Mary K. Senne

Mary K. Senne

Homicide

Mary K. Senne
21 YOA
4119 E. University Ave.
Des Moines, IA
Polk County
Case # 1973-51704
October 22, 1973

Case summary by Jody Ewing

On Monday night, October 22, 1973, Mary K. Senne, 21, was stabbed to death in her east Des Moines home some time between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m. after an intruder cut the telephone line.

A report by Polk County Medical Examiner R.C. Wooters stated that Senne was stabbed twice in the stomach and one time in the throat. There were signs of a slight struggle, Wooters said, but Senne had not been sexually molested.

Authorities said robbery may have been a motive.

Polk County in Iowa

Des Moines in Polk County

Mary Senne’s husband, Douglas Senne, 23, said he discovered his wife’s body when he came home about 7:30 p.m. Mrs. Senne, clad in a yellow sweater and black slacks, lay face up on the living room carpet in a pool of blood in the couple’s residence at 4119 E. University Ave.

Mary Senne was employed by AID Insurance Services at 701 Fifth Avenue in Des Moines, and was the daughter of a Galesburg, Ill., surgeon.

Gregory Hawkins, who managed the complex’s 11 duplexes, said Mr. Senne moved into the $140-a-month unit on Dec. 3, 1972, and that Mrs. Senne moved in when the couple married in February 1973. Hawkins described the Sennes as “the best people we had,” and said they’d never had complaints or trouble with the couple (Des Moines Register, Oct. 23, 1973).

If you have any information you think might help solve this case, please contact the Des Moines Police Department at 515-237-1554.

Sources:

• Des Moines Police Department
• “Knife Attack; Woman Dies,” Des Moines Register, Oct. 23, 1973
• “Robbery Suspected in Slaying of Woman, 21,” Cedar Rapids Gazette, Oct. 23, 1973

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