Phoebe Jane Vigoletti
46 YOA
Third Avenue NW
Oelwein, IA
Fayette County
March 14, 1926
On Monday, March 15, 1926, railroad employees on their way to work found the body of 46-year-old Phoebe Jane Vigoletti lying on a path near the Chicago Great Western tracks in Oelwein.
Authorities pieced together that Vigoletti — whom they termed “a resident of the Italian community” in Oelwein — was killed in her home at 3rd Avenue Northwest the night before.
Someone broke down the back door and strangled her with a rope. The kitchen showed signs of a violent struggle.
Evidence indicated Vigoletti’s body was removed from the house, taken across the back yard, hoisted over a fence, and dragged or carried a considerable distance to the pathway where it was discovered.
The rope used to kill her was never found.
Fayette County Sheriff Charles C. Wright and Oelwein Police Chief Moore worked the investigation. They attached significance to the fact that Vigoletti’s body was found dumped on the same site as that of an unnamed Italian male, who was stabbed 84 times in 1919.
Questions and information about the unsolved 1926 murder of Phoebe Jane Vigoletti should be directed to the Oelwein Police Department at 319-283-4311, the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office at 563-422-6067, or Iowa Cold Cases through the Contact form.
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