. This episode will whisk you away into the eerie discovery of high volumes of Valium in Roger's blood, his subsequent arrest, and the following consequential events.
Our narrative then ventures into the perplexing maze of the Cowards' real estate dealings and the unsettling events that led to Marjorie's loan application. Get ready to hear first-hand encounters of those who crossed paths with them, including Fran Beyer's captivating account of their peculiar property hunt. We also shed light on the chilling Deluca note and its ominous undertones. But our tale takes a bizarre detour when Roger gets slapped with first-degree murder charges, and Marjorie is entangled in an odd assault case.
Strap in as we delve into Marjorie's suspicious inheritance claim, the strange inconsistencies in her attack narrative, and the controversial civil suit filed by her children. The story takes an unexpected turn with a dramatic plea offer extended to Roger. This episode promises a gripping journey through a complex web of deceit, manipulation, and murder. So, tune in, listen carefully, and let the dark yet intriguing saga of Elizabeth Condon's murder case consume you.
. This episode will whisk you away into the eerie discovery of high volumes of Valium in Roger's blood, his subsequent arrest, and the following consequential events.
Our narrative then ventures into the perplexing maze of the Cowards' real estate dealings and the unsettling events that led to Marjorie's loan application. Get ready to hear first-hand encounters of those who crossed paths with them, including Fran Beyer's captivating account of their peculiar property hunt. We also shed light on the chilling Deluca note and its ominous undertones. But our tale takes a bizarre detour when Roger gets slapped with first-degree murder charges, and Marjorie is entangled in an odd assault case.
Strap in as we delve into Marjorie's suspicious inheritance claim, the strange inconsistencies in her attack narrative, and the controversial civil suit filed by her children. The story takes an unexpected turn with a dramatic plea offer extended to Roger. This episode promises a gripping journey through a complex web of deceit, manipulation, and murder. So, tune in, listen carefully, and let the dark yet intriguing saga of Elizabeth Condon's murder case consume you.
Hello, welcome to the Murder Book. I'm your host, kiera, and this is part 7 of the murder of Elizabeth Condon in 1977. Let's begin. After midnight on Wednesday, july 6, 1977, while armed detectives paced the hospital hallways, roger Caldwell doves in his room. Doctors had found high levels of volume in Roger's blood, perhaps the reason for all factor in his collapse. Several hours earlier, prosecutor DeSanto and inspector Graham had reached their decision. There was enough evidence to charge him. Now. The physical evidence of eyewitness statements were sufficient probable cause to charge Roger with two counts of first degree murder. Thursday morning DeSanto would draft and sign a criminal complaint which would be sworn out before a judge who would then issue the arrest warrant. By 11.30 pm Tuesday, the inspector had ordered officers Waller and Green to arrest Roger on probable cause. Company by Hennepin County Sheriff's Deputy.
Speaker 1:Mayor Hughes arrived at Methodist Hospital at 12.20 am After being advised of his Miranda rights. Roger said smugly that he understood his rights and he said I have nothing to say to you. My lawyer told me not to talk to the cops. He didn't even bother to open his eyes when he was saying that and Waller wasted no time responding. You are under arrest for two counts of murder in the death of Elizabeth Condon and the death of Velma Pietila. Roger slowly opened his eyes and said oh. And then he gave Waller a look and said well, I want to call Marjorie. And Roger's response struck Waller as odd, because Roger should have demanded to speak to his lawyer, not call his wife. So Hughes told him well, the call has to be to your attorney. But attorney David Arno had not arrived home yet. Waller phoned the Holiday Inn where Arno was still handling Marjorie, and Arno told Roger that he will be over as soon as possible, not to answer any questions. The officers escorted Roger to the hospital's x-ray room so a doctor could examine his injured right hand. The x-ray reveals no broken bones, but when the doctor lifted Roger's hand for a closer look, he discovered an abrasion and bruise at the cuticle and first joint of Roger's left middle finger, and Waller silently cheered because in his professional opinion the injury had likely been caused by the nails and Velma Pietila's broken shoe.
Speaker 1:Back in Roger's hospital room, waller Green and Hughes searched his belongings. They found a pair of two-toned brown cowboy boots stamped with the word Mexico and covered with dark stains. Police confiscated the boots in order to analyze them for possible traces of blood, but they were not holding out much hope. The killer had probably disposed of any bloody clothing within hours of the murders. The men returned to the Holiday Inn where they learned that the search of Marjorie had failed to produce additional evidence. She had already left the hotel to stay at her son's Steven's apartment.
Speaker 1:Investigators also miss Arnold, who had finally been able to go to the hospital to visit Roger. Arnold didn't arrive until 1.30 am. Arnold remembers stating the conversation by asking Roger where he was at the time of the murders and he indicated he didn't know. The common struck Arnold as kind of odd and he said well, I guess I didn't think anything more of it, from the standpoint of my mind, might have been going very rapidly, accepting and rejecting various alternatives. Before leaving, arnold reminded Roger not to say anything else unless he had an attorney with him.
Speaker 1:Several miles away from the hospital, at a Perkins restaurant, detectives Waller, jagoda and Green, along with officers McComb and Ferger-Razon, toasted their early morning success with coffee and cheese omelettes. Waller had called his boss at home to advise him of Roger's address. He knew Inspector Graham had already begun work preparing a press release and arranging for Roger's transfer to Duluth. On Wednesday morning newspaper headlines played up the arrest. Although Inspector Graham's decision to release the photo to reporters was well-intentioned, it gave the prosecution a legal headache. Any identification of Roger at a later date would arguably be tainted. Reporters were too great. Someone would have seen the picture in the newspapers or on television. Two days later, on Friday July 8, the news media looked on as Sheriff's deputies wheeled Roger to a waiting squad car. His head covered by a towel, he spent the night at the Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis. The next day, green and Jagoda transferred him to the St Louis County Jail in Duluth Saturday.
Speaker 1:Upon his arrival at the St Louis County Jail in Duluth, detective confiscated Roger's personal possessions, including a black leather single fold wallet. At the time, officers neglected to carefully search the wallet and eventually the wallet and its contents will be at the center of a trial Controversy. Like a glen sheen Waller and the identification unit, officers returned to the crime scene investigation. Fingerprinting was completed and Elizabeth's bedroom and an additional crime scene photos were taken, including one of the bedroom closets, with and without the remaining wicker case. Although police later marked the photos with the date, time and location, they never maintained a photo inventory. This slip-up opened up the prosecution to defense charges that the photos were inaccurately marked and out of order and that the wicker case found in the Cowards Hotel room had been planted.
Speaker 1:Manette Allen heard about Roger's arrest after returning from an out-of-town skating competition and she wanted to lend her old friend Marjorie her moral support and sympathy. Allen called Stephen and she was trying to learn about Marjorie's word about, but Marjorie herself answered the phone. When Marjorie arrived at her house, allen could barely recognize the woman she called her best friend years earlier. Her black hair, cropped and spiky, looked almost boyish and she wore blue jeans, cowboy boots and chunky turquoise jewelry. Every launch into an angry verbal assault on the Duluth Police Department ending her trade with these cops. Allen had never before heard Marjorie swear and she didn't know if her friend had changed radically or she had simply failed to see another side to Marjorie's personality. She said it was like I was meeting a completely new person.
Speaker 1:On Saturday, july 9th, marjorie and her friend Joy O'Toole had lunch together at Como Park in St Paul and Joy kept asking questions about the weekend of the murders and Marjorie replied mixing up her stories. Joy asked Marjorie about the jewelry. Police recovered her hotel room in Bloomington. The jewelry had been planted in the room, according to Marjorie, and Joy asked her if it wasn't strange that police recovered the same jewelry items earmarked for her to inherit upon her mother's death. The two women talk about the viciousness of Velma Petila's beating. Joy later told authorities that Marjorie said that doesn't sound like Roger. Roger would have only hit her once because he's a drinker.
Speaker 1:Even before charges had been filed, the Cowards and Arnold, believing it was just a matter of time, had started shopping for defense attorneys. Arnold, working with Reidenberg, had compiled a list of high profile attorneys who might be interested in representing the Cowards. Among those approached was renowned criminal defense lawyer F Lee Bailey. But Bailey, like most attorneys contacted, demanded cash up front. The Cowards had none. Arnold and Reidenberg then decided to approach two well known twin cities attorneys, ron Mechbecher and Doc Thompson. Arnold remembers the first time he met Mechbecher and Thompson. They both said they were very interested in representation. Then it came to a discussion of who was going to represent whom and the attorneys talked about a coin toss. Mechbecher took the initiative and said that he would take Marjorie as his client. Thompson said he didn't care if he represented Roger. But Thompson later confided to Arnold that he thought he had gotten the better deal. Compared to his wife, roger wasn't much of a talker and not attempted to control how Thompson tried his case. As one of Thompson's first actions as Roger's attorney, he bought his client a pair of shoes.
Speaker 1:Coward had left mungs of his clothes behind in Colorado, including any attire appropriate for court appearances, such as his arraignment on the murder charges. On the afternoon of Saturday, july 9th, a subdued looking Roger Caldwell, dressed in striped gray overalls and green slippers, appeared in St Louis County Court for a bail hearing. The sound to requested bail in the amount of $500,000. Thompson asked that bail be said at $20,000. He argued that Roger was a fine man who had even held a job with the Atomic Energy Commission and had secret clearance. This was news to DeSanto but he let the claim go on challenge Bail was said at $200,000. Roger was returned to his cell and there seemed little chance of freedom. Before his arraignment Roger proclaimed his innocence but was previously absent from the jail on visiting dates. Marjorie turned to the news media to complain that she was destitute and looked towards family to bail Roger out.
Speaker 1:After the arrest, duluth police continued to identify the jury recovered from the Cowboys hotel room. Bira Dumbar told police. The diamond and sapphire ring and gold watch looked identical to those worn by Elizabeth. Officers talked with Richard Hainback, the owner of Bagley and Company Jewelers in Duluth, one of Elizabeth's favorite jury stores. He confirmed that the ring was the same one. He had cleaned and serviced many times. She had worn the ring for 25 years. He recognized the pattern of wear on the stones and the setting. This additional evidence confirmed that at least some jury items found in the Cowboys hotel room were among these of those missing from Glensheen. The Cowboys could argue that they received the jury after their murders without being directly involved. On July 12, medical examiner Volker Gauchmit drew blood, pulled body and had hair samples, collected saliva samples from Roger Cowboys standard procedure and this was standard procedure when processing someone charged in a violent crime deck, in this case with Cowboys. Police would compare these known specimens with unknown specimens collected earlier at Glensheen. The defense couldn't say that jury only connected the Cowboys indirectly to the crime If, as Wallard hoped, the samples placed Roger in Glensheen at the time of the murders.
Speaker 1:Five days after Roger Cowboys arrest, gary Waller returned to Colorado, but Harmon greeted Wallard with a smile at the airport that afternoon of July 11th. They haven't been able to pin down Rogers' whereabouts the weekend of the homicides. So far the primary suspect had no alibi, so no news was good news. Gordianneer and CBI agent Harman had lined up an interview with Realtor friend Bayer who statements about Rogers' absence were critical to the investigation. She had been sick during Waller's earlier trip. Bayer had spent more time with Marjorie than anyone else in the days leading up to the murders. Waller wanted Marjorie's explanations to Bayer's on the record. He also needed to question Bill Kaye, the Cowards friend who had helped him pawn jewelry the three days before the murders. Kaye confirmed that he and the Cowards had visited the L&L Coin Pond shop the morning of June 23. He told Waller the couple pawned jewelry to pay for back horse board and feed bills. The Cowards had struck pretty poor Barton because the pawnbroker gave them $3,000 for $8,000 worth of jewelry with an option to buy the jewelry back for $4,000. After the Cowards cashed the $3,000 check, kaye drove them to a car rental agency the Cowards had been without a car since the local bank repossessed the three jeeps for non-payment of loans and then he dropped the Cowards at the airport to pick up their car.
Speaker 1:The morning of the murders Kaye stopped at the Holland House at about 9 o'clock looking for Roger. The desk clerk said the Cowards were out but Marjorie was at the laundromat. She also told Kaye there was a wake up call and a note for Rick which Kaye delivered before walking to the laundromat. Kaye told Waller that he and Marjorie talked for about half an hour. She said that Roger was in Denver with a lawyer, that she had dropped him there that morning and she said I left March at approximately 10.15 and went to Denver on business that afternoon I stopped at the Holland House to see if Roger was back. The lady at the desk asked if I knew where they were because they had been a death in the family. I asked if it was Marjorie's mother because I knew she was ill. The lady said it was an aunt. I took a right to Hillcroft acres but did not found them. He did not be involved with the murders in any way.
Speaker 1:After Kaye left, waller, harmon and Gordoneer talked about what new information he had provided. The list of people who had not seen Roger in Colorado the weekend of the murders now included Bill Kaye. Waller was troubled by the claim John Hannigan, vice President for Golden State Bank, had made during his first interview he had told investigators he saw Roger about 9.30 am Monday, june 27. Roger came into the bank to notify Hannigan that Rick had taken the car that was repossessed to Gordoneer to drive to work. Hannigan had not noticed anything unusual about Roger's appearance. When Waller suggested Hannigan might have mixed up, the day he saw Roger the bank official said he was positive. But Hannigan's secretary told investigators Roger would have had to walk directly in front of her desk in order to speak with Hannigan and she did not see Roger Monday morning. Roger also did not pick up $300 that had been wired to him and Marjorie traveled to the funeral until June 28. The afternoon of June 28, hannigan spoke with Roger. When he came to pick up the money Hannigan noticed Roger seemed nervous and in a hurry and that he had a scratch on his lip and a swollen hand. Roger said he had caught himself shaving and a horse had stepped on his hand. Waller remained convinced that the message Bertha Huskins had taken at the Holland House Monday afternoon signal Roger's arrival back to Denver.
Speaker 1:The next day Waller continued his interviews in the Gordone and Denver area. He and Agent Harman took a statement from Fran Beyer and Waller's room at the Writers' Banner Hotel. In her sixth page statement Beyer described the ranch properties the cowards had looked at beginning June 2. Beyer also related Roger's behavior when he accompanied his wife on Monday June 13. Beyer picked up Roger at the Holland House Hotel shortly after 9am and then drove to Herriches Drug to pick up Marjorie On the way to the drugstore. Roger told Beyer that if he seemed like headed it was because he had just taken three-value Upset over the insurance claim he and Marjorie had filed on Pine Valley Farms. He also said that March was expected to lose her hearing within four years.
Speaker 1:While riding along, roger and her, with Beyer and Marjorie sitting in the back, they would discuss properties and uses of the facilities and usually end up hollering and March would turn him off, she said and write quietly looking out the window. Roger liked to talk about anything and kept up a constant conversation. Marjorie and Roger had quick, short tempers, beyer said later, and they were not comfortable to be around all of the time. Too much prospects on Southlake Gold Road attracted the cowards attention, particularly Marjorie's. But Roger seemed to grow quieter as the day progressed. And while Roger toured the house, marjorie made up one of her stories for Beyer, saying that she had been married to an alcoholic before and it was so terrible that her priest urged her to divorce him. Marjorie claimed that since that time her family no longer held her in their good graces.
Speaker 1:After that day, when Beyer called her clients at the Holland House Hotel, marjorie told her to write up a purchase agreement for the DeLuca property. She also told Beyer that she wanted to look at the second property located next door to the DeLuca home. Marjorie claimed that her cousin James Dudley from Long Island had entered semi retirement and wanted to find a large property somewhere between Colorado Springs and Denver to raise thoroughbreds. So Marjorie wanted to preview properties for him. The two women then arranged to meet the next morning.
Speaker 1:On Tuesday, june 14th, marjorie signed a purchase agreement for the $97,000 DeLuca property with a $5,000 note due to within 10 days. She and Beyer then went to look at the second property on South Lake Gold Road. Marjorie, apparently forgetting the James Dudley story, told Beyer that she wanted to purchase the property for additional acreage and she could use the house for stable help. The following day Marjorie applied for a bank loan to finance the property and told the loan officer that she had written her trust officer for authorization of trust funds to buy the two properties. On Thursday, june 23rd, beyer called to remind Marjorie and Roger that the $5,000 note under DeLuca property would come due the following day. Beyer recalled that when Marjorie heard her voice she exclaimed how sorry she was, but that she had just gotten out of the hospital, she had been kicked by a horse and had been in traction and under sedation and had not have time to contact her attorney or her banker and needed until Monday June 27th to redeem the note.
Speaker 1:Marjorie and Beyer agreed to meet again on Saturday morning, june 25th, so that Marjorie could sign an extension clause and look at properties for her cousin. And so Beyer said I picked her up and she was telling me all about how Roger was under such a strain with all of his attorneys and their claim and how he was going down to Colorado Springs the next day the reason I don't remember, but that he really needed a trip. So, after several appointments, the women drove past $106,000 property for sale on Perry Park Road that was not among Beyer's listings. Marjorie insisted on stopping and while Beyer parked the car, she got out, rushed up to the owners and started asking questions. It was ideal for Roger, marjorie, and Marjorie told Beyer. So after viewing the ranch and several other properties, they kept the day with dinner at the Magic Pan, one of Marjorie's favorite restaurants. Marjorie paid for the two dinners with cash. When Beyer called Marjorie later that night, marjorie said that she wanted to go back on Sunday to the Perry Park Roadhouse because Roger wanted her to measure the rooms. They agreed to meet the following day at 10am.
Speaker 1:On Sunday morning Marjorie informed Beyer that Roger had taken the back road to Colorado Springs that morning around 5.30. He had driven by Perry Park Road property and told her to say that it was just what he wanted. The women revisited the ranch, talked with the owners before checking on a 20 acre part sale of land for sale adjacent to the Southlake Gold Road properties. That night over dinner Marjorie told Beyer that she wanted purchase of remins drawn up for the Perry Park Road property and the property at 977 Southlake Gold Road. Since they had not completed the paperwork by the time the restaurant closed, beyer finished writing up the contracts in the parking lot. They planned to meet at Heritage Drug Monday morning at 11. Marjorie would redeem the $5,000 note for the Deluca property.
Speaker 1:Beyer arrived at Heritage Drug about 11.30am Monday and spotted Marjorie coming out of the delicatessen. After Marjorie told her about the murders, she apologized for her condition. She had gotten value from her doctor but refused to cancel the appointments, much to Beyer's surprise. Once again Marjorie had an explanation for Roger's absence. She said Roger had taken Ricky to the mountains surrounding Boulder so Rick would be away from the media and not hear about the murders until they knew more details and his doctor was alerted to the situation with standby equipment. The two women went to the Realty Office to complete details of the previous night's purchase agreements, then toured additional properties.
Speaker 1:The Deluca note remained unredeemed While the cow worlds were in Duluth for Elizabeth Funeral. Beyer called the Delucas to update them on the unredeemed note. She learned that Marjorie, roger and Rick had paid a surprise visit to the Delucas on June 23. The Delucas had been charmed by Marjorie at the first meeting and she apparently persuaded the couple to go along with her desire to move in. Within a matter of weeks the couple had moved out older furniture, with the exception of a few items the cowards had wanted to purchase but had not yet paid for. The Deluca slept on the floor in sleeping bags.
Speaker 1:Marjorie had failed to call Beyer as promised before leaving town. Beyer was relieved to hear from Marjorie on Friday, july 1, when she called to say that she and Roger would return the following Tuesday. She told Beyer that her cousin, tom Condon, would be in town then and that the note would be redeemed. She instructed Bayer to call the Federal Land Bank to assure Marjorie's loan officer that her trust funds remain available and would not go to Provect. Marjorie ended the conversation by saying that she planned to wire Bayer authorization to complete the purchase of the land adjacent to the Southlake Gorge Road properties.
Speaker 1:Bayer last spoke with Marjorie on July 5th when Marjorie called on distance to say that Marjorie had collapsed that morning and was in the hospital with a heart attack or potassium imbalance. And then she asked if the deluca's were out and Bayer said they haven't left because the note wasn't redeemed and she reminded Marjorie about that. So Marjorie instructed Bayer to call her attorney or Tom Condon. In a range payment that afternoon a close friend called Bayer. After hearing a radio report of Bayer's arrest, bayer tried unsuccessfully to call Marjorie at the Holiday Inn in Minneapolis. Bayer then called Tom Condon at his office and he confirmed her thoughts that the deluca property should be returned to the market. She got the same advice from David Arnone. The lawyer Bayer considered every sale she had negotiated with Marjorie as void. She didn't have any earnest money to return, so at the end of her statement she told the investigators that she had not spoken to the call walls since Roger's arrest.
Speaker 1:The next day detectives Waller and Gordoneer visited the Golden State Bank to search the safety deposit box Roger rented on June 28. Bank employees recall that Roger appeared nervous and agitated as he filled out the required paperwork. He seemed in a hurry to get the box and after placing his papers inside he apologized for being abrupt and left Search warrant in hand. Waller and Gordoneer asked the bank security guard to open the box. When no spare key could be found, they called a locksmith.
Speaker 1:But the way pay off because inside the small grey box the men found several documents, one type written inside by Marjorie that gave Roger power of attorney, and another was sealed inside and it was an envelope from the Apparajo County Clerk of Gord's office. Opening the envelope, detective Waller removed a single yellow legal size sheet covered with Marjorie's handwriting. It was a will given Roger her share of her grandfather's estate upon Elizabeth's death, regardless of divorce or her children, and it was stated June 24, three days before the murders. The document said I, marjorie coward, do, on this day of June 24, 1977, give and bequeath to my husband, varder Cype Caldwell, all the cash benefits due to and or accruing to me from the Chester A Condon Trust that must disperse a principal to the children of his heirs within three calendar years from the date of his death, of the last surviving child of his, namely Elizabeth Manoring Condom. This bequest is made so I did of gift with no restrictions as to use or any restrictions accruing from a state of divorce, separation, my death or any other conditions or restrictions. I do this with the full knowledge that this document is irrevocable under any circumstances or for any reasons whatsoever and that said documents shall be binding upon my executors or executors, I should say heirs or beneficiaries. So thanks to this handwritten will, roger could look forward to about a $2.5 million cut of his wife's $8.2 million inheritance. At trial, desanto would refer to the will as a murder contract by mid July. The case was several weeks old, while the Gouda and Green were now the only officers still assigned to the case full time On July 15th while they're still in Colorado. Focus on this, proving Marjorie's various explanations for various whereabouts the weekend of the murders and try to pin down various activities during the critical time period. While interview several people, marjorie saw the morning of the murders. Harmon and Waller visited the organized crime strike force and met with Colorado's assistant attorney general who drafted another subpoena so that police could examine. At Avis rental records for the Cordoba the cowards have rented from the Stapleton Airport from June 27th to June. June 23 to June 27 Milage statements for the Cordoba indicated that the cowards would could easily have driven two round trips to the Stapleton Airport that weekend of the murders.
Speaker 1:Waller talked to Joyce Smith, a waitress at the Holland House who frequently served the cowards at the hotel coffee shop. Miss Smith told Waller that she saw the cowards about 6.15 am Saturday, june 25 in the hotel parking lot. She said that she spoke to them. They say they were going out of town for the day Seemed in a hurry. Roger was putting a small suitcase in the car in the back seat and Smith worked the dinner shift on Sunday and she usually saw the cowards for dinner but she didn't remember seeing the couple Sunday night.
Speaker 1:Smith couldn't forget Roger's appearance when the cowards had dinner at the coffee shop the Thursday prior to the murders. She said that Roger had acted and sounded like he had been drinking heavily and Roger asked her to leave the 21 ounce T1 strikes. The couple ordered off the bill and he said I will give you a big tip. And the cowards usually tipped big. Smith assumed Roger was kidding and responded that she couldn't do that. So Marjorie told Roger to shut up and say don't get the girl in trouble. She scolded.
Speaker 1:So Waller next interview Smith teenage daughter, jacqueline, who also worked as a waitress at the Holland House coffee shop. Jacqueline Smith worked from 9 am to 5 pm on Sundays. She told Waller that on Sunday June 26 she saw Marjorie alone in the coffee shop doing paperwork. Marjorie was writing on what appeared to be maps. Smith said Smith had not seen Roger that Sunday. But investigators believe that Holland House waitress Wilma Farley and Joyce Minne-Air had provided more accurate statements because they told investigators that they have seen Marjorie and Roger leaving the Holland House Sunday morning June 26. Marjorie had said they were on their way to the airport. Farley's and Minne-Air's later sighting of the cow wealth fit investigators theory that Marjorie had driven Roger to the Denver Airport early Sunday where he either caught a direct flight to the Twin Cities or flew to another Midwestern city, changed planes. She flew back to the Denver airport Monday where Marjorie eventually picked him up after he had left the short message with Bertha Hoskins at the Holland House fondest.
Speaker 1:Police had another piece of circumstantial evidence to go with this theory. During interviews with airline personnel, a North Central airline stewardess had told Duluth detectives that a male passenger on the Denver to Minneapolis flight June 26 or 27 was noticeable for wearing a large quantity of turquoise jewelry, a description that fed Roger's cowboy attire. As a result, waldo and Colorado law enforcement disregarded the new information from the Smiths. Police didn't consider the possibility that the killer could have left from the Colorado Springs airport for the trip to Duluth, so flight manifest from Colorado Springs were not investigated. In hindsight Waldo thinks this was how they missed Roger and there was enough mileage on the rented Cordoba to allow for two round trips from Golden to Colorado Springs that weekend with mileage left over by early August.
Speaker 1:Duluth police had substantial circumstantial evidence but still had no concrete leads on how Roger got to and from the murder scene Between 6.35 am, the time on the Twin Cities Airport parking ticket and Roger's call to the Holland House Hotel for a ride at 1.45 pm mountain time, 69 flights left the Minnesota St Paul International Airport. Police traced all but eight of the 5,900 people who flew from the Twin Cities to Denver on June 27, including one passenger assigned to a Navy submarine in the Pacific. They found no listing for Roger Caldwell Amman Hotel Plain Reservations or any unusual last minute bookings, but the possibility remained that any of the 5,900 names might have been a Suthanum. The police department checked flight manifest and passenger coupons for 15 airlines with routes between Colorado and Minnesota, some directly to Duluth and some via Chicago-Milwaukee, seuss Falls or the Twin Cities.
Speaker 1:In most criminal cases the district judge decides whether investigators have gathered sufficient evidence for trial, but Minnesota law says that first degree murder charges must go to a grand jury for an indictment before the prosecution can try the case. When Roger had been arraigned on July 21 in St Louis County District Court, his bail had been raised to $400,000. On August 5, a Duluth grand jury indicted Roger Caldwell on first degree murder charges in the death of his mother-in-law, elizabeth Condon, and her nurse, velma Petila. The indictment spelled out the inheritance Marjorie expected to receive and, as a legal heir, roger could inherit from his wife on her death with other will. Elizabeth will that was stated December 29, 1967, mention 23 individuals. As expected, elizabeth named her two adoptive daughters, marjorie and Jennifer, as principal heirs of her estate. She also named her daughters as benefactors of her $4.2 million living trust.
Speaker 1:But what started investigators was a notice of demand by Marjorie that had been filed with St Louis County Provec Court the day of her mother's funeral and was stated June 16, nearly two weeks before Elizabeth was killed. It requested that she or her attorney be notified what any action concerning her mother's will was taken. Inspector Graham told reporters that the date the document was prepared could be significant in the murder investigation but otherwise remained vague, and he said I will let you draw your own conclusions. However, police soon learned from David Arno, the attorney, that the notice of demand had actually been drafted the same day. It was filed the day of the funeral. The day before the funeral, arno had called his associate James Wyland, asking him to fly up to Duluth to be a gopher and help with marjorie. On the day of the funeral, marjorie insisted that she needed something to protect herself from her family. Regarding the will, arno thought that it was unnecessary and in bad taste, but Marjorie insisted, so he had Wyland prepare the form at the radison and file it that afternoon. Wyland realized later that he had glanced at the desk pat calendar, which was not on the right month, and inserted the wrong date. Finding it on the day of the funeral may have been in poor taste, but the date on the notice of demand wasn't quite the smoking gun. They once thought it was just a clerical error.
Speaker 1:Four days after the indictment, waller and Sergeant Jagoda conducted a driving and experiment simulating the murderer's route Driving an unmarked squad car from Glensheen to the Twin Cities airport. They recorded the time and mileage. They drove 70 miles per hour. The speed limit at the time was 55, figuring that Roger would have been anxious to get out of Duluth and to the Twin Cities to catch an early flight. The detectives stopped Midway for coffee and then got back on the freeway with one on schedule break. A state patrol officer stopped Jagoda for speeding. Roger would not have faced this problem at the time. The Minnesota State Police didn't cover freeways for speeding between 2 and 7 am.
Speaker 1:After talking their way out of a ticket, waller and Jagoda continued arriving at the airport security to the Lada Cross from short term parking in 2 hours and 28 minutes. This was more than enough for Roger to have killed the women. Between midnight and 4 am, made it to the airport. By 6.35 am the time stamp on the parking ticket recovered from the trash can. Waller and Jagoda next walked at a moderate pace from the spot where the Petila car was found to the garbage the garbage can where the keys and parking ticket were discovered. From there they continued to walk, or to do it at a moderate pace, into the main terminal and that took the escalator up the second floor and finally arrived at the host gift shop. The total time for the walk from the parking spot to the gift shop was under 2 and 1.5 minutes.
Speaker 1:The case then took a bizarre turn. On the same day of the driving experiment, marjorie reported being attacked by a man with a razor in her son Steven's apartment. Marjorie told police that she was taking a bath when she heard someone knocking loudly at the door. She opened the door, leaving the chain lock intact. A man dressed in a police officer's uniform claimed he had papers for her to sign, so she let him in the house. Once inside, the attacker allegedly pulled out a straight razor and said this is just a warning, stay away from Duluth and don't try to help your husband, marjorie claimed. He then said he would not seriously hurt her this time but would get her and her son if she didn't cooperate, marjorie reported.
Speaker 1:The man then repeatedly slashed the left side of her body, including her shoulder, upper arm and the upper part of her back and chest. She tried, without luck, to break away and run for cover to the bathroom. The man hid her several times on the left side of her head with his hand before leaving, but Marjorie did not immediately call the police or an ambulance. Instead she called Lou Reidenberg and her old friend Manette Allen. She told Allen that somebody had broken in, attacked her and cut her. Marjorie asked if Allen could please come and pick her up. Allen immediately drove to Stephen's house. When she arrived she saw for herself the cuts on Marjorie's face and arms, blood on her clothes and random blood smears throughout the apartment. Marjorie was very distraught and repeated that some unknown person had attacked her. Allen wanted to take her to the emergency room, but Marjorie insisted Allen took her to one of the measures office.
Speaker 1:At the time Allen believed her and was much too upset to drive anywhere, and it wasn't until Allen got home and her husband asked what happened, that she wondered why there wasn't much blood. As she reconstructed the scene for him, it seemed to her there should have been more blood on the floor and the bathroom and around the apartment. Most of the blood was on Marjorie. When police was finally called, they arrived to find Marjorie sitting on the couch next to Lou Reidenberg. The responding officers noted dry blood on the left side of her face, a cut near her scalp line, and another on her left cheek between her eye and ear. Marjorie then showed the officers numerous shallow cuts covering her upper, left back, shoulder, arm and chest. She had none of the defensive wounds cut to the hands or forearms that usually result from distinctive attempts to block such attack. So she claimed to have seen her attacker before, during the search of her hotel room at the Holiday Inn the previous month. She described him as about 6 feet, average, built, brown hair with a mustache above thin lips. He was dressed up in a blue uniform with a police gun belt and a star shaped badge. When Waller read the police complaint he could hardly believe it. The description of Marjorie's attacker was a thinly disguised composite of himself.
Speaker 1:The next day, university of Minnesota security officer Butt Miller put out a bank drive through in downtown Duluth. As he exited, a woman suddenly pulled her car in front of his squad car. The woman frantically wave her arms at him as though she needed help. She then got out and walked up to his car. He could not miss the large white bandage on the left side of her face and her huge dark sunglasses. Marjorie, clearly agitated, asked Miller for directions to the offices of the Duluth News Tribune.
Speaker 1:Minutes later, marjorie walked into the news tribune newsroom unannounced and insisted on talking to a reporter. She told reporter Jen Allen that her attacker threatened to return and scar her for life if she helped her husband. The man also promised to break her arm and go after her younger son. In spite of this claim, marjorie maintained her husband's innocence and she said if there was any doubt about my husband's innocence I would turn on him, she said. Marjorie also spoke lovely about her mother. She said this is the woman who took me from an orphanage. The next day Marjorie Gullish photo appeared in the paper. It showed a heavily bandaged woman with dry blood, dark glasses and matted hair. Some days later the Anoka County Sheriff's Department called Marjorie's claims unfounded. Investigators said because of inconsistencies, they no longer believe the assault had occurred as reported, but Lou Reidenberg told reporters he had asked the Sheriff's Department to call off the investigation based on concern for Marjorie's safety.
Speaker 1:After the alert assault, marjorie called Thomas Welch because she wanted the trust to buy her a guard dog. She said I'm worried about getting attacked again, somebody's after me. She told him. Welch said the trust would consider paying for a dog if he could verify the attack. He decided to call the emergency room physician who had treated Marjorie. Dr Jeng's side told Welch that in his opinion Marjorie's wounds were self-inflicted. Welch then called Marjorie back and told her the trust would not buy her a dog.
Speaker 1:Ten weeks later or two weeks later, I should say, as Welch sat in his office that faced a glass skyway, he saw Marjorie coming across the skyway with a government pincher on a leash. According to Welch, she comes whipping into his office and Marjorie asked if he had time to see her. So he said yes and she sits down. The dog is nervous, getting up and pacing around. In spite of the fact she said that you wouldn't give me any money, I got this attack dog and now I feel safe. That's what Marjorie told Welch At the end of the conversation. Welch got up, shook hands with Marjorie and she asked what do you think of the dog? He said well, it's a nice dog. Marjorie said do you know how they train these dogs to attack? They train them to go for your arm, as Welch. She said no, they train them to go for your crotch. So Welch quickly ushered his client and her dog out the door. His vision of Marjorie letting the dog loose on him seemed a little too real.
Speaker 1:Marjorie's so co-assault also led to the firing of Colovada Private Investigator Williams Furman. Welch suspected that the PI was a fraud and the day after Marjorie's attack Welch co-Furman at a special number. Furman had given Duluth detectives Furman this is Sergeant Wilder. I was just calling to find out what's new with Marjorie. And Furman said nothing new here. So he asked him do you have people watching her? And Furman said oh yes, I got two detectives watching her as we speak. And so Wilder asked him oh yeah, I got two detectives. So he said oh yeah, I was just wondering if anything happened yesterday. And he said no, nothing unusual. She stayed close to her son's house why do you ask? And Wilder his son was suddenly bruised told Furman about Marjorie's attack.
Speaker 1:He said she was taken to the hospital. Furman hesitated a few seconds before answering and he said well, okay, I'll check on it, let me call you back. And a few minutes later Furman called with an explanation. One of my surveillance men got sick and had to leave her unattended for a while, so he must have missed it. So, wilder, immediately co-inspector Graham said to Luth headquarters. He said you better call Barney Johnson or tell Barney Johnson that they're getting screwed. So Graham called Johnson, a condom family attorney and trustee who fired Furman. The next day Furman had built Tom Condon out of at least $15,000. Police wanted to charge him but, embarrassed by the deception, the Condon trustees dropped the matter.
Speaker 1:Other members of the family were not so reluctant to take public action. Five of Marjorie's children, peter, andy, suzanne, heather and Rebecca filed a civil lawsuit against her in September in St Louis County, provick, corden, duluth. In their petition the children objected to the distribution of any funds to Marjorie from Elizabeth's estate, her living trust and two trusts established by Chester Condon. The children challenged their mother's right to her inheritance under state law that prohibited anyone from inheriting money from the disease if shown to be involved in that person's murder. The petition alleged a continued murder investigation into Marjorie's possible involvement with her mother's murder, steven and Rick sided with her mother, proclaiming her innocence and questioning their siblings' motives. The dispute would not be resolved until June 29, 1983, when St Louis County Provick court approved a settlement between Marjorie and her children over the approximately $8 million condon estate inheritance. Under the terms of the settlement, marjorie would receive about $1.5 million from the larger of the two trusts set up by her grandfather. Marjorie would also receive the interest from one-third of her children's share of the trust, which amounted to about $4.5 million. The remainder of the inheritance monies would go to Marjorie's seven children, including a second trust amounting to approximately $2 million.
Speaker 1:Since Royer's arrest a prosecutor DeSanto had continued to ask for a physical line-up, and the typical line-up is done within days of an arrest. Yet whenever police contacted Doc Thompson he said his case load made that impossible so he insisted on being there. Walter insisted that the county attorney's office proceed. He said this is our show. They had a suspect in custody and a witness who could identify him. They not the defense should say when. But two months had passed before Walter could arrange for Duluth cab driver Williams to come down to police headquarters.
Speaker 1:Williams, a part-time driver for Allied Cab had told police that he had dropped off a man near Glensheen the night of the murders. He had been driving a cab number four on Sunday, june 26, starting at 5 pm. At about 11 pm he had been dispatched to the Melrose Building at 4th Avenue West and 1st Street, a block away from police headquarters and near the Greenham bus depot. He picked up an older man dressed in a suit, carrying a long coat, suitcase and small carry bag. The man asked to be taken out by the blinking light on London Road and he asked why are not the cabs behind the Greenham? And Williams assumed the man had just arrived by bus. As the cab approached in the blinking light of 38th Avenue East of London Road, the man motioned for Williams to turn in the driveway of an apartment complex. Before the man got out, he and Williams haggled briefly over the $3 cab fare. The man gave Williams $3 bills and noted before walking to a large car.
Speaker 1:Police hoped that Williams would be a good witness but unfortunately in the months between the arrest and the line-up, roger's appearance had changed. His hair had grown longer, he had grown a beard and since he had stopped drinking he has dropped 20 pounds and lost his beer belly those DeSanto had never gone to court over a line-up before he now went to judge Eggman and asked that Roger be ordered to shave his beard. Judge Eggman ruled for the prosecution and in an order dated September 7, 1977, roger would shave his beard, gave additional handwriting samples, and his arms and biceps were measured, but nothing could restore the weight he had lost. Back on July 5, williams had picked Roger out of a photo line-up, pointing at Harmon's picture of Roger without hesitation. But the detective sergeant who showed Williams the photo would be charged and eventually convicted on unrelated felony charges and he would have been an EC mark for the defense attorney while DeSanto needed the physical line-up. At the line-up Williams told investigators that he believed Roger was the man he had driven in his cab, but he admitted he had seen Roger's photo in the newspaper which tainted his police identification. Defense delayed tactics and the publication of Roger's photo had caused police a valuable opportunity to place Roger in Duluth the night of the murders.
Speaker 1:The day after Thanksgiving, waller and DeSanto flew out to Colorado so that DeSanto would have an opportunity to meet the witnesses who would testify for the prosecution. Waller introduced DeSanto to waitresses Jen Minhair and Wilma Farley, whose story defeat the theory that Roger didn't leave Colorado until June 26, which is a Sunday. Accordingly efforts to trace Roger's plane reservations, she also concentrated on Sunday. Years later Waller recalled the decision as one of that he would make differently today. He said this is what Waller said. He said we focus on step-by-step international because it was the most available. But when people lie they always use part of the truth.
Speaker 1:March 12, fran Byron, saturday, that Roger had gone down to Colorado Springs to get away from the lawyers. If you look at the mileage on the rented car there's enough for two trips to Colorado Springs plus other driving. It wasn't until two years later that they really looked at what was being said back then by Joyce Smith and her daughters. Then it was too late. Detectives Waller and prosecutor DeSanto also met with private investigator William Furman to corroborate his earlier statements. He said that he drove the car wells after they flew to Minnesota from Elizabeth Condon's funeral and he maintained he overhead Marjorie or Roger talking about the murders during their way at the Radisson Hotel in Duluth. Furman insisted that he had heard them say they hoped that they had gone away with it. Waller said this was total BS because both John and I knew it was and we had integrity not to call a man like this to a witness stand. As far as Waller could determine, furman had never traveled to Minnesota for his supposed surveillance of the car wells. More likely, he was defrauding Tom Condon.
Speaker 1:On February 27, 1978, roger entered plea of not guilty. He had been in jail since July 8, 1977 and his circumstances were an understandable source of stress for his family back in Pennsylvania. Marjorie didn't make it any easier on them. In a letter dated March 5, 1978, roger's mother responded to accusations Marjorie had made against them. She said, dear Roger, I have really been nervous and disturbed. Since March talked to Betty on the phone, she said that we never write to you or send you any money. What does she mean? We all think about you and love you and want everything to turn out right. She has never answered my letters or cards. Roger, couldn't you write us something and set our minds at ease that you do hear from us and do get the money sent to you? Love always. Mother and dad.
Speaker 1:The Santa wanted to hold a trial in Duluth but Doc Thompson had filed a motion for a change of venue. He wanted the case heard in the Twin Cities, claiming that Duluth news media had saturated residents with news of the murders. A hearing on the motion was set for March 23. Thompson had hired a statistic professor from the University of Minnesota to randomly survey Duluth residents under attitudes and familiarity with the case. The results indicated that it would be nearly impossible to find any potential jurors in the St Louis County who had not been exposed to some information regarding the case. In his motion, thompson argued that Twin Cities residents were regularly exposed to violent crime and therefore would not overreact to a double murder. He told the judge that he could get a less biased jury in a heterogeneous metropolitan area rather than a smaller city like Duluth. Prosecutor DeSanto also enlisted his own University of Minnesota statistic professor to review the defense's survey. In this professor's expert opinion, the poll had no credibility because of the high margin of error in random surveys and the small number of people survey.
Speaker 1:District Court Judge Litman was presiding over his first murder trial. The 54 year old judge had been appointed to the bench just nine months before and he was no stranger to Glen Sheen or the Condom family Because as a teenager he had worked several weeks every summer at a dry cleaner. The Condom family patronized. The young Litman had been allowed to enter Glen Sheen through the kitchen to deliver the day the dry cleaning. During World War II Litman had served as a bomber pilot and flown numerous combat missions over Germany. His legal career had been launched in Duluth's legal office. The Bowding and respectable judge wore his black robes proudly.
Speaker 1:Judge Litman, concerned about the case's high visibility, called DeSanto at his office to say the case would be moved to either international force or brainered. The judge favored brainered, which is a resort community in the lakes area of north central Minnesota. But if the prosecution and defense preferred they could hold the trial on international force, which is a lumber town on the Canadian border. Desanto opted for brainered. In a March 29th Judge Litman announced his decision Roger would be tried and brainered.
Speaker 1:Before jury selection began on April 10th the prosecutor DeSanto made a plea offered to Thompson. If Roger pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder the prosecution would agree to concurrent, rather consecutive, sentences. Roger would be eligible for parole in the office. Roger had nothing to gain, particularly in a circumstantial evidence case with fairly even odds. He and his client would take their chances in a jury trial Late in May. Less than a month into the trial. Roger would tell St Louis County Deputy Sheriff Tom Rooney, while Tom in another month or so or less, why this will be all over and I will be out free. Thank you for listening to the murder book. Have a great week. Next week we will be talking about the trial of Royal Cowboy.