The Murder

The man in this photograph is Roger Caldwell, Marjorie’s second husband. When Marjorie’s first husband divorced her, she lost the person who had tried to manage her finances. She was on her own now and she coerced her mother into co-signing loans on a farmhouse. The Congdon trustees were cutting her off, so when the loans went into default, both Marjorie and Elisabeth were sued. For the first time, Congdon problems with Marjorie became public.

Marjorie needed money.  There was one way to get it.  Elisabeth had to die.  Marjorie would inherit her fortune.

Marjorie made a sandwich out of homemade bread and marmalade and brought it to her mother. Elisabeth was a diabetic and her nurse told Marjorie she couldn’t eat the marmalade. Marjorie pushed the nurse out of the room and forced bites of the sandwich into Elisabeth’s mouth. Elisabeth had had a stroke and the right side of her body was entirely paralyzed. She couldn’t stop Marjorie. When Elisabeth didn’t awaken the next morning, the doctor took a blood sample and found what has been reported to be either strychnine or a powerful sedative. Elisabeth recovered. 

As usual, Elisabeth refused to file charges. The Congdons had a known sociopath on their hands, they knew she had tried to poison Elisabeth and they took no action.  I will never understand this. 

Marjorie moved to Colorado. Her first attempt at murdering Elisabeth was an utter failure. She needed a man to do the evil deed, a very stupid man. She found him. Roger Caldwell was a violent drunk who was living on unemployment. He was perfect. They married immediately. Marjorie celebrated the wedding by bouncing the check for the reception.

Marjorie purchased a ranch which was soon foreclosed on and the loving couple moved into a motel. In May of 1977, Roger flew to Duluth to ask the trustees for money. He was turned down but visited Glensheen to meet his new mother-in-law, Elisabeth. Roger got a good look at Glensheen.

Back in Colorado, three days before Elisabeth was murdered, Marjorie signed a will stating that Roger was to receive $11 million upon the death of her mother. Murder contract, anyone?

On July 26, 1977, Roger Caldwell took a flight from Colorado to Minneapolis, a bus to Duluth and a cab to Glensheen.  He hid out until it was dark. Early in the morning of July 27, Roger broke into the house and went up the stairs to the second floor. Marjorie had undoubtedly instructed him on how to enter the house and where to go. But Roger met a surprise. He hadn’t been told about Elisabeth’s night nurse, Velma Pietila. Nurse Pietila heard Roger on the stairs. She ran out of her room and Roger attacked her but this was a strong nurse, having lifted Elisabeth in and out of her wheelchair for many years. They fought hard and it was a bloody battle. Finally, Roger’s sheer strength and alcoholic fury won. He beat her so badly Velma’s skull was split into four separate pieces. He then went into Elisabeth’s room and suffocated her with a pink satin pillow. He took small items to make it seem like a robbery.

Everyone knew Marjorie and Roger had done it. The two of them returned to Duluth for the funeral and when the police searched their hotel room, they found items taken from Glensheen on the night of the murder. Then the police searched the residence in Colorado and discovered the will in Roger’s safe that had been signed by Marjorie three days before the murder giving Roger $11 million dollars upon Elisabeth’s death. It was clearly a murder contract. Roger was arrested.

Roger’s trial took three months. The jury returned a guilty verdict and Roger got life. The next day, Marjorie was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting and conspiracy to commit murder. But Marjorie could afford the best lawyers in Minnesota. Her trial lasted four months and her lawyers brought in impressive experts to testify. The jury bought it. Marjorie was declared not guilty.

Marjorie figured her problems were solved. Elisabeth was dead and Marjorie thought she should be getting $35 million any day now. But wait. First, the trust deducted all the money Marjorie had owed that the trust had paid out. Then, the lawyers deducted their fees. And finally, worst of all, Marjorie’s children filed a civil suit to disinherit her entirely. Minnesota had one of those pesky laws that said that no one could profit from a murder in which they had been involved. The suit went on for years. Marjorie was broke again.