marjorie congdon caldwell

She wanted the money, and she was not content to wait for her inheritance. It looked like justice was finally catching up with her. In fact, the Congdon family was one of the most accomplished, distinguished and generous in Minnesota. Marjorie was charged with murder but charges were dropped. She had a strong interest in infectious diseases, and worked with programs to help improve the health of factory workers. On January 13, 1984, Marjorie was given 21 months in the Shakopee Womens Prison for burning down her and Wallys home in Mound, Minnesota. The grotesque story is nonetheless a true one that unfolded almost 40 years ago now: Duluths Glensheen murders, an atrocity that riveted the region for years. They dazzle and captivate. He and his wife, Mary, live near Kettle River, Minnesota, enjoying time with their seven grandchildren. At family reunions, we talk about history, and people knew a little bit, but so much about her was forgotten. Member donations are crucial to the work of our nonprofit newsroom. Still, its a little awkward when youre standing in the bedroom where Elisabeth Congdon was murdered with a satin pillow over her face, and its not even mentioned. In 1975 Marjorie Congdon met Roger Caldwell at a Parents Without Partners meeting in Colorado. If they change to focus to be more about history and the house, Ill reconsider. In 1991, she was caught trying to set fire to a neighbor's house. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. Her attempts for earlier release on parole met. 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 is now 84 years old and shes still out there. As the nurse climbed the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks. The news, analysis and community conversation found here is funded by donations from individuals. January 26,1985 Her appeal is turned down, so Marjorie begins serving her time for the arson and fraud conviction. var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; Prone to arson, Marjorie was suspected of torching her home in Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, but the matter was dropped. Im interested in at-risk youth, and drawn to help people in difficult situations. They are callous and opportunistic and care nothing about you. But psychopaths are different. Withdrawing further, Marjorie began to act strangely, pulling out her own hair and laugh in an odd manner. Suzanne Congdon LeRoy: Yes. They are cold-hearted, deceitful, manipulative, and cruel. Zenith City Press That's in part because of what happened afterward when the story gets even crazier.. In the world Marjorie Congdon grew up in, wealth was everything. It was then that he decided to build his dream home on the shores of Lake Superior. This was now two years after the murders and, as Kimball recalled, two new developments hurt the prosecution. Elisabeth named her Marjorie. Twenty months later she was released for good behavior. Thats different from a psychopath. An autopsy subsequently revealed Walter Hagen had died of a drug overdose. Rather, they seek money as a means of control. The Duluth newspaper archives included thousands of mentions of her activities. When did Irene Curie win the Nobel Prize? She was a role model and a mentor and laid a foundation not only about conduct and responsibility but about how to approach life. A psychotic is someone who is out of touch with reality. She was connected to numerous schools and organizations reaching as far away as China. SCL: Very much so. Today, the University of Minnesota-Duluth operates the mansion, tours and events that take place inside and on the mansion's grounds. His was the classic American rags to riches story, and he was just getting started. Marjorie Caldwell Hagen is convicted of arson and insurance fraud in connection with a 1982 fire at a house in Mound, MN. Marjorie Congdon's mugshot, when she was arrested for arson in Arizona on March 25, 1991. I found out that her classmate at Vassar was the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. "She's still doing crafts.". She was accused of attempting to deposit his $11,181 inheritance into her account after he died. To control that wealth mustve been very enticing to someone like Marjorie. June 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the Glensheen Mansion murders. She loved nature and history, and taught her children and grandchildren to protect them. They never suspected what was about to happen. As her personality emerged from behind a wall of introversion, it was aggressive and unpleasant, and she made people uncomfortable. Despite prosecution having only circumstantial evidence to present, Roger was convicted and handed two consecutive life sentences. Marjorie admitted as much, saying she and Walter had made a suicide pact, but that she had lost her nerve at the last minute and couldnt go through with it. But Congdon was betting on the come. Although Marjorie was brought up in the familys opulent Glensheen Mansion and attended Dana Hall Prep School in Massachusetts, she was nevertheless troubled, and at age 16 she was actually given the label sociopath during a stay at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, in the summer of 1949. Yet she destroyed the lives of all those around her. Only the quick action of Dick LeRoy prevented the fire from spreading and burning the neighborhood down. While Roger Caldwell was recovering in the hospital, police searched the couple's Bloomington. St. Louis County Chief Prosecutor John DeSanto prosecuted the 1977 murders. In addition, they are charming, charismatic and engaging. What they did is public record.. The lawyers tell you that you and your siblings would be set for life. Yet you became a nurse a very demanding, difficult profession. And I have taken all the necessary precautions to keep myself safe. fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); We were invited for dinner several times. The last I heard, she was calling herself Marjorie Hagen and living in the Southwest. Clarity means quality, and , We cant fight it any longer. She delivered hospital meals. I burst out laughing, says Poling. She was a product of her upbringing, in that she liked a genteel life. The Associated Press and Arizona Daily Star contributed to this report. Review by @JayGabler: http://t.co/CcvqPvprgr pic.twitter.com/2ygWFh7Jj6, Local Current (@LocalCurrent) October 11, 2015. Police said they believed he was exposed to natural gas from the kitchen stove through a garden hose. While darkly comic elements pepper the musical, Poling emphasizes that he and Hatcher have been respectful of the victims. She was arrested, tried and convicted. They are not trying to get money to feed a desire for things. Marjorie kept on spending, writing bad checks and driving her new husband deeper and deeper into debt. In 1990, the Hagens moved to Ajo,. The officers who dropped her off found her quirky and engaging, a charming old lady. 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. The cause was arson, but her presence there could not be connected to the crime, and she was not arrested. Its been 37 years since my grandmothers death, and its good to see the house is still a vital part of Duluth. "Then went upstairs and smothered the 83-year-old heiress in her bed with a satin pillow.". She parted ways with her second husband, Roger Caldwell, after the trials. Speech competition for high school girls in Minnesota welcomes applications through March, Duluth Polar Plunge makes a splash for Special Olympics. Dissatisfied, he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota with $31 in his pocket, passed the Minnesota bar, and joined a law firm. The next day, DeSanto charged Marjorie with conspiring to kill her mother. Tags: Glensheen, Majorie Congdon, Summer 2017, Sign up for the Artful Note newsletter, our guide to the good life delivered right to your inbox. We see that you have javascript disabled. It seemed clear to prosecutors that Roger could not have committed the murders alone. At the time of the slayings, the Caldwells were deep in debt. She left an extensive record of philanthropic activities, with the Red Cross, the Duluth Art Institute, the Kings Daughters, numerous museums, hospitals, historical societies. The mansion was constructed as the family home of Chester Adgate Congdon. They will use it against you if it suits them. That's because 40 years later, Hartman said, about 70 percent of visitors don't even know about the murders. When Elisabeth was found murdered, it didnt take long for the investigation to zero in on the Caldwells. What they inadvertently let loose on a summer day in 1932 destroyed many lives, and it all began with an act of generosity. The building was designed by Minnesota architect Clarence H. The historic Glensheen Mansion, along London Road in Duluth MN, was built for, Released in the fall of 1972 and directed by Lamont Johnson, Youll Like, Glensheen, a mansion and grounds completed in 1908 on the shores of Lake Superior in Duluth, was built by Chester and Clara Congdon. Marjorie ended up with about $40,000 a year from a Congdon trust plus Wallace Hagen's pension, according to Feichtinger. She professed her innocence in the Ajo fire at trial. Twelve years after the murders, he committed suicide. The crime immediately attracted national attention. Condgon was found smothered with a satin pillow. Psychopaths are not shaped by their upbringing. Marjorie did not attend a single day of his trial. To celebrate they bought an Airstream trailer and traveled the country, eventually settling in Ajo, Arizona, a town of 2,500 persons near the Mexican border. 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. As a result, no autopsy was possible. Born in 1853, the son of a Methodist minister, Chester showed ambition and drive at an early age. Whats more, investigators found a dark hair near Velma Pietilas body. Congdon Caldwell married Wally Hagen in 1982. "I think also a downside of the murder is that people always viewed it from that lens, even in the history community," he said, "that they kind of forget it's actually this incredibly important historic site for our state. In the late 1960s, the Congdon family decided to donate the estate to the University of Minnesota Duluth, although not until Elizabeth died. Psychopaths are without a conscience. That's when Kimball decided to write a book about the case, "Secrets of the Congdon Mansion. In a 2009 plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to attempted forgery and was sentenced to three years of intensive probation. Four years into his sentence, though, Roger Caldwell walked out of prison, never to return. The case went to trial in the searing summer of 1978. Caldwell was a bad alcoholic. Feichtinger wouldn't go that far, noting that Marjorie is no longer on probation and being supervised. SCL: I always say, Mother Nature was the only mother I ever had. Who wrote youll like my mother?Jo HeimsNaomi A. Hintze. How many bedrooms are in the Glensheen Mansion? How long does sunscreen last once put on? Marjorie used her inheritance to acquit her of the murder of the person who controlled her inheritance. You are here: Home How What happened Marjorie Congdon? One way to understand the difference between the two is that sociopaths can be manipulated by psychopaths, but not the other way around. As before, she was not considered a flight risk, so she was permitted to visit her husband one last time before being escorted to prison. Her ability to coerce him in this way hinted at deeper implications. Adopted by one of the wealthiest families in Minnesota, she was brought up in lavish surroundings with all the comforts money could buy, Marjorie had an idyllic childhood. On March 4, 2009, she was sentenced to three years probation. Nancy and her brother Tom were always curious about their mother's rich friend, Marjorie Congdon. At great personal expense, Congdon hired a mining engineer to develop a washing mill that could remove the sand. In March 1991 Marjorie was caught red-handed setting fire to her neighbors house with him inside of it. Then in 1951 Marjorie became someone elses problem. Roger Caldwell, when he was arrested for the murders of heiress Elisabeth Congdon and her nurse, in St. Louis County, on July 8, 1977. Marjorie married Roger Caldwell of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on March 20, 1976, in the Denver, Colorado, area and they lived in Golden, Colorado. Circumstantial evidence to present, Roger Caldwell, after the murders and, We cant fight it longer... Nonprofit newsroom investigation to zero in on the mansion, tours and events that take inside. Her brother Tom were always curious about their mother & # x27 ; s Bloomington We were invited for several! Far away as China are crucial to the crime, and she was a role model and a and. Was a role model and a mentor and laid a foundation not only about conduct and but. Laid a foundation not only about conduct and responsibility but about how to approach life by donations from individuals,. Desanto charged Marjorie with conspiring to kill her mother in 1932 destroyed many lives, and she was for. 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