Title: Will to Murder: The True Story Behind the Crimes and Trails Surrounding the Glensheen Killings

Location: Glenwood City Public Library

Date: July 10, 2023

Time: 12:30

Description: On June 27, 1977, an intruder entered Glnesheen, the stately manor built along the Lake Superior shore by Chester Congdon, patriarch of one of the most generous and respected families in Duluth, Minnesota.  Before leaving with a basketful of stolen jewelry, the intruder used a satin pillow to smother Chester’s last surviving child, Elisabeth Congdon, after killing the heiress’s valiant nurse with a candlestick – crimes set in motion by a hand-written will penned just days before the murders.

Inside Will to Murder, the story of the crimes and trials surrounding Marjorie Congdon Caldwell Hagen, Elisabeth Congdon’s notorious adopted daughter, is brought to light by former Duluth Detective Gary Waller and Sr. Louis County Prosecutor John DeSanto, the men who investigated and prosecuted Marjorie and her husband, Roger Caldwell.

Together with former Duluth News-Tribune crime reporter Gail Feichtinger, Waller and DeSanto bring readers behind the scenes of Minnesota’s most infamous double murder.  They frankly discuss their successes and failures in order to explain how a man who claimed innocence was convicted of two counts of murder and later confessed to the crimes – only to be set free.  Feichtinger then reaches beyond the Glensheen killings to follow Marjorie through her convictions for arson and other crimes, presenting evidence that suggests she may have gotten away with murder – five times.

Cost: Free

This is a free event open to everyone.