Murder of Caroline Ansell

In 1899 at the Leavesden Mental Asylum in Leavesden, England 19-year-old Caroline Ansell would be staying. It's not stated why Caroline was there, but her family had a history of mental illness. 

Caroline's sister (18 or 22 years old ages vary in sources) Mary Anne was engaged to a young man. Neither were wealthy and Mary Ann worked as a maid to a wealthy family on Coram St. in the Bloomsbury area of London. Because they could not afford a marriage license (7 shillings and sixpence) let alone a wedding they had to postpone it. 

Mary Ann would devise devious a plan to get married. She would insure her sister's life for a premium of 3 old pence a week. She would get £22 when she dies. She was not going to wait for her sister to die either. 

Mary Ann would buy phosphorous-based rat poison at a local shot near her work. She would then make a cake adding the poison into the cake. On March 9th the cake would be sent to Caroline. Caroline was happy to share with friends shared the cake with them. All of them would become sick, but Caroline was worse off than the others. She had eaten more cake than the others and had more severe symptoms.

At the time there was a typhoid outbreak among the residents of the Asylum. So it took some time for her to be able to be seen by a doctor. Even though she was immediately admitted into the infirmary it was too late for her. On March 13th she would pass away. 

An autopsy would be performed and found to be phosphorous poisoning. What was left of the cake was found to have the poison. The postmark on the wrapping paper it came in came back to her sister.  This may not have been the first time she had attempted to kill Caroline either. Mary Ann had previously sent tea and sugar to her sister. Both of which seemed to have something wrong with it. The tea was weirdly bitter and had to be thrown away and the sugar had a strange dampness to it.

Caroline had also previously gotten a letter she believed was from a cousin. The letter had told her that her parents were dead. Turns out that was not true as her parents were still alive. The cousin had also claimed to have not written the letter. 

Mary Ann would be arrested and denied making and sending the poisoned cake. At one point she stated, “I know nothing whatever about it. I am as innocent a girl as ever was born”. It was pointed out that she was witnessed buying the same poison used in the cake. She would say that she bought and used the rat poison at her employer's home. However, her mistress Mrs. Maloney denied a vermin infestation and that she never asked her to buy rat poison. 

The handwriting on the parcel and a Christmas card Mary Ann wrote were found to be written by the same person.

On June 30, 1899, Mary Ann would be taken to trial. The trial would take place at Hertford Assizes in St. Albans Mr. Justice Mathew. The trial would last for two days. The prosecution would bring forth the motive of her crime which was the insurance money. Various witnesses would come forward.

Mary Ann would plead innocence but had no defense. The jury only took two hours to find her guilty and did not make a recommendation of mercy. She was sentenced to death. There was public speculation that Mary Ann was possibly insane like her sister and deserved clemency. There was a petition, but the pleas for her life were ignored. However, it was found that she was not insane and was unable to get clemency. 

The prison she was sent to did have facilities for female prisoners. However, there had not been an execution since Thomas Wheeler's execution in 1880. Since there were no gallows there her execution would happen at St. Albans prison.

To her parents their last visit to see Mary Ann was heartbreaking to them. They had already lost two daughters one to tragedy and the other to murder. Now they had to face that they would also lose their third due to her crimes. Mary would ask her father "Can you forgive me, father"? He told her he did. 

At 8 am on July 19th, a crowd of around 2,000 gathered at the main gate. Some of the people would silently pray for Mary Ann. She would be hanged, and at 10 am she would be pronounced dead. Her death had been instant as her neck had been broken. She would be buried in an unmarked grave within the prison. In 1931 her remains would be re-interred at the St. Albans City cemetary. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Murderpedia

Watford Observor 

Murder of Stanislaus Bilansky

Mary Ann Evard Wright who went by her middle name Ann was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1820. This was where and lived there with her first husband. He would unfortunately die in a railroad accident. She would move to Pleasant Hill, Illinois, and then settle in St. Paul, Minnesota in April of 1858.  She had moved there because her nephew, John Walker, was sick with Typhoid Fever.

Stanislaus Bilansky was born in Poland in 1807/1808. He had lived in Wisconsin, but then moved and settled in St. Paul in 1848. He was one of the first Polish Immigrants to St. Paul. He had been divorced twice previously and was in custody of his 3 young children. He was a poor man who owned a small cabin that doubled as a bar, and a grocery store. He was known to drink heavily. 

In September of 1858 Ann and Stanislaus would get married. Ann would frequently take care of the children when Stanislaus was ill or working. It was said that she was a good stepmother. However, the marriage was not perfect. Soon after Stanislaus would get sick and seemed to have hypochondria. He was also a violent drunk. 

February 28, 1859, Ann and her friend Lucinda Kilpatrick (20s) went shopping. The two went uptown to the post office to send letters and retrieve mail. They would then walk to W.H. Wolff's drugstore on Third St and Wabasha St. She went inside and asked for rat poison so that she could use it in the store since the mice were getting into the vegetables. She claimed her husband wanted it. The rat poison was too much though. 

The two would then go to Day & Jenks, a different drugstore, where Ann purchased a jar of arsenic for ten cents. Lucinda thought it was strange that they needed rat poison. She had never seen any or even heard about any mice in the Bilansky home. 

  

Stanislaus would become sick once again between March 6 and March 11th. It was thought to be indigestion, but his condition would worsen quickly. When his condition worsened he would take both alcohol and Graffenburg pills. No one believed that he was dying other than Ann. Lucinda would witness Ann sitting by her husband's bed. She would cry and ask what to do with the children if he died. 

Lucinda thought this was strange as no one thought he was dying. On March 10th Lucinda would sit with Stanislaus. He would tell her that "he had nothing to live for" and this worried her. She never heard him say anything remotely close to that before. 

She would tell him a small story to perk himself up. She would tell him a story of a sick man being taken care of by his wife. He recovered, but his wife died. Then the man would marry a young man afterwards. 

On March 11th Stanislaus was really bad. Luicinda's husband Andrew wanted to sit by Stanislaus's bedside. Ann refused that and refused to call a doctor. He would then pass away.

 A coroner's jury would determine that it was a natural death. He would be buried on March 12th. Lucinda would claimann asked her to take the blame for buying arsenic. She would tell the police about Ann asking him about what to do with the children, the rat poison, and the odd comments she made. 

On March 13th the body would be exhumed. Medical examiners would then find a trace that resembled arsenic. This would lead to Ann's arrest later that day. March 15 his nature of death would change. A new coroner’s jury ruled the death a homicide.

The murder trial would begin on May 23, 1859. Ann would claim innocence that she was not responsible for her husband's death. 

 Lucinda would go on stand to repeat what she told the officers and what led to the discovery of the murder. Another witness Rosa Scharf stated that Ann had changed with the door open after the funeral. That she did this even though her nephew, John, was in the home. She also stated that the two had a weird air about them and gave each other sneaking glances as if they were having an affair. 

She stated that one day they were sitting in the Bilansky home before Stanislaus's death. An old man would go past the window “I had better set my cap for him, for he has money,” Ann said. Rosa would state that a loveless romance would not be fulfilling. Ann would then respond “You could give him something to sleep himself to death.” She then would tell her how much poison would kill a man.

She also claimed that when she was doing dishes Ann warned her about Stanislaus's plates. She also noted that his meals were made separately from everyone else. That she should be careful about them. Also after the funeral Ann would say "Must of taken poison" which threw Rosa off since no one thought that was how he died. 

There was no solid evidence, only circumstantial. 

It was believed that Ann wanted out of her marriage and did so by poisoning Stanislaus. That she was in love with John and poisoned her husband because of it. 

On June 3td she would be found guilty. She would try to appeal her case on July 23rd but was denied. Within hours of finding out her appeal was denied Ann decided to escape. She escaped from the jail by squeezing through the window bars. She was not missing long as she was caught a week later. 

The case went to the state supreme court, though on narrow and technical grounds. The court denied the defense’s appeal on July 23. Within hours of learning her appeal had been denied, Ann Bilansky escaped from jail by squeezing through window bars. Authorities caught her a week later just a few miles away.

On December 2, 1859, Judge Edward Palmer would give Ann her sentence. She was to be executed. Then Governor Alexander Ramsey would set March 23rd as a hanging day. Ann had some hope though as she had many supporters, a new attorney who was former territorial governor Willis Gorman, and two more avenues to pursue. 

On March 5, 1860, the legislature passed a bill commuting Bilansky’s sentence to life in prison. This would be vetoed though by Governor Ramsey, whose brother Justus had served on the jury. Throughout all this, she would maintain her innocence. 

She would be the only woman executed in Minnesota. She was executed on March 23, 1860. 

These were her last words;

“I die without having had any mercy shown me, or justice. I die for the good of my soul, and not for murder. May you all profit by my death. Your courts of justice are not courts of justice — but I will yet get justice in Heaven. I am a guilty woman I know, but not of this murder, which was committed by another. I forgive everybody who did me wrong. I die a sacrifice to the law. I hope you all may be judged better than I have been and by a more righteous judge. I die prepared to meet my God.”

SOURCES:

Murderpedia

Wikipedia

American Ghost Walks 

The Atavist Magazine

Murder of Anne Head

 On February 8, 1924, Anne Head died from corrosive poisoning in Croydon, England. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

Serial Killer: Rebecca Smith

 

In May 1831 26-year-old Rebecca Smith would may Philip Smith. He was known as a drunkard. After Rebecca's mother's death in 1846 the £100 she inherited they moved to Westbury, England, and their money was wasted away by Philip. During the marriage they would have their first child, Jane, in 1832 she would have 10 more none of them living very long after. This would cause Rebecca to work as a crop picker and vegetable grower. This caused the family to live in a visible state of poverty of health.

Their last child, Richard, would be born on May 16, 1849. He was seemingly healthy, but Rebecca would start to tell people the opposite. Even before Richard was born she was asking around for rat poison/ arsenic. She would ask a girl, Caroline Mackay, to buy some. Soon after he became sick on June 7th. 

People suspected Rebecca to have killed him. The local registrar, George Shorland, had initially listed the cause of death as unknown, but rumors changed his mind. An inquest was done on the child's death and Richard's body was exhumed on June 22nd. It was found that he was poisoned with arsenic. July 18th two more of her children were exhumed and found to have been poisoned with arsenic. 

On August 9, 1849, Rebecca was put on trial for only Richards's murder. It took 30 minutes to find her guilty, but they recommended mercy for her. The judge ignored it and sentenced her to death. Two petitions for mercy were sent to the Home Secretary to help save her, but she was still set to hang. Knowing that death awaits her a week after her sentence she would make a confession to the prison chaplain. 

Out of her 11 children, the oldest one survived to adulthood. Two had died from natural causes.7 more of her children were poisoned and killed the same way Richard was. She had poisoned them all with arsenic. 

Rebecca's execution was heavily favored by the general public even though infanticide wasn't viewed as bad as a standard murder. Women in these cases don't typically get capital punishment and there is usually some sympathy for the mothers. There were factors that weighed against Rebbecca. She wasn't some young scared and ignorant mother at the time she was 44. Poisoning the child compared to smothering or drowning was seen as especially cruel.

On August 23, 1849, Rebecca was to be hanged in New Prison in Devizes. Early in the morning the streets leading to the goal were filled with people to watch the hanging. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Executed Today

True Crime Library

Capital Punishment UK

Murder of Willie, Ella, Dora, and Lizzie Alberti

In April of 1874, 17-year-old Lizzie Roemer and 22-year-old Louis Alberti would marry. They would have 8 children together unfortunately in 1884 they would lose their son Louis and in early 1894 they would lose their infant daughter Caroline. In 1885 Lizzie would lose her 15-year-old sister Dorthea. These deaths would affect  Lizzie in 1894.

In May of 1894, Lizzie would shortly move out of their home on 44th and Winnie St. in Galveston, Texas. It was decided she would stay with her parents because she had become occasionally violent and unbalanced. She would soon move back into the home though she was still not acting like herself. 

On December 4, at 6:30 pm 1894 Lizzie would call 5 of the children to take a sip of wine, Wilehemia (14) stayed studying in another room. Emma (16), Ella (10), Lizzie (8), Dora (6), and Willie (4) would drink the wine. 

She offered him some wine and he obliged. He noted that she used a different bottle than that of what the children had. He didn't think anything of it. One of the children would then tell their father that she had poisoned them. He reassured the child that she didn't. He would go back to work in his shop adjoining the home.

The children would soon complain of stomach cramps. From his shop, he could hear that the children were in great agony and rushed over to the home. When he came in Willie had collapsed to the floor and Lizzie was trying to bring him to the bed. He would confront the wife who was sitting quietly in a chair as her children were dying.

She told him that there was morphine in the wine and she was going to poison herself. Mr. Alberti would call for a doctor. He and Wilhemla would be crying and watching in terror as the children died one by one. Willie would die shortly after the doctor came at 7:30. Dora would die next and then Lizzie would die last. Emma was the only one to survive the poisoned wine. It was found out that she had told the children the previous Sunday that she was going to the city to buy poison to kill herself and them.

This whole time Mrs. Alberti was seen as indifferent. After her arrest, she stated that she had been ill for the last 8 months that brought her to do this. Even on the day of her children's funeral, she sat in her cell calmly and seemingly unremorseful. She did want to see her husband though. She expressed while imprisoned that her only regret was that all the children had not died and that she did not take the poison as intended and died also. She rejected the idea that she was insane and was willing to take the consequences for the murders. She would not give an answer to the reason why she wanted to kill the children and herself.

 She threatened to starve herself to death and was threatened that they would inject the food if she would not eat. She would reluctantly eat the food provided. I couldn't find out what her punishment for the murders was, but she would die almost 3 years later on September 30, 1898.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Austin-American Statesman December 5, 1894

The Galveston Daily News December 6, 1894

Weekly Clarion-Ledger December 13, 1894

Austin Weekly Statesman December 13, 1894 pg 2

Austin Weekly Statesman December 13, 1894  pg 4

Murder of Winona Charlotte Newton

 

On July 12, 1890, Winona Newton was born. She would live in Kansas City, Missouri near 55th St. and College Ave with her family. After her mother was sent to an asylum in St. Joseph Winona took care of the home and her siblings. 

In August of 1905, the 15-year-old Winona Newton began to meet with Austin Francis. He would come near the house and would give a signal so that Winona could meet with him.

Their relationship was not completely good. A friend of Winona stated that Winona claimed her lover had threatened to kill her several times. She had said that one of the times Winona went to Austin's office and he threatened to kill her if she would not marry him. Ada, Winona's 12-year-old sister, was sent in her stead to meet Francis a few times. He would tell Ada that he would kill Winona. Winona claimed that she didn't take the threats seriously and was not afraid of him. 

On November 3, 1905, Winona complained of feeling ill. She would make dinner with the help of Ada, but at 7 p.m. she would leave after hearing the signal. After a few minutes, she would return and grab an empty china cup and rush towards the bridge. That night she would not return to eat dinner. Her father would look for her at a few places, but figured she went to stay the night with a friend and didn't tell them.

The next morning an 8-year-old boy, Roy Wilson, would find the body of Winona on the bridge. He would scream and run to his employer Mrs. Hollenbeck telling her of the body. From his window, Mr. Newton saw Mrs. Hollenbeck running and he had a bad feeling about it. Roys father would be called, and then two other men, and then Mr. Newton. Mr. Newton and Winona's siblings ran to the scene knowing it was Winona.

Winona's murder was brutal. It had turned out that inside the empty cup she was given a large amount of carbolic acid, but before the effects of the poison could work she was attacked. Her face showed evidence of being slashed she had a cut above her right eye and slashed beneath both eyes and an incision beneath her ear. She had been strangled as fingermarks were found on her throat. She would then get beaten with large stones found at the bridge

Austin would be arrested on November 5th. He would go to trial where he claimed that he did write letters to the girl, but was not her lover. He said that he met her at the bridge only a couple of times since August. That there would be no reason for him to murder her. 

He would be found guilty, but the supreme court would overturn the conviction. It was believed that there was not sufficient evidence to say that Austin had killed the girl. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

The Kansas City Star Nov. 4, 1905

The Kansas City Times Nov. 16, 1905

The Kansas City Star Dec. 16, 1905

The Kansas City Times Dec. 19,  1905

The Kansas City Times December 21, 1905

Paxton Daily Record Jan 29. 1906

The Post-Crescent Jan 29, 1906

The Kansas City Star  December 3, 1916

Murder of Dorothy Beazell

  On October 10, 1957, 50-year-old Dorothy Beazell was found unresponsive in her home in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her husband Dr. James Beazell called the ambulance around 10:50 a.m. He and a nurse tried to attempt a medical intervention, but she would pass. 

It was found that she had died from cyanide poisoning.

SOURCES:

Colorado Bureau of Investigation

Find a Grave

Possible Murder of Constance of Normandy

Constance of Normandy was born between 1057 to 1061 and was one of nine children of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. She was considered a favorite by her mother and was considered well accomplished and gifted. Though it wasn't noted the order of birth's of the daughters a monk, William of Jumièges, noted that she was the second oldest among the daughters. 

In 1086 William the Conqueror invaded the Duchy of Britanny and forced its Duke Alan Fergant into submission. He would then arrange a marriage between Constance and the duke. Like her mother, Constance became an administrator. 

There are two contradictory reports on her time as a duchess. William of Malmesbury, an early 12th-century historian, stated that she was unpopular. That she was severe and conservative manner made her unlikable. But according to another, Orderic Vitalis, she was caring, considerate, and well-liked by subjects. Constance would die on 13 August 1090. 

William of Malmesbury would allege that her husband had the lady poisoned through their servants. Constance would be buried at the church of St. Melans, Rhedon, Bretagne, France.  

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

My Heritage

Find a Grave

The History Jar

Murder of James Humphrey

In Aberdeen, Scotland 51-year-old Catherine Davidson/Humphery and her husband James Humphrey were said to be drunks and to not get along. On several occasions, she threatened to kill him. She would openly hope that someone would poison him. One time she held a razor to James' neck and threatened to kill him as he dared her. He knew that one day his wife would end up killing him.

Janet Petrie was a servant of the Humphery's and 6 weeks before 16 April 1830, she had gotten a vial of vitriol (sulfuric acid) to burn off a wart on Catharine's wrist. Before April 16th very little was used in the vial.

On the night of 16 April 1830, James was not happy when he came home to see Mrs. Walton in his home. He tried to kick her out and this caused James and Catherine to fight. The fight was both verbal and physical as they struck each other. Catherine and Mrs. Walton would then hide out in a room and lock the door. This did not keep James from breaking the door and forcing Mrs. Walton to leave.

Around this time a John Roy would come over to the house. The two men would drink whiskey and ale together that night. Roy would leave and James would ask Janet to cook some beef steaks. She did as he went to his bed in the kitchen. Janet would give him the beef steaks and would go to bed, it was unusual for her to do this before Catherine or James. While she was getting ready James called for her to take the steaks away as he couldn't eat them.

Catherine had decided that night she was going to hurt her husband. She would pour the vial into James' open mouth and give him a drink with it in it. The acid was also on a glass as a child who'd tried to drink it got burned.

She would wake up Janet only dressed in stockings. She was smiling as if in joy when she told her that "James is ill" Janet would go down to check on James and found him withering in pain. "I'm burned...I'm roast...I'm gone." were some of the things he was screaming. She would try to tell him that he must have had a bad drink while out, but he knew better. “Oh, woman, woman whatever I have gotten, it was in my own house.”

Neighbors began to gather at the home, as James agonizing shouting attracted the neighbors. They would essentially hear him accuse his wife “Oh, woman, woman, you have tried to do this often, and you have done it now.” James would die of his injures.

Catherine would be calm during the murder trial. She plead not guilty. The jury though would return with a guilty verdict and be set to be executed. She was so stunned and accepting of her verdict that she didn't hear when she was going to be executed. She would later ask one of her visitors how long she had.

She was treated well while she waited for her execution, but a day from her youth ran through her head. She was a witness to the hanging of a habitual thief, Jean Craig, on 25 July 1784. She was in the crowd and it had become customary to throw the cut rope out into the crowd. The rope had touched her chest and terrified her.

At 2:30 p.m. on 8 October 1830, Catherine hanged. She would then be buried in at the old Aberdeen jail.

SOURCES:
British Executions
Lena the Hyena 
The Black Kalender by  James Bruce
Blood and Granite: True Crime from Aberdeen by Norman Adams
Aberdeen Journal, and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland September 15, 1830
The Morning Post September 20, 1830
The Caledonian Mercury October 11, 1830
The Lancaster Gazette October 16, 1830
The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser October 19, 1830

Orren Mercer killed his Illegitimate son

Orren Mercer and his unnamed wife were both former slaves. The two would have two young children, but unfortunately, she would die. This resulted in Orren to look for love. He started to pay considerable attention to a woman named Lizzie Taylor. She was also a widower and lived in the neighboring plantation in Edgecomb County, North Carolina. The two would soon become intimate and Orren was virtually regarded by neighbors.

Lizzie would then become pregnant. This was when 45-year-old Orren stopped seeing her as often. Even though she claimed the baby was his, he claimed that it wasn't. She would then give birth to a beautiful baby boy. He denied the baby as his and she brought him to court for child support. This was when he created a solution to his problem.

On April 15, 1872, Lizzie started her day and went to work. Nellie, Lizzie's 12-year-old daughter, would stay home with her 5-month-old little brother.  Soon after her mother left she cleaned up the home and fed her younger brother. This was when Orren arrived at the home.  

When he walked in he had a coat over his head to disguise himself. This scared the young girl. This is the conversation that went between the two. He asked a series of questions. The little girl confirmed she didn't know who he was and it was just her, her brother and mother that lived there. He then asked if the baby was asleep and if he could drink water. She stated he was asleep and couldn't drink water as he was too little for that. He then asked if he could hold the baby and she said yes.

Nellie kept an eye on the man not trusting him. He then picked up the boy and stared him in the eyes. This moved his disguise and she realized the man was Orren. Orren then turned his back to the girl while still holding the baby. He then took a black vile out and fed it to the baby. He then placed the now crying baby back on the bed.

He then threatened the girl that it wouldn't be good for her if she told anyone he'd been there. He then left the two children alone. The baby was wailing and crying in agony. in a matter of moments, the baby's cheeks became blackened and his tongue stuck out and was also black. This frightened the girl and she ran to her mother for help.

On the way back to the home they came across Dr. Mercer (not related) and told him of the baby. When they arrived he examined the baby and was unable to help him. He died in the next few hours. By that time his scalp and skin had begun to fall off. It was found that he was killed with lye (caustic potash).

Soon after a warrant for Orren's arrest was done. He was then arrested and was found guilty at trial. He was supposed to hang on June 14. He had an appeal go to the Supreme Court, but he was still found guilty and sentenced to death.

He made a statement along the lines that Lizzie was constantly trying to get him to marry her. That he tried to be with other women, but she scared them off. He said that Nellie lied and did not see him kill her little brother. That he had nothing to do with the boy's death and wasn't at the home at the time. He said that the murderer was possibly a man named Redding Stanton who Orren claimed people told him that he said: "I have got him as I want him". Orren said he had no idea why Redding would have a grudge against him and convinced the young girl to lie about her brother's death.

When Orren realized he was going to be hung. He decided to try to starve himself to death first. He was unable to starve himself to death. He did become very weak before his execution. He still declared he was innocent of the crime on Jan 16, 1872.

On Jan 16. He was hung. His neck did not break and it took a few minutes for him to die. He was then decalred dead 25 minutes later.

SOURCES:
Legal Executions In North Carolina and South Carolina: A Comprehensive Registry, 1866-1962 by Daniel Allen Hearn
The New Berne Times May 26, 1872
The Tarabourogh Southerner December 12, 1872
The Tarabourogh Southerner December 5, 1872
New York Daily Herald Jan 19, 1873

INFANTICIDE: March 30, 1881 Camden, Iowa Newborn Girl

In Camden, Iowa, a woman had a package sent to the county treasurer, John Addison Pierson in Centerville, Iowa. The package was pasteboard. The package arrived on March 30, 1881, by train and at the time John Addison Pierson went to see if there was any official mail for the county and if there was anything for him. He paid for the package not knowing what was inside.

He brought the mail to his office. He opened the package and what was inside was horrifying. There was a newborn baby girl wrapped in an old skirt. It was obvious that the infant was murdered. There was concentrated lye or acid poured down her throat and splattered on one side of her face and body.

There were suspicions about who the mother was, but nothing was proved. It's unknown why the infant was killed because it seems likely the baby was sent to get a proper and paid for the funeral.

I could not find any sources that said this case was solved. According to Iowa Unsolved Murders, it was not solved.

SOURCES:

Iowa Unsolved Murders 

Centerville Times

Centerville Times