And they ended up acquitting her. "Then went upstairs and smothered the 83-year-old heiress in her bed with a satin pillow.". She was not known to have ever been considered stuck up or treated anyone like they were beneath her. It became kind of obvious that the jurors were thinking, boy I don't think this lady would kill her mother.". "The big mystery still is, did Roger do it alone or with someone else there, and how involved if at all was Marjorie? Roger’s fingerprints were nowhere to be found in Glensheen. Garvue, terrified, ran down the stairs to the first floor where Conger was waiting to bring the tray. Also available from Amazon, With the purpose of writing about true crime in an authoritative, fact-based manner, veteran journalists J. J. Maloney and J. Patrick O’Connor launched Crime Magazine in November of 1998. On the stair case police found Pietila’s broken shoe that had nails sticking out. They found a receipt from the day of the murders from the Twin Cities Airport gift shop for a suede suit bag. Velma Pietila had been a nurse since 1933 and had spent the last seven years working at Glensheen. Marjorie later was indicted on a variety of other strange but unrelated crimes in the southwestern United States. In the late 1960s, the Congdon family decided to donate the estate to the University of Minnesota Duluth, although not until Elizabeth died. There were also empty jewelry boxes scattered on the floor. I've adored Glensheen since I was a child when my father would tell me the ghost story of the murder driving up to the Northshore and then as a young woman when I took the tour with friends. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Elisabeth Congdon was born to mining magnate Chester Adgate Congdon, and his wife, Clara Hesperia Bannister Congdon on April 22, 1894 in Duluth, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, USA.In 1905, Chester began building Glensheen Historic Estate, a 39-room mansion on their 22-acre (89,000 m 2) estate in Duluth, Minnesota, seeing it finished 3 years later. Cold Spots: Glensheen Mansion by Steve Barton April 1, 2009, 12:58 pm 2k Views Duluth, MN – The newspaper headlines read like a tale from a dime-store detective novel. Photo courtesy of Glensheen Manor. Not knowing what to expect, he made his way up the stairs and when he saw Pietila, he checked for signs of life. In the afternoon of June 27, Detective Waller received a call from Loren Pietila again. He had received a call from someone at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport saying the car keys were found by a maintenance worker in a garbage can. Other family members and household staff all shared the same opinion as to who they felt had the biggest gain in the death of Elisabeth Congdon. The nurse working that day was Mildred Klosowsky. June 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the Glensheen Mansion murders. This was now two years after the murders and, as Kimball recalled, two new developments hurt the prosecution. And I whispered to the guide, 'You know she was brutally murdered, right?'". A pane of glass in a basement window was broken, and a mark that appeared to have been caused by a foot impression was found on a sofa underneath the broken window. From Will to Murder: The True Story behind the Crimes and Trials Surrounding the Glensheen Killings by Gail Feichtinger, John DeSanto, and Gary Waller (Zenith City Press, 2003). In 1983 Roger Caldwell confessed to the Glensheen killings, pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. After police learned of the Caldwell's financial troubles and the constant begging for money by the two, Marjorie and Roger became prime suspects. Update: 2019-01-02. When Nurse Mildred Garvue arrived shortly before 7 a.m., she went to the pantry’s refrigerator to get Elisabeth’s insulin. When he came across the body of Velma Pietila, he could see she had been beaten to death. Inspector Grams, who was the officer-in-charge, met Waller near the staircase. Description. On many nights she would fall asleep watching TV, but that night she “needed a good night’s rest.” She said her goodbyes to Klosowsky and fell asleep. The mystery became a media sensation. Thousands have toured it since it opened as a museum in 1979. That's in part because of what happened afterward — when the story gets even crazier. Duluth officials were outraged by the Minnesota Supreme Court's decision, but knew they lacked hard evidence. To her horror, she saw the lifeless body of Velma Pietila laying on the bench seat beneath the landing window. She enjoyed card games and was difficult to beat at gin rummy and hearts. Elisabeth had spent the weekend at her summer home on the Brule River in Wisconsin, just like she did every weekend. With the death of Elisabeth, the Glensheen estate, which includes the 39-room mansion, carriage house, boathouse, and gardener’s cottage, was left to the University of Minnesota and has remained largely intact, down to the unopened house-canned jars of pickles in the basement. Making note of the small abrasion on her nose. Today we’ll work on remembering Glensheen Historic Estate, better known as Glensheen Mansion. When Elisabeth saw the movie at the Duluth premiere she was surpised at the dark tone. Her life at Glensheen ended abruptly on June 27, 1977, when the ailing, 83-year-old heiress was killed in the mansion along with her night nurse, Velma Pietila, 67. The victims' families "were really hopeful that we would not have to retry the case with a chance of Roger walking free," DeSanto said. Glensheen director Dan Hartman talks about a Congdon family portrait. All 12 jurors found Roger Caldwell guilty, and sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences. Also noted was a tattoo-like pattern of wounds to her face, forearm and finger. While making rounds, she was to unlock the front door so the arriving day nurse could enter and not have to ring the doorbell and disturb Elisabeth. Photo courtesy of Glensheen Manor. Waller lifted the pillow carefully, he noticed there was what appeared to be a raw patch of skin on her nose. A few years later Elisabeth Congdon and her night nurse were killed in a brutal murder in the mansion. Blood money: The grisly murders at Duluth's Glensheen mansion Friday, December 7, 2018 by Hannah Jones in News. When Detective Waller and Inspector Gram entered Congdon’s room, they noticed the lamp next to her bed was on. She had actually retired the month before and was looking forward to playing golf, traveling and spending more time with her husband. "Even though she's been acquitted, I think there's lots of questions about that.". After settling in to the nurses room, Pietila propped open the window with her thermos and read her book I Didn’t Come Here to Argue by Peg Bracken. Twelve years after the murders, he committed suicide. There is another book that features many pictures and much history. ", "I went on one of the early tours," he said, "and one of the first things the guide said, was, 'when Ms. Congdon passed away, she willed the estate to the university.' Apr 29, 2020 - Photos and videos of the Glensheen mansion in the past. "I think also a downside of the murder is that people always viewed it from that lens, even in the history community," he said, "that they kind of forget it's actually this incredibly important historic site for our state. Being from Minnesota, I am beyond the story of the murders. While the dogs and some police were searching the grounds, Detective Waller began the difficult task of photographing the bodies and processing evidence. In the mean time they stayed in the Twin Cities at a Holiday Inn. He recalled an argument his wife had had with Elisabeth Congdon’s adopted daughter Marjorie. said Kimball. A Retelling of Minnesota’s Infamous Glensheen Murders. "Someone breaks into a 39-room mansion and killed the nurse on the grand stairway," with a candlestick, recalled Joe Kimball, a reporter with the Minneapolis Tribune who covered the murders. Share. Glensheen director Dan Hartman estimated it at 8 … Secrets of the dresser in the mansion Garvue checked for signs of life on. 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