-
Fallen Officer
I looked for a December true crime case from La Crosse to share. I found one that involves one of three police officers killed in the line of duty in La Crosse. December 5th, 1937, probably started like any other Sunday. Officers Joseph Donndelinger and rookie Granville “Granny” Smith were assigned to a beat car. They saw a car speed through 5th and Jackson, running a stop sign as well. What the officers didn’t know was the driver, Floyd Wagener, was driving a stolen vehicle. He also just dropped off two people at Sears (located at 5th and King) to crack open the safe. The officers proceeded to pull Wagener…
-
Book Review: Possessed
I hadn’t planned to do book reviews here but I recently read one that I just have to share. Possessed by Kathryn Casey was free through Amazon Prime so I decided to take a chance. It had good ratings and reviews, 4.5 stars on Amazon and 4.1 on Goodreads. Being free, I figured I didn’t have much to lose. Oh my god, this book! I started reading and was immediately hooked. I finished it in a few days. I also poked around a bit and discovered Ann Rule called her “one of the best in the true crime genre” which is some high praise coming from the queen herself! The…
-
May’s Camera
Why is it we always want to find a connection to a horrible story? “Oh… that happened to my husband’s co-workers sister’s cousins classmate”. Like that makes us closer to the event. It is almost as if we have to say, look I am closer to this case than you! I kind of know someone involved and you read about it on the internet. I have been guilty of this. I would guess we all have done it. We want to be a part of something, anything. We want to connect to people and events. I can stake the claim that Ed Gein was born in my hometown. Or that…
-
Unsolved Murder – Terry Dolowy
Terry Dolowy has never gotten justice. If I had to pick one case that started my interest in true crime it would be the murder of Terry Dolowy. The details of her case have always stood out in my mind and as a small child, I had an image of the scene in my head. I wasn’t there but I’ve always been able to picture the scene in my head. And two details I cannot get out of my head and still wonder about. It was Valentine’s Day 1985 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. There’s snow on the ground from earlier in the week. It was colder than usual but the sun…
-
My First Mystery – Evelyn Hartley
What happened to Evelyn Hartley? As far as I can remember I have been intrigued by mysteries and crime. I can’t pinpoint when exactly I became a true crime addict, it seems like I always just was. Maybe it started with my love of fictional mysteries. Some of my favorite books as a child were Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. My favorite cartoon? Scooby Doo. My hometown has two unsolved cases that absolutely fascinated me as a small child of about 7 or 8. Since I can’t separate them as to which I learned first it only seems right to do it chronologically. October usually means cooler weather, leaves changing color,…
You May Also Like
The Disappearance of Clara Olson
-
Only Joggers Find Bodies
What does the cryptic Only Joggers Find Bodies mean? News headlines often read, “JOGGER FINDS BODY” and has become kind of an inside joke in the true crime and running community. Many of us can claim we are runners, not joggers because we have never found a body. The news hasn’t caught on that most runners don’t like to be called joggers. It brings ups images of 1970’s runners in short shorts and knee-high socks that jog for 30 minutes for health. Not us runners that deck out in the most recent high tech gear and track our times obsessively to reach that next PR. The news headline is where my…
You May Also Like
Fallen Officer
