Episode 25: The Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church Poisoning

07/01/20 • 19 min

On April 27, 2003, 27 members of a 50 member church congregation at the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church in New Sweden, Maine gathered for a meeting to discuss the purchase of a new furnace for the church. While at the meeting, 16 members drank coffee from one of two urns holding coffee for the congregation. These 16 members ended up being treated for severe vomiting at two hospitals, one member, named Walter Reid Morrill passed away at the age of 78 due to this illness. Upon investigation, police determined one of the urns holding coffee had been poisoned with extreme levels of arsenic.

To this day, the case is closed due to police believing they knew who had done it, but the town is divided in whether the case should reopen and find the accomplices or remain closed and let bygones be bygones.

sources:

Imhoff, Frank. (2006, April 21). Case Closed on Lutheran Church arsenic poisoning in Maine. Retrieved from: https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/7127

WGME. (2018, April 27). Special Report: New Sweden Arsenic poisonings. Retrieved from: https://wgme.com/news/local/special-report-new-sweden-arsenic-poisonings

Murderpedia. Daniel Bondeson. Retrieved from: https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bondeson-daniel.htm

Sharp, David. (2008, June 15). In Maine, pains linger for arsenic poisoning survivors. Retrieved from: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-15-adna-arsenic15-story.html

Zernike, Kate. (2003, May 1). Arsenic Poisoning at Church Mystifies a Maine Town. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/us/arsenic-poisoning-at-church-mystifies-a-maine-town.html

Robinson, Bryan. (2006, January 7). Church Poisoning May Never Be Solved. Retrieved from: https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96750&page=1

sources:

Imhoff, Frank. (2006, April 21). Case Closed on Lutheran Church arsenic poisoning in Maine. Retrieved from: https://www.elca.org/News-and-Events/7127

WGME. (2018, April 27). Special Report: New Sweden Arsenic poisonings. Retrieved from: https://wgme.com/news/local/special-report-new-sweden-arsenic-poisonings

Murderpedia. Daniel Bondeson. Retrieved from: https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bondeson-daniel.htm

Sharp, David. (2008, June 15). In Maine, pains linger for arsenic poisoning survivors. Retrieved from: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-15-adna-arsenic15-story.html

Zernike, Kate. (2003, May 1). Arsenic Poisoning at Church Mystifies a Maine Town. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/us/arsenic-poisoning-at-church-mystifies-a-maine-town.html

Robinson, Bryan. (2006, January 7). Church Poisoning May Never Be Solved. Retrieved from: https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96750&page=1

Previous Episode

Episode 24: The Murder of Tia Rigg

On April 3, 2010 in Manchester, England, 12-year-old, Tia Rigg's uncle, John Maden phoned her mother, Lynne, to ask if Tia could come over to babysit his young daughter. Lynne agreed, and Tia went to John's home, hoping to catch some of the football game that day, as her favorite team, Manchester United, was playing but she had no idea what awaited her at her uncle's home. John drugged Tia before raping her, committing a variety of sexual acts on her, and then stabbing and strangling her to death. Social services had many chances to take Tia from the care of her mother, Lynne, as Lynne had a history of drug abuse, suicide attempts, and domestic violence, however, they failed little Tia. Sources: True Crime England. (2020, February 4). The Murder of Tia Rigg. Retrieved from: https://truecrimeengland.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/the-murder-of-tia-rigg/ Daily Mail Reporter. (2011, May 13). Murdered girls' addict mother to sue council for not taking her into care. Retrieved from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386614/Tia-Rigg-12-raped-murdered-uncle-Child-Protection-Register-born.html Riches, Chris. (2010, April 5). Mother's horror as she finds daughter, 12,stabbed and strangled. Retrieved from: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/167227/Mother-s-horror-as-she-finds-daughter-12-stabbed-and-strangled Press Association. (2010, October 4). Tia Rigg tortured and murdered by uncle obsessed with child porn. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/oct/04/tia-rigg-murdered-by-uncle Tozer, James. (2011, May 13). 'I've finished killing her now': Uncle, 38, murdered niece, 12, while acting out a fantasy from his collection of violent porn. Retrieved from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317626/John-Maden-raped-murdered-niece-Tia-Rigg-acting-internet-porn-fantasy.html Audio: Daily Motion: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xioost DCI David Warren: https://youtu.be/rM1WG-37gj0

Next Episode

Episode 26: The Solved Cold Case of Krystal Beslanowitch

On December 14, 1995, 17-year-old Krystal Beslanowitch set off on foot to go to a convenience store in Salt Lake City, Utah at 8:45 PM, but never returned to the motel her and her boyfriend, Chris were living in. Chris walked to the convenience store to search for Krystal, but the employees say they never saw her there. Two days later, the nude, battered body of a teenage female was found on the bank of the Provo River. She had been beaten to death with granite rocks. Her boyfriend phoned the police after seeing drawings of the Jane Doe's tattoos on the news to tell them he believes the body was that of his girlfriend, Tracy Beslanowitch. It was later determined that Krystal had been using the identity of her step-sister, Tracy, and that the Jane Doe was in fact Krystal.

18 years later, the murder was solved using new technology known as the M-Vac when police were able to take DNA from the rocks at the crime scene used to kill Krystal.

Sources:

Savage, Laiken. (2020, February 1). Krystal Beslanowitch. Retrieved from: https://laikansavage.wordpress.com/2020/02/01/solved-sundayss-krystal-beslanowitch/

Fretwell, Courtney J. (2020, February 9). The Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch. Retrieved from: https://forensictales.com/the-murder-of-krystal-beslanowitch/

Miller, Jessica. (2016, September 30). Utah jury sentences man to life without parole for killing teen in 1995. Retrieved from: https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4416500&itype=CMSID. Salt Lake Tribune.

Kennedy, Gene. (2019, September 19). DNA match leads to arrest in cold case homicide from 1995. Retrieved from: https://fox13now.com/2013/09/19/arrest-made-in-cold-case-homicide-from-1995/ Fox 13 Salt Lake City.

Curry-Reyes, Traciy. (2019, April 20). Krystal Beslanowitch, Joseph Michael Simpson: Watch ‘Murder Decoded Murder On The Rocks’, Profiling Utah Cold Case. Retrieved from: https://tvcrimesky.com/2019/04/20/krystal-beslanowitch-joseph-simpson-murder-decoded-murder-on-the-rocks-of-teen-investigation-discovery-teen-tracry-beslanowitch/1535

Audio:

M-Vac Systems. (2016, December 18). M-Vac System Case Study-Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch Cold Case Homicide. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGXJFBHcMzE