Glensheen murders

Also known as: Congdon mansion murders

Active: 1977–1977
Region: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
State: MN
Kind: Single
Status: Pleaded guilty
Victims: 2

In the early hours of June 27, 1977, heiress Elisabeth Congdon, 83, and her night nurse, Velma Pietila, 67, were killed at Glensheen, the Congdon family's lakeside estate in Duluth. The bedroom was ransacked and a jewelry box taken, but investigators came to suspect Congdon's son-in-law, Roger Caldwell. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 1978; the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1982, and in 1983 he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in exchange for time served. A co-defendant was tried separately and acquitted in 1979. Caldwell died in 1988.

Ask the Atlas about this case →

Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Elisabeth Mannering Congdon, 83 · June 27, 1977
Daughter of Duluth mining magnate Chester Congdon, she lived at Glensheen most of her life.
Velma Pietila, 67 · June 27, 1977
The night nurse caring for Elisabeth Congdon, who had been partly paralyzed by a stroke.

Timeline of locations

June 27, 1977
Glensheen estate, Duluth (Crime scene)
Both women were killed inside the mansion on Lake Superior's shore. The estate opened to the public as a museum two years later and is now run by the University of Minnesota Duluth.
1978
Crow Wing County Courthouse, Brainerd (Court / trial)
Caldwell's trial was moved to Brainerd because of pretrial publicity. After about three months, the jury convicted him of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to life; the conviction was overturned in 1982.

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.