Carl Anthony Brunen
81 YOA
Case # 7200427
Ryan, Iowa
Delaware County
November 8, 1972
On November 8, 1972 — one day before his 82nd birthday — Carl Anthony “Charlie” Brunen was found dead in front of his rural residence six miles northwest of Coggon in Delaware County.
The house where he lived alone was ransacked and his billfold and an older model shotgun were missing.
An autopsy showed that Brunen sustained broken ribs and died from a massive skull fracture. He was dead for several hours before his body was discovered by his landlord Kenneth Barker.
Delaware County Sheriff Mike Barr called for assistance from the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation. No motive other than robbery could be uncovered and authorities speculated that the killer was a transient.
Carl Anthony “Charlie” Brunen was born November 9, 1890, the oldest child of Marie Wroblauski and Benjamin Brunen, who immigrated from Germany to the United States in 1883 and settled in Iowa in 1890.
He had four brothers — Bruno E., Thomas W., William B., and John J. Brunen — and six sisters: Clara, Martha, Lena T., Augusta C., Margaret A., and Eleanor M. Brunen.
Photo by Krystal KeastBrunen is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Anamosa.
Sadly, Carl Brunen became one more name on the list of elderly Iowans living alone who were targets of opportunity, perceived as helpless to fight back, and homed in on because it was believed there might be something valuable among their possessions.
Questions and information about the unsolved 1972 murder of Carl Brunen should be directed to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office at 563-927-3135, or Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
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