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“Where Fillmore County News Comes First” Weekly Edition
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Monday, April 27, 2015
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Henrytown mourns loss of church
Murder in Fillmore County
By Barb Jeffers
By Jason Sethre
barb@fillmorecountyjournal.com
jason@fillmorecountyjournal.com
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Deacon of Henrytown Lutheran Church, Richard Bjertness, stands with his wife Laurie, daughters Ella and Anna, and church member Doris McCabe in front of the remnants of the church, which was destroyed by fire on Thursday, April 16, 2015. Photo by Barb Jeffers remove the records from the over 50 years stated “there is so office, which was located in the much love here” and stated that front of the church. These records the church and it’s congregation tell much of the history of the “welcomed everyone” to worship Henrytown Lutheran Church there. and its congregation for genera- The church has 187 members tions. and is “a pretty active church”, The church building corner- says Bjertness with 112 people stone, which was laid on Trinity attending Easter service on April Sunday, June 16, 1978, was saved 5, 2015. There are 27 children in and contained many cherished Sunday school and have been as items. The bell from the church many as 50 in past years, which steeple fell into the basement “for a small rural church that’s during the fire and the congrega- pretty good”, states Bjertness. tion hopes that the bell can be Many people remember Hensalvaged as a meaningful keep- rytown Lutheran Church for the sake. Strawberry Festival that was held Bjertness stated losing the there each year on Father’s Day church feels “kind of like losing from 1954 up until just a couple an old relative unexpectedly” as years ago. Approximately 800the congregation mourns the loss 1000 people attended the event of the church. The church was each year. established on January 22, 1870 Many renovations and updates and the original portion of the had been done to the church over church was built in 1878 at a cost the years, such as new stained of $3,500. glass windows in 1984, new front According to Bjertness “sevSee HENRYTOWN Page 2 eral members are the fifth and sixth generation” in their families See a tribute video for the who have attended Henrytown Henrytown Church Lutheran Church. on our website & Facebook page at: Doris McCabe, whose famwww.fillmorecountyjournal.com ily has attended the church for
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In the early hours of Thursday, April 16, 2015 a fire began in the Henrytown Lutheran Church located north of Canton, Minn., at 36190 County Road 18, which resulted in a complete loss of the building. A resident who lives nearby happened to look out his window and saw a “glow” over by Henrytown and after driving down the road to investigate and discovering the fire, he called 911 at approximately 2:50 a.m. The Canton and Harmony, Minn. Fire Departments arrived shortly after and fought the blaze as flames coming out of the center of the roof reached as high as the tops of the tall pine trees that outline the property. Richard Bjertness, Deacon with the Henrytown Lutheran Church, stated that the fire spread “very quickly” through the older back section of the church. Tri County Electric was contacted and responded to the scene to cut power to the structure as firefighters fought the blaze. When the fire was under control, at approximately 6 a.m., the Harmony Fire Department cleared the scene. The Canton Fire Department remained on site until late afternoon to monitor the situation and clear debris. Church members and area residents came individually and in groups to see the remnants of the historic church. The newer front addition of the church did not burn right away but there were some “hot spots” which could have potentially caused a secondary fire, explained Bjertness, so an excavator was brought in to knock it down and push it in the basement. Thankfully firefighters were able to enter the building to
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If this story was made for television, the introduction would flash a title for “Unsolved Mysteries” accompanied by an eerie music track like something you’d find during the most horrific scene of a scary movie, followed by a narrative from the coincidentally mysterious host known as Robert Stack. But, this episode would reveal an update. In Fillmore County, there have been two unsolved murder cases left open with hopes for justice and closure. • The most recent open case relates to Mrs. Mabel Torgerud, who was murdered in 1974 at her home in rural Peterson at the age of 69. This case still remains open and unsolved. • The other open case relates to the brutal double homicide of bachelor brothers Knute Olson, 67, and Sever Olson, 71, occurring on approximately November 28, 1936. On Wednesday, April 15, 2015, Fillmore County Sheriff T o m Kaase a n d Captain J o h n DeGeorge requested a special meeting with local media to discuss their re-evaluation of the case of the Olson murders. “We have come to a point at which we have probable cause,” shared Captain DeGeorge. “It’s been concluded that we believe Elmer Erickson had probable cause.” Following the murders in
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1936, suspect Clarence Bendickson was tried before a grand jury, and the case was dismissed due to a lack of evidence. DeGeorge concluded that “if this murder happened today, I doubt that this would be an unsolved murder.” Additionally, he cited the fact that law enforcement has many more resources available today. The Olson brothers In 1936, leading up to the murders of brothers Knute Olson and Sever Olson, there was speculation by neighbors that they had loads of cash on their 140-acre farm located in Bristol Township – a property now owned by Richard Junge. The Olsons associated with bootleggers who traveled from Minn. to Iowa on a regular basis, and their home was often recognized by neighbors as the place where men played cards, imbibed, and partied from dusk til dawn. They had been robbed once in 1928, and had a lot of visitors stopping by on their way to Iowa, so there was a lot of speculation re g a rding who could h a v e committed such a heinous crime. But, robbery was definitely the motive. Double homicide investigation BCA agent Captain Herman A. Vahl, Fillmore County Deputy Morem, and Fillmore County Sheriff Knute Ingelbret struggled to carry out their investigaSee MURDER Page 13
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