Click on a title below to read about defenseless victims, heartless killers, and unfathomable motives associated with historical Iowa unsolved murders from just after WWII through 1965.
All the following articles were researched and written by Nancy Bowers between 2009 and the present, some with the assistance of David Jindrich.
For many of the victims, these stories were the first preservation of the facts other than newspaper articles from the time of the murders.
This is the only legally authorized site for the research and articles — many never seen before.
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☛ 1946 – 1965 ☚
In the Garage: Murder of Henry Christensen 1941
Giving Away Money: Murder of John Zauhar 1947
“My God, It’s a Man”: Murder of Robert McCullough 1947
“The Tattooed Lady”: Murder of Margaret Treese 1947
After a Game of Bridge: Murder of Anne M. McGrevey 1948
The Poisoned Family: Rhode-Elefson Murders 1948-1949
Who Killed the Corn Canning Czar? Murder of Henry Chavis 1948
The Defective Shotgun: Murders of Claud and Anna Miller 1949
Shock: Suspicious Death of Neva Andrews 1950
Taxi Ride to Death: Murder of George Massouris 1950
The Widow in the Alley: Murder of Lillian Chapman 1950
Cab in the Snow-Filled Ditch: Murder of Leon Groves 1951
“Brutal Killer”: Murders of Beverly Brenneman and Ruby Ciler 1953
Under the Court Avenue Bridge: Murder of Charles Sanders 1954
“Maniac” in the Drugstore: Murder of Lucille Bacher 1955
On the Front Porch: Murder of Rose Grandanette 1958
The Aspiring Actress: Murder of Marlene Padfield 1959
Death in a Cubicle: Murder of Fred Coste 1959
Brothel Double Homicide: Murders of Willard Woodring and Richard Buchanan 1960
A Daughter’s Quest For Justice: Murder of Clarence Raymond Case: 1961
Explosion in the Night: Murder of William Meadows 1961
Burning Murder?: Death of Lucille DeVries 1962
“Cold-Blooded Sadistic Type”: Murder of Ramona Jean Cox 1962
Nearly Home: Murder of Anna Marie Medici 1962
“Right Place, Wrong Time”: Murder of Edward Kriz 1962
Below Zero: Murder of George Geary 1963
Burning Mystery: Murder of Henry Hults 1963
Deadly Shot: Murder of Roscoe D. Harris 1963
Bound and Gagged: Murder of Francis Rafferty 1964
Among the Tropical Fish: Murder of Myrtle Cumpston 1965
Cold Night Out: Murder of Donald Nervig 1965
Mother’s Day Death: Murder of Lillian Randolph 1965