problematic position. Without a body, it can be difficult to prove a crime existed. That means justice, however obvious it may seem, is often not achieved.
For the 2001 missing persons case of Pamela Dunn, that’s not exactly the story.
While Dunn has not been located, her ex-boyfriend, Dave Asmussen, is serving a life sentence for a 2006 conviction related to her kidnapping. That sentencing came on the heels of a stalking conviction, which landed him in prison in 2004 for 40 months.
While it’s not the slam dunk investigators are content with, it’s the successful execution of a strategy intended to keep their main suspect behind bars while continuing to collect evidence related to the disappearance of Dunn.
This is part 1 of a two-part series related to the disappearance of Pamela Dunn.
When a gunman killed a police officer in Hope, North Dakota, in 1933, the county sheriff wasn't about to take it lying down. He persisted to track the suspect for two years over seven states and thousands of miles -- one of the most highly publicized manhunts in U.S. history.
In August 1978, Deputy Richard Magnuson had been at the Roseau (Minnesota) County Sheriff’s Office for about 2 ½ months. On Aug. 2, 1978, his life was cut short at the age of 20 when he was the final victim of a series of killings by Gregory McMaster.
Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/young-minnesota-sheriffs-deputy-killed-by-cross-border-spree-killer-in-1978-to-be-memorialized
The Minot Police Department has arrested a woman who investigators believe killed her roommate 15 years ago.
Nichole Rice, 34, was arrested Wednesday, March 16, in connection to the death of 18-year-old Anita Knutson, who was found stabbed to death June 4, 2007, in her northwest Minot apartment, Minot Police Chief John Klug said in a news release. Knutson was a Minot State University student.
Rice is expected to be charged with Class AA murder, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison. She is being held at the Ward County Jail.
https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/roommate-arrested-in-15-year-old-minot-homicide
K.G. Hagen was gunned down in a saloon in Walcott, N.D.for trying to help a family in need. Meantime, his death left his own family to fend for itself. And his wife Lena Hagen proved up for the task, becoming a homesteader and raising prominent children, one of them a future Lt. Gov.
https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/norwegian-immigrant-victim-of-dastardly-murder-but-his-son-and-grandson-became-prominent-nd-politicians
Was it a bungled investigation or just a really tough case? No matter what happened to Pearl Osten on October 2, 1927, her family is still looking for answers.
Reporter: Tracy Briggs
https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/the-mysterious-murder-of-pelican-rapids-lonely-star-pearl-osten
In this episode co-producer Jeremy Fugleberg interviews the creator and host of Dakota Spotlight James Wolner Jeremy talks to James about Dakota Spotlight, true-crime, storytelling, a bit about his life and his favorite music and more.
Dakota Spotlight is available on all podcast streaming platforms. https://www.inforum.com/podcasts/dakota-spotlight-podcast
It’s become the stuff of legend - a tale of three men, taking on a seemingly insurmountable task. Breaking out of the unbreakable, chiseling, climbing, swimming and just surviving their way into folk history. And now, North Dakota has become part of the narrative.
The community of Glyndon, Minnesota was in shock Christmas morning 1947 when a father shot and killed one daughter and wounded another, before turning the gun on himself. After the deaths (and the hospitalization of little Betty Lou Hanson) the community rallied to help the family. The story attracted national attention and Betty Lou even got a postcard from one of the biggest movie stars of the day.
Reporter: Tracy Briggs
https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault
A look back at the devastating Tropics Nightclub arson fire of April 2000, started by co-owner John Michael Maurer. He first tried to blame the fire on an intruder but later admitted setting it to cover his financial problems. While no one was seriously hurt, the fire created months, even years of hardship for the businesses affected. The gap on Broadway created by the fire, between Fort Noks bar and Juice It, remains. This story will be told primarily through two Fargo firefighters who were almost hit by a two-ton boiler that fell through the second floor into the basement.
Reporter: Robin Huebner
https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/death-almost-came-for-fargo-firefighters-battling-downtown-arson-22-years-ago
On a cold November morning, a 53-year-old woman and her 7-year-old granddaughter would be found brutally murdered at a motel in Dickinson — the crime so gruesome and heinous that it would garner national media and law enforcement attention, before going cold for a decade.
Read the full article: https://www.inforum.com/the-taxi-driver-murders-how-dickinson-police-never-gave-up-on-and-solved-a-cold-case-a-decade-later
Written by: James Miller
Narrated by: Paula Quam
On June 7, 2007, Minot State University student Anita Knutson was found stabbed to death in her off-campus apartment. Her body was discovered by her father and two apartment maintenance workers.
For nearly fifteen years, family members and friends of Anita Knutson have lived with an aching grief, intensified by a lack of answers regarding what happened to the then-18-year-old in her final hours and minutes.
Full article: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/horrific-murder-of-north-dakota-college-student-remains-unsolved-as-family-waits-for-new-evidence
On the night of Friday the 13th in November 1987, deer hunters were gearing up for the opening weekend, a fire burned in a swamp on the edge of town, an unremarkable brown car was stolen and the employee of the month at the local Hardee's vanished without a trace.
Those events are either coincidental, or the keys to solving a now 34-year mystery that has yielded many theories and tips, but no answers.
Despite countless leads, sightings, psychic visions and rumors, Carla Beth Anderson, who became the subject of an intensive search in the Wadena, Minnesota, area, has never been found. Local authorities, though several generations have now held the case in their hands, continue to say the case is at the forefront of their minds.
Written by: Michael Johnson
Narrated by: Paula Quam
https://www.inforum.com/just-named-employee-of-the-month-wadena-minnesota-23-year-old-was-never-seen-again
On Monday, May 27, 1935, three armed men entered the bank, looking to relieve it of cash and then make their escape in the V8 Ford car that was running and waiting in the street just outside the building. The getaway driver was behind the wheel and ready to haul himself and his co-conspirators to safety.
But it didn’t go exactly as planned. The relative inexperience of the four men combined with a subtle ruse put on by the bank employees kept the robbers from making off with much cash. But during those few minutes as they grabbed as much money as they could, the robbery would escalate to a kidnapping and high-speed chase that reached speeds of over 80 mph.
Written by Erik Kaufman
Narrated by Paula Quam
Full article: https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/the-vault/7301349-Kidnapping-community-shock-marked-1935-Freeman-South-Dakota-bank-robbery
In 1885, the wife and young child of a wealthy Baptist minister were found murdered in their farmhouse in Inkster, N.D. After a twisting legal case, George Miller was hung for the crime about nine months later.
https://www.grandforksherald.com/the-vault/7260537-Grand-Forks-County-ax-murderer-became-Dakota-Territorys-first-legal-execution-in-1885
After being back-stabbed, Moorhead's 'Beer Baron' unleashed a weird crime in Sabin, and gangster life in town would never be the same. No one can quite figure out why the kingpin of the Minnesota town's illegal liquor business would mastermind a bank robbery, then try to attract the attention of the police on the way out of town. No matter why he did it, Jake Schumacher helped put the nail in the coffin of gangster life in Moorhead.
Reporter: Tracy Briggs
www.inforum.com/the-vault
Learn how a Civil War veteran became enthralled with the rapidly growing city of Fargo and founded the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.
Based on the book by Danielle Teigen.
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-History-Fargo-Danielle-Teigen/dp/146713659X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=hidden+fargo&qid=1634150737&sr=8-1
Learn how Fargo rebuilt after a devastating fire, the history of some of downtown's most iconic buildings, and the origins of the West Acres Mall.
Based on the book by Danielle Teigen.
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-History-Fargo-Danielle-Teigen/dp/146713659X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=hidden+fargo&qid=1634150737&sr=8-1
Learn about what made the Red River Valley such a popular spot to settle, a divide between Fargo's early settlers, and the tragedy that stopped the growing boom-town in its tracks.
Based on the book by Danielle Teigen.
https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-History-Fargo-Danielle-Teigen/dp/146713659X
The brutal murder of 16-year-old Alma Kruckenberg at the hands of her minister on August 16, 1938, was shocking enough. The subsequent confession, trial, and sentencing of her murderer took place with astonishing speed, leaving Alma’s family and friends barely enough time to process the horrifying event. Lurid details of the crime have been passed down from one generation to the next, becoming distorted with every telling. Her nephew is now digging deeper in a book he just released.
Reporter: Tracy Briggs
In the second of this two-part series, Forum Communications journalist and fellow podcaster Tracy Briggs asks the questions you've always wanted to know, including how Wolner, a California native ended up in North Dakota.
When a state chooses to make a dramatic change in the way it enforces law and order -- most notably in how it punishes those who break the law, it’s safe to assume the change would come after careful study, well-reasoned feedback from the state’s residents or maybe after those residents took to the streets to protest and demand change.
But when the state of Minnesota chose to abolish the death penalty in the early 20th century, the change came not from any of those things, but from the fallout of a forbidden love affair between a mutinous, bar-brawling Englishman and a teenage boy. And how the people from the land of 10,000 lakes reacted to it.
In the first of this two-part series, Forum Communications journalist and fellow podcaster Tracy Briggs asks the questions you've always wanted to know, including how Wolner, a California native ended up in North Dakota.
Was Fargo carpenter Frank Kethman joking when he called Moorhead physician Thrond Egge, a “horse doctor.” Some say “yes,” others say “no,” and the bad blood between the two men ended with one of them dead and lead to the Wagon Wrench Murder of 1909.
Hosted by Tracy Briggs.
Read the full article: https://www.inforum.com/the-vault/7141942-A-Moorhead-doctor-and-a-Fargo-carpenter-walk-into-a-bar-and-walk-into-the-Wagon-Wrench-Murder
In July 1932, federal agents raided a picturesque farm near Jamestown, North Dakota. The farm was owned by one of the most prominent men in town. It also houses the biggest illegal booze operation west of Chicago.
One of North Dakota's wealthiest farmers was also a serial killer.
Eugene Butler was a founding father of the town of Niagara, N.D., in 1882. Shortly after his death in 1915, workmen found six skeletons under his house. Now more than 100 years after his murderous spree, authorities say you might hold the key to identifying his victims.
Full Story: https://www.inforum.com/the-vault/7073384-One-of-North-Dakotas-wealthiest-farmers-was-also-a-serial-killer
After years of research, interviews and a boastful confession by another man, the new lead prosecutor fights to make sure justice is finally served in the death of Marie Wick and conviction of William Gummer.
Gummer gives an interview as he’s heading into prison. He doesn’t think he’ll be there long. But he is there for 22 years.
The trial and conviction of William Gummer. He always maintained his innocence, but why did officials think he was guilty?
A four-part podcast by Forum Communications, Tracy Briggs and "The Vault"
This month marks the 100th anniversary of one of Fargo’s most notorious and sensational murders. On June 6, 1921, 18-year-old Marie Wick left her small family farm outside Grygla, MInn to visit relatives in North Dakota.
But her overnight stay in "the big city" of Fargo, North Dakota turned deadly. She was found dead the next morning (June 7) in her hotel room.
Police soon found the man they believed committed the brutal attack and he was eventually found guility and sentenced to life in prison. But did they make a mistake?
Twenty-two years later, with a change of prosecutors, the answer might be "yes," as defense attornies and prosectuors fight to right a wrong and free an innocent man. But if the man convicted didn't do it, who did? And will justice ever be served?
Whatever happened to baby Emma, the only survivor of her murdered family? The Turtle Lake Murders — Episode #4
https://www.fccnn.com/the-vault/6983096-Whatever-happened-to-baby-Emma-the-only-survivor-of-her-murdered-family-The-Turtle-Lake-Murders-%E2%80%94-Episode-4
Everything we thought we knew about the infamous Wolf family murders can be upended when we apply some historical context. Does what the world was enduring in 1920 provide any evidence on who the real killers might be? The Turtle Lake Murders podcast - Episode 3.
https://www.fccnn.com/the-vault/6981575-Was-North-Dakotas-worst-mass-murder-a-hate-crime-or-politically-charged-lies-The-Turtle-Lake-Murders-Episode-3
In episode #1 of The Turtle Lake Murders podcast, reporter Tracy Briggs recapped the horrific crime that happened on the farm of the Jacob and Beata Wolf family on April 22, 1920, when seven of eight family members were killed along with their farm hand. While a neighbor confessed to the homicides, several experts are now saying it appears the wrong man might have gone to jail all those years ago. https://www.inforum.com/the-vault/6982745-The-Turtle-Lake-Murders-An-original-podcast-by-Tracy-Briggs
After a century of thinking authorities knew what happened on April 22, 1920, when seven members of the Jacob and Beata Wolf family and their farmhand, were murdered in Turtle Lake, North Dakota, doubts have arisen to the legitimacy of the convicted killer's confession. In this four-part podcast, Forum reporter Tracy Briggs takes a look at exactly what happened that dark April day, and how that passage of time is shedding new light on old evidence. An original podcast by Tracy Briggs Produced by Chris Flynn