Saturday, June 22, 2013

On this date in Minnesota History: June 22

June 22, 1963 - T. Eugene Thompson’s role in the brutal slaying of his wife was revealed to the public today.  In his confession to police Thursday evening, Dick W. C. Anderson admitted he committed the actual slaying. Anderson said he entered the Thompson house shortly after 5 a.m. the day of the murder and lay in wait in the basement until other members of the family had left the house. All telephones had been removed except the one in the kitchen near the basement stairs. The prearranged plan was for Thompson to call his wife at 8:25 a.m. and when the phone rang, it was the signal for Anderson to sneak up the basement stairs and attack Mrs. Thompson with a length of rubber hose.

The rubber hose would supposedly leave a mark that would make it look like she had fallen in the bathtub. Anderson was supposed to disrobe her and carry her to the bathtub where he would hold her under water and drown her. Anderson discarded the plan after testing the basement stairs and finding that several creaked. “He was afraid that Mrs. Thompson would hear his approach before he got into position for the knockout blow.”

The phone rang as scheduled, and Anderson used a map of the home given to him by Thompson to follow his victim to her bedroom, where he found her lounging in her bed listening to the radio. Anderson knocked her unconscious, “disrobed her and attempted to carry her to the bathroom for the faked drowning, but Mrs. Thompson revived, slipped from his grasp and after snatching a robe from her bedroom, fled down the stairs to the front door,” which happened to be bolted with a night chain. This delayed her long enough for Anderson to run down the stairs and grab her, whereupon he began to beat her with his pistol, which fell apart during the struggle. Anderson then “ran to the kitchen, grabbed a paring knife and stabbed his victim until the knife blade broke off in the throat.”

St. Paul Dispatch; “Anderson Story Implicating Thompson Related”; June 22, 1963; p.1





T. Eugene Thompson


Murder of Carol Thompson; see March 6, 2013 blog
Gun handle pieces found at the scene of Carol Thompson’s murder identified; see April 9, 2013 blog
Thieves admit to stealing and selling gun used in Carol Thompson murder; see April 17, 2013 blog


Suspects arrested in Carol Thompson’s murder; see April 19, 2013 blog


Suspect implicates another as actual murderer in Carol Thompson case; see April 21, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson represented one of the suspects in his wife’s murder; see April 23, 2013 blog


Pistol used to bludgeon Carol Thompson found; see April 30, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson walks out on grand jury; see May 2, 2013 blog


Getaway car in Carol Thompson murder located; see May 3, 2013 blog


Blood-stained trousers believed to have been worn by Carol Thompson’s murderer found; May 9, 2013 blog



Suspect in Carol Thompson’s murder confesses, implicates T. Eugene Thompson; see June 20, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson arrested in his wife’s murder; see June 21, 2013 blog


Minn. Supreme Court affirms T. Eugene Thompson’s conviction; see Jan. 7, 2014 blog


Minn. Supreme Court denies T. Eugene Thompson’s attempt to collect wife’s insurance death benefits; see Feb. 10, 2014 blog


Friday, June 21, 2013

On this date in Minnesota History: June 21

June 21, 1963 – St. Paul attorney T. Eugene Thompson was arrested at 1:40 a.m. today at his Forest Lake summer residence for the murder of his wife Carol on March 6 in their Highland Park home. Thompson was taken into custody after Dick W.C. Anderson, the man charged with the actual murder of Mrs. Thompson, implicated the attorney in a murder-for-hire plot in his confession yesterday afternoon.

St. Paul Dispatch; “Suspect May Be Linked With Other Slayings”; June 21, 1963; pp. 1 & 10.
St. Paul Dispatch; “’I Would Have Come—‘ Thompson Told Officers”; June 21, 1963; p. 10.


Murder of Carol Thompson; see March 6, 2013 blog


Gun handle pieces found at the scene of Carol Thompson’s murder identified; see April 9, 2013 blog


Thieves admit to stealing and selling gun used in Carol Thompson murder; see April 17, 2013 blog


Suspects arrested in Carol Thompson’s murder; see April 19, 2013 blog


Suspect implicates another as actual murderer in Carol Thompson case; see April 21, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson represented one of the suspects in his wife’s murder; see April 23, 2013 blog


Pistol used to bludgeon Carol Thompson found; see April 30, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson walks out on grand jury; see May 2, 2013 blog


Getaway car in Carol Thompson murder located; see May 3, 2013 blog


Blood-stained trousers believed to have been worn by Carol Thompson’s murderer found; May 9, 2013 blog



Suspect in Carol Thompson’s murder confesses, implicates T. Eugene Thompson; see June 20, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson’s role in wife’s murder revealed to public; see June 22, 2013 blog


Minn. Supreme Court affirms T. Eugene Thompson’s conviction; see Jan. 7, 2014 blog



Minn. Supreme Court denies T. Eugene Thompson’s attempt to collect wife’s insurance death benefits; see Feb. 10, 2014 blog





Thursday, June 20, 2013

On this date in Minnesota History: June 20

June 20, 1963 – Dick W.C. Anderson confessed this evening to the murder of Carol Thompson in her home on March 6, breaking open the case that had been under heavy investigation by metro area authorities for three and a half months. Arrested in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 19, Anderson was charged at that time with first-degree murder. At 6 p.m. today, Anderson gave “a lengthy and detailed statement to Detective Lt. George Barkley, head of the [St. Paul] homicide division.

In his statement, Anderson admitted that he “entered the Thompson home alone early on the morning of March 6, and attacked Mrs. Thompson after Thompson and his children had left for work and school.” Anderson also implicated three other persons in the slaying: Norman Mastrian, Sheldon Morris and T. Eugene Thompson, the murdered woman’s husband.

St. Paul Dispatch; “Suspect May Be Linked With Other Slayings”; June 21, 1963; pp. 1 & 10.
St. Paul Dispatch; “’I Would Have Come—‘ Thompson Told Officers”; June 21, 1963; p. 10.


Carol and T. Eugene Thompson's wedding photo

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fringefestival.org/2012/img/shows/300/2399.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fringefestival.org/2012/mobile/show/?id%3D2399&h=131&w=300&sz=8&tbnid=aSULkgMvJGJE-M:&tbnh=48&tbnw=110&zoom=1&usg=__MIRu3mBlOQZysiNpkBq0KMYatRU=&docid=OCivbwRWVcXH1M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BA2DULOME-aVyQGSwICQBw&ved=0CCsQ9QEwBA&dur=1384


Murder of Carol Thompson; see March 6, 2013 blog


Gun handle pieces found at the scene of Carol Thompson’s murder identified; see April 9, 2013 blog


Thieves admit to stealing and selling gun used in Carol Thompson murder; see April 17, 2013 blog


Suspects arrested in Carol Thompson’s murder; see April 19, 2013 blog


Suspect implicates another as actual murderer in Carol Thompson case; see April 21, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson represented one of the suspects in his wife’s murder; see April 23, 2013 blog


Pistol used to bludgeon Carol Thompson found; see April 30, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson walks out on grand jury; see May 2, 2013 blog


Getaway car in Carol Thompson murder located; see May 3, 2013 blog


Blood-stained trousers believed to have been worn by Carol Thompson’s murderer found; May 9, 2013 blog



T. Eugene Thompson arrested in his wife’s murder; see June 21, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson’s role in wife’s murder revealed to public; see June 22, 2013 blog


Minn. Supreme Court affirms T. Eugene Thompson’s conviction; see Jan. 7, 2014 blog


Minn. Supreme Court denies T. Eugene Thompson’s attempt to collect wife’s insurance death benefits; see Feb. 10, 2014 blog




Wednesday, June 19, 2013

On this date in Minnesota History: June 19

June 19, 1858 – In the treaty of Oct. 15, 1851, the [Minnesota Dakota] ceded much of their Minnesota lands to the U.S. government, keeping for themselves a 10-mile-wide strip of land on either side of the Minnesota River from Little Rock to Yellow Medicine River. However, the Treaty of June 19, 1858, allotted this land in 80-acre plots to each family head. The surplus land was sold for ten cents an acre. Reduced to starvation, the Dakota were forced to fight for their survival.”

http://www.indianaffairs.state.mn.us/tribes_prairieisland.html

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

On this date in Minnesota History: June 18

June 18, 1913 – “Robert Mondavi was born in the mining town of Virginia, Minn., on this date. The family moved to California in 1921 and went into the [wine] business in Lodi.”
http://timelines.ws/states/MINNESOTA.HTML



Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain June 18, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included.
 

Monday, June 17, 2013

On this date in Minnesota History: June 17

June 17, 19301 – When he was 17 years old, Eric Sevareid and his friend Walter Porter, 19, “embarked on an expedition sponsored by the Minneapolis Star, from Minneapolis to York Factory on Hudson Bay. They canoed up the Minnesota River and its tributary, the Little Minnesota River to Browns Valley, Minn., portaged to Lake Traverse and descended the Bois des Sioux River to the Red River of the North, which led to Lake Winnipeg, then went down the Nelson River, Gods River, and Hayes River to Hudson Bay, a trip of 2,250 miles (3,620 km).  Sevareid's book, Canoeing with the Cree, was the result of this canoe trip. The book is still in print.”2

A CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977, Sevareid graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1935. The University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication library is named after him.3

1http://books.google.com/books?id=vDKdOi_RLrgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Sevareid

3http://sjmc.umn.edu/about/sevareidlibrary.html



Journalist Eric Sevareid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sevareid.jpg


Sunday, June 16, 2013

On this date in Minnesota History: June 16

June 16, 1931 - While leveling what engineers had labeled "frost boil five" on U.S. Highway 59 near Pelican Rapids, Minn., a highway department crew discovered the skeletal remains of a woman that Dr. Albert Jenks from the University of Minnesota determined to be at least 10,000 (possibly as much as 20,000) years old. “At least two artifacts -- a conch shell pendant and a dagger made from an elks' horn -- were discovered with the bones.

Prior to 1926, most scientists believed human beings' appearance in North America dated from about the last couple thousand years. The discovery of what was to become known as ‘The Minnesota Man’ (the name officially changed in 1976 to ‘The Minnesota Woman’) pushed the date even beyond that, back further than many were willing to concede.

But eventually, the evidence became irrefutable. Science now recognizes this Minnesota Girl (who is sometimes referred to as ‘Lady of the Lake’), as a proto-Indian, a member of a race who lived virtually in the shadow of glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. Her forebears had come from east-central Asia, perhaps by walking across the Bering Straights on ice, perhaps on a ‘land bridge’ exposed by lower sea levels. Retreating glaciers left a band of rich alluvial soil at their bases, upon which grew lush grasses to feed great herds of bison, elk, perhaps wooly mammoths, as well. And wherever there was game, there were bands of pre-historic hunter-gathers.

Thus Otter Tail County may claim to have been the home of one of the first human beings to have lived on the North American continent during the Pleistocene Epoch age. If scientists are correct, this Pelican Rapids teenage girl dates back beyond the days of the Pharoahs of Egypt, and beyond the written history of humanity.”


http://www.co.otter-tail.mn.us/history/countyhistory_mnwoman.php



Minnesota Women marker three miles north of Pelican Rapids, Minn.

MINNESOTA WOMAN
Minnesota Woman – the skeleton of a girl about fifteen years of age – was discovered at this point in 1931 by a highway repair crew. Although the skeleton has not been dated  exactly, based on the site geology scientist believe it to be perhaps 10,000 years old. This would make Minnesota Woman one of America’s oldest human skeletons.

Two artifacts – a dagger of elk horn and a conch shell – were discovered with the bones. Archaeologists believe that the girl drown in Glacial Lake Pelican, which adjoined Glacial Lake Agassiz, a huge body of water that covered much of northwestern Minnesota at the end of the last ice age.