MN MN - Myrtle Cole, 81, Strangled & stabbed in her Fairhaven home,12 Dec 1981 *Re-opened*

[Betty P]

Myrtle, not Mabel.

There was a snow storm that night and eventually it was noted that the car on the street was stuck. But men looking in windows?! Why in the world wouldn't someone have called the police when they saw that?

Thanks for the correction. Trying to do too many things these days.

The article said neighbors saw men looking in windows along the street where she lived. Still, you wonder why they didn't call police. Today we probably would, but perhaps not back then.

 

[dotr]

She always locked her doors, fearing an attack. One night her worst fears came true

Myrtle Vera Cole, 81, was found stabbed to death in her Fairhaven, Minnesota, home on Dec. 12, 1981. The case remains open, according to an investigator.

www.brainerddispatch.com

By Trent Abrego April 01, 2025
View attachment 580043
FAIRHAVEN, Minn. — Myrtle Vera Cole was a worrier.
''The 81-year-old woman had a fear of someone breaking into her rural Stearns County home and harming her.''

''Cole entered the bedroom, where he found Myrtle Cole motionless, lying face down on the bed, naked from the waist down, her legs dangling over the edge, with a quilt over her head, he told the St. Cloud Times in 1981.

Authorities identified the cause of death as strangulation, but later explained the truth: Myrtle Cole was found stabbed in her sexual organs.''
''Old photos from the Stearns County Sheriff's Office show Cole's front door wide open and glass shattered on the floor. The house has since been torn down. Cole was a widow who lived alone, reportedly with no running water and relying only on Social Security. According to the sheriff's office, it was well-known she was fearful of someone breaking into her home.
2024

More than 4 decades on, case of murdered 81-year-old woman still unsolved

The woman was killed in her own home in a small town south of St. Cloud.

www.kare11.com

"The only motivation that we can come up with is really a drug-induced, sexual violence, chaotic kind of killer," Lieutenant Vic Weiss told KARE11 on the 40th anniversary of the killing in 2021. Lt. Weiss said he believes there are people with information they're afraid to share, and that the suspect could be someone who lives locally.''