On the morning of June 27, 1977, a nurse arriving for work at Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota, discovered a horrifying scene. Night nurse Velma Pietila had been brutally beaten on the grand staircase, while eighty-three-year-old heiress Elisabeth Congdon was found smothered in her bed.
The killings shattered the elegance of one of Minnesota’s most famous estates and exposed a family divided by money, resentment, and inheritance. Suspicion soon centered on Elisabeth’s adopted daughter, Marjorie Congdon Caldwell, and Marjorie’s husband, Roger Caldwell—a man prosecutors believed had traveled to Duluth to kill both women for financial gain.
Roger was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms, while Marjorie was acquitted. But disputed evidence led the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn Roger’s conviction, setting the stage for a controversial plea agreement in which he confessed to the murders and walked free after serving just over five years.
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