Marjorie stood to inherit $8.2 million upon her mother's death. A neighbor remembered Marjorie as being very industrious. You are here: Home How What happened Marjorie Congdon? TUCSON, Ariz. -- Marjorie Congdon Caldwell Hagen, the 74-year-old woman acquitted in connection with the June 1977 deaths of her mother and her mother's nurse at Duluth's Glensheen mansion, was taken into custody Thursday night at a Tucson assisted-living facility and booked into Pima County Jail on suspicion of theft, forgery, fraud and computer tampering. The mansion itself is located in Duluth Minnesota, 2 1/2 hours from my home in Brainerd Minnesota. They are callous and opportunistic and care nothing about you. The promise of a big pay combined with plenty of publicity may have been factors that led Ronald Meshbesher to take her case. "People do see her out and about. They win people over, before bending them to their will. I visit anonymously and join tours to see what they say, and see how people react. In a city that bears the Congdon name at nearly every turn (this week, when a fire damaged Duluths historic Traphagen House, it was even noted that the Congden family had lived there while their Glensheen mansion was being constructed), her legacy is long, yet her individual accomplishments have largely been forgotten. Most Minnesotans know of Marjorie Congdon as the woman who was tried and acquitted of conspiring with her then husband, Roger Caldwell, to murder Marjories mother, heiress Elizabeth Congdon. Then in 1982, after Marjorie married her third husband, she purchased a house she didnt have the money to buy. She made few friends. Twenty months later she was released for good behavior. It has been lightly edited for today's readers. In 2010, her attorney's court motion to remove her from intensive probation so she could get into an assisted living complex was denied. Surprisingly, there are some rather significant connections between Marjorie and St. Louis Park. Soon, Marjorie turns into the stepmother from hell. He did a masterful job. No witnesses judged reliable by the police had seen Roger in Colorado on the night of the murders, and Marjorie offered investigators several inconsistent stories about her husbands whereabouts. Caldwell served only five years in prison; in 1983, he was released after confessing to the murders. As far as Marjorie and Roger: Theyre fair game. Marjorie did not call the fire department. And new things are happening. The coin had been mailed the day after the murders in an envelope Caldwell had addressed to himself. So they made a deal. He was found guilty and given two life sentences. Elisabeth Congdon's funeral was to be held at Glensheen on Thursday June, 30. As her personality emerged from behind a wall of introversion, it was aggressive and unpleasant, and she made people uncomfortable. One month before the murder Marjorie got a prescription for Antabuse. Glensheen Mansion is a five-story structure with several staircases. Twelve years after the murders, he committed suicide. A civil suit filed by five of her seven children in 1979 to disinherit their mother from her inheritance on the grounds she was involved in the murders was settled out of court in 1983. "She got no bulk sum after the murders - she basically lost it all . Her adopted daughter Marjorie LeRoys mother along with her new husband, Roger Caldwell, were accused of murdering Congdon in an attempt to inherit her fortune. "She lives in very nice properties," Gail Feichtinger, co-author of "Will to Murder: The True Story Behind the Crimes & Trials Surrounding the Glensheen Killings," who continues to keep track of Marjorie's whereabouts and crimes told the News Tribune in 2017. From 1993 to 2004, Marjorie served 11 years of a 15-year prison sentence for the arson fires in Ajo. And a witness from the first trial changed her story to say she saw Roger elsewhere the day of the murder. in Minneapolis in 1957, but took good care of the new, pregnant owner of the Huntington house, giving her all of her maternity clothes and sending up strawberries to the hospital. Their mother Hagen's previous wife was in a nursing home in 1980 when she collapsed into a coma and died after Marjorie allegedly was seen feeding her something from a jar. The reason why they dont talk about the murders on the tour isnt because they are trying to hide it, its because murder is a horrendous thing to happen and not everyone wants to hear about it. They are cold-hearted, deceitful, manipulative, and cruel. Rogers conviction was overturned on August 6, 1982, and instead of retrying the case, Roger was freed on his five years time served after he confessed to two counts of second-degree murder. She always told stories about her nursing training in World War I, and I was fascinated. It really is part of a bygone era. With Roger out of prison under supervision and a retrial looming, authorities decided to strike a deal rather than risk an acquittal. The court granted him a new trial. No witnesses survive, and the cops in a small northern Minnesota city have to make their case based on purely circumstantial evidence. She never did move into assisted living and as of 2017, at 84, her health didn't seem as bad as her attorney had claimed, according to Feichtinger. She was so much more than the last day of her life. Additionally, two other men shes been close to have died in what some have regarded as suspicious circumstances. When did Irene Curie win the Nobel Prize? They care nothing about anyone else, although they are often good at making it seem as if they do. Developed by. Marjorie is now 84 years old and shes still out there. In November 2010 a judge in southern Arizona refused her request for a reduction in the terms of her probation so that she could move to a nursing home. It was an honor and a privilege to find out more about her. He befriended the US District Attorney in St. Paul and got a job as his assistant. From the beginning, the child was different. "In recent years, she has kept a surprisingly low profile," she said in 2017. And I have taken all the necessary precautions to keep myself safe. If they change to focus to be more about history and the house, Ill reconsider. Later it came to light that her friend had thought the world of her. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us. Guests are constantly , The term craft is ambiguous at best. Hagen's children would later allege, in a 1994 St. Paul Pioneer Press article, that Marjorie was responsible for both their father's and mother's death. For the Standard Tour which includes the main floor, second floor and lower level. MinnPost thanks these generous donors: INDIVIDUALS AND FOUNDATI0NS Blandin FoundationOtto Bremer FoundationBush FoundationSage & John CowlesDavid . "Someone breaks into a 39-room mansion and killed the nurse on the grand stairway," with a candlestick, recalled Joe Kimball, a reporter with the Minneapolis Tribune who covered the murders. fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); Candleholders on Elisabeth Congdons bedside table in Glensheen Mansion. Make a gift of any amount today to support this resource for everyone. I had 22 years with her and she impacted me so much in that time, and always after. Stained glass window above the stairway landing at Glensheen mansion where Velma Pitiela was murdered. She had a strong interest in infectious diseases, and worked with programs to help improve the health of factory workers. But prosecutors didn't want to risk a not guilty verdict. You find yourself not knowing what play youre in, Poling continues. Congdon was the only surviving child of mining magnate Chester Congdon, who built the lavish mansion in 1909. In 1988, Roger took his own life, leaving a suicide note that read in part, referring to the Glensheen victims, I didnt kill those girls., Theres a lot of ground to cover, says Poling, around why the trials of Roger and Marjorie ended so differently. Marjorie ended up with about $40,000 a year from a Congdon trust plus Wallace Hagen's pension, according to Feichtinger. In 1935 Elizabeth adopted another daughter and named her Jennifer. The elderly Elisabeth Congdon did what she could to help lessen the damage by covering at least $350,000 of her daughters indebtedness, but it wasnt enough to prevent Dick LeRoy from being ruined. He studied dance and theater as a student at CalArts in the 1970s, and wrote scores for the legendary (now defunct) local company Theatre de la Jeune Lune in the 1980s. He had no way of knowing that two of those grandchildren would not share his genes, and that one of them would be more than a stranger. She was charged with attempted arson and in a 1992 trial found guilty. Psychopaths are born without consciences, the way some people are born without sight or sound. js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; She left an extensive record of philanthropic activities, with the Red Cross, the Duluth Art Institute, the Kings Daughters, numerous museums, hospitals, historical societies. What do ice crystals on a frozen food item indicate? Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. As the nurse climbed the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks. ", "I went on one of the early tours," he said, "and one of the first things the guide said, was, 'when Ms. Congdon passed away, she willed the estate to the university.' Exasperated, Elisabeth arranged to sell the horse, but before the sale could be completed, Marjorie was caught trying to poison it. Four years into his sentence, though, Roger Caldwell walked out of prison, never to return. A tour guide shares historical facts and interesting details about the mansion and Congdon family. In this light, Marjories difficulty in making friends at school can be seen as trial and error, a long learning curve that resulted in her emerging as an engaging, charismatic young woman at the age of nineteen, enough to snare a man like Dick LeRoy. Marjorie ended up with about $40,000 a year from a Congdon trust plus Wallace Hagen's pension, according to Feichtinger. They didn't think they could prove the death was murder. Winter is coming, so . The night nurse, one Velma Pietila had been called in at the last minute when the scheduled nurse couldnt make it. Marjorie was a compulsive spender and liar, and eventually Dick LeRoy had enough and divorced her on April 29, 1971. Dumbest of all, a rare Byzantine coin that had been taken from Elisabeths Congdons room on the night of the murders turned up in Roger Caldwells home in Golden, Colorado. As a result, no autopsy was possible. EARLY LIFE Starched and pressed, plus she loved to entertain. Her ability to coerce him in this way hinted at deeper implications. What they inadvertently let loose on a summer day in 1932 destroyed many lives, and it all began with an act of generosity. SCL: I always say, Mother Nature was the only mother I ever had. Prone to arson, Marjorie was suspected of torching her home in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, but the matter was dropped. Marjorie Congdon's mugshot, when she was arrested for arson in Arizona on March 25, 1991. Congdon's adopted daughter, Marjorie Congdon Caldwell, was acquitted in 1979 of charges that she helped plan the murders in what the prosecution called a scheme to get an early inheritance. Editors note:This article was produced as a part of a collaboration between The Growler Magazine and 89.3 The Current, Minnesotas non-commercial, member-supported radio station playing the best authentic, new music alongside the music that inspired it. She would be strange. But in the big picture a greater public service could be done by acknowledging the tragedy and handing out information on psychopathology. An additional note: The History Theatre musical, "Glensheen" is on stage starting July 6 and runs through July 30, 2017. A deposit of iron ore had been found sixty miles to the north in the Mesabi range, and Pittsburgh steel magnate Andrew Carnegie had shown an interest in it. On the morning of June 27th, 1977 the day nurse arrived at Glensheen to take over for the night staff. It was the stuff of an Agatha Christie novel. They married two months later. Pietila was beaten with a candlestick holder. She was given 15 years, but on October 30, 1992, Wally was found dead, a day before she was to report to prison. Most psychopaths are not violent, but all are treacherous. She was Marjorie Congdon, one of the Duluth Congdons, granddaughter of Chester, the mining magnate who made a fortune in iron ore, served in the legislature and built the mansion on the lake at the turn of the 20th century. "The big mystery still is, did Roger do it alone or with someone else there, and how involved if at all was Marjorie? They are thinking about restoring the greenhouses, which were torn down in 1971, and bringing in bee hives and selling Glensheen honey. MP: Your book includes two riveting and fairly disturbing courtroom dramas the murder trial [starring a sneering Ron Meshbesher] and the settlement of your grandmothers estate. Then at the age of thirteen she did something that wouldve been a warning sign to any criminal psychologist, had there been such a thing in 1945. [She served time for arson.] She was released on October 19, 1986, and she and Wally moved to Ajo, Arizona. The child shed adopted was olive skinned with straight, black hair and was so nearsighted she had to wear thick glasses. The mansion itself is beautiful. Tucson police wouldn't discuss what led to the charges, citing an ongoing investigation. In 1986, he was elected St. Louis County Sheriff; he retired in 1999. The Congdons are notable for many things, and the docents dont want those accomplishments overshadowed by the taint of Marjorie Congdons behavior. Intelligent and often charming, Marjorie married and had six children before the marriage ended amid stresses exacerbated by her exorbitant spending. It seemed clear to prosecutors that Roger could not have committed the murders alone. Peter Treworgy LeRoy, born September 2, 1953, Suzanne Congdon LeRoy, born November 1, 1954, Andrew Webster LeRoy, born March 30, 1956, Rebecca Warner LeRoy, born October 23, 1957, Heather Mannering LeRoy, born June 23, 1959, Richard Webster LeRoy, Jr., born September 13, 1960. The family has written some letters, and weve had discussions. The Classic and Full Mansion tours are self-paced with most visitors spending. The next day the house caught fire. January 26,1985 Her appeal is turned down, so Marjorie begins serving her time for the arson and fraud conviction. This was now two years after the murders and, as Kimball recalled, two new developments hurt the prosecution. It was then that he decided to build his dream home on the shores of Lake Superior. In addition, they are charming, charismatic and engaging. The literature has noted cases where children demonstrate psychopathic behaviors as early as age two, and in environments that are perfectly sound. Marjorie was caught red-handed setting fire to her neighbors house. Caldwell's conviction was. Marjorie Congdon Caldwell with her attorney Ronald Meshbesher. When we were invited to dinner, it was never casual. When Elisabeth was found murdered, it didnt take long for the investigation to zero in on the Caldwells. The killings were carried out by Roger Caldwell, allegedly at the urging of his wife, Congdons adopted daughter Marjorie, though she was later acquitted of conspiracy to murder at a trial. Marjorie had insisted she and Roger stay at Glensheen, but that request was refused since police still had to tie up loose ends. Elisabeths face was purple, her mouth hanging open. Then in 1951 Marjorie became someone elses problem. Required fields are marked *. But as soon as Marjorie got the horse she lost interest in it and told her mother she didnt want it. That's in part because of what happened afterward when the story gets even crazier. The Arizona Daily Star reported that Hagen was most recently in the news in 2006 after her lawyer was accused of bilking her and another client out of more than $100,000. She was a product of her upbringing, in that she liked a genteel life. Asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, he claimed he did not committed the murders. Congdon worked to improve maternal health and infant survival rates; she provided numerous students with scholarships and even housed at least one Chinese college student at Glensheen; and she was a passionate supporter of the arts. Overnight, Congdon became a very wealthy man. They cannot believe the things people say about her. She appealed, was let free on bond and, after a year of setbacks and delays, she was finally remanded to Shakopee Womens Prison in Shakopee, Minnesota. An autopsy subsequently revealed Walter Hagen had died of a drug overdose. Murders - she basically lost it all Glensheen honey mugshot, when she was arrested for in... 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