On This Date in Minnesota History: April 26

April 26, 1917 – Alice McQuillan Dunn was murdered on this date at approximately 1:30 a.m. in her parents’ home on Selby Ave. in St. Paul. She was separated from her husband Frank Dunn, who was 16 years her senior, and at the time of her murder was sharing a bedroom and a bed with her younger sister Katherine in their parents’ home.

The late Alice McQuillan Dunn and her husband Frank Dunn¹

The perpetrators—police believed there were two people involved—climbed through a side window of the house. Upon entering a hallway on the main floor, they cut the phone wires, then made their way up the stairs directly to the bedroom where Alice was sleeping with her sister because Katherine had been having nightmares about burglars the last couple of nights.

McQuillan House with Map²

Katherine told police that she woke upon hearing a noise, and then woke Alice, telling her there was a burglar in their room. Alice calmed Katherine, and fell back asleep. A few minutes later, Katherine, still awake, saw a man standing near their bed when the light from a passing street car flooded their room. 

She screamed for Alice to wake up, and the man shouted at her to be quiet. “I just want to do a little shooting,” he told her, then shot Alice three times in the head, completely shattering the left side of her head.

At the first sight of this man, Katherine had taken Alice’s hand, on which there were two diamond rings, and hidden it beneath the pillow. The murderer made no attempt to get the rings, nor did he go after the jewelry case or money lying in plain sight on a nearby dresser.

The shots and Katherine’s screams awakened the family, but the murderer ran down the stairs out the rear door and down the alley to Avon Street where a confederate waited with a high-powered car, which roared north on Avon Street.

Avon St.³

Dunn had an airtight alibi for his estranged wife’s murder: his landlady said he was in his room from sometime after 11 p.m. until she woke him up at 3 a.m. when a police detective called and asked Dunn to meet with him for questioning. He was then taken to the Central police station.

St. Paul Police Chief John O’Connor announced he was going to take personal charge of the investigation.
St. Paul Dispatch; “Beautiful Woman of Old Family is Slain in Home; Night Crime on Hill One of Mystery; Mrs. Alice Dunn Shot to Death by Man Who Entered Room While She Slept by Sister”; April 26, 1917; P. 1 & 2.

¹St. Paul Daily News; April 27, 1917; p. 1.

²St. Paul Daily News; April 26, 1917; p. 1.

³Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain April 26, 2015, as long as acknowledgement included.

St. Paul Police Chief John O’Connor tells reporters he expects to arrest a man he thinks was paid a large sum to murder Alice McQuillan Dunn.; see April 27, 2015 blog

Elks are willing to pay the expenses of detectives; believe Dunn innocent; see April 28, 2015 blog

Two St. Paul detectives are in Mont. interviewing people who knew Mrs. Dunn when she worked there; see April 29, 2015 blog

Two Montana men claim Dunn paid them to kill his wife; see May 1, 2015 blog

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