Dubuque in Dubuque County
Dubuque County in Iowa
Fallen Officer
Double Homicide
Henry Talcott
39 YOA
Milwaukee Road Railway Police
Dubuque, IA
Dubuque County
April 14, 1893
Milwaukee Road Railway Police Officers Henry Talcott and Theodore “Jake” Frith were shot and killed on April 14, 1893 while arresting suspects for robbing train passengers.
Fallen Officer
Double Homicide
Theodore “Jake” Frith
36 YOA
Milwaukee Road Railway Police
Dubuque, IA
Dubuque County
April 14, 1893
Milwaukee Road Railway Police Officers Henry Talcott and Theodore “Jake” Frith were shot and killed on April 14, 1893 while arresting suspects for robbing train passengers.
Francis Rafferty
Homicide
Francis J. Rafferty
58 YOA
Dubuque, IA (Dubuque County)
Case # 6400326
February 8, 1964
Shortly after midnight on Saturday, February 8, 1964, Gretta Rafferty returned home from work and found the body of her brother, Francis John Rafferty, 58, in the apartment they shared in Dubuque, Iowa. His hands, feet, and legs were bound with telephone wire ripped from the wall and his mouth and nose were covered with electrical tape. He had choked on regurgitated food and died of asphyxiation.
Homicide
Sherry Lee Martin and
Victoria Linn Martin
Dubuque, IA (Dubuque County)
Case # 6500461
March 6, 1965
On March 6, 1965, Janet Martin and Donald Martin escaped from their burning house but were unable to save their two daughters, Sherry Lee and Victoria Linn. It was later determined that the house fire was deliberately set and deemed arson.
Kenneth Bouzard
Homicide:
Kenneth Marvin Bouzard
53 YOA
Case Number: 7100481
Dubuque, Iowa (Dubuque County)
April 23, 1971
On Friday April 23, 1971, the badly battered and crushed body of Kenneth Bouzard was found beneath a boxcar on railroad tracks in Dubuque, Iowa. Police believed Bouzard had been assaulted and struck in the head with a piece of railroad equipment while sitting or lying near the tracks.
Jackie Shireman
Homicide:
Jackie Shireman
21 YOA
Marino’s Meal on a Bun
1296 Central Ave.
Dubuque, IA (Dubuque County)
January 4, 1975
On Saturday, Jan. 4, 1975, at approximately 7:45 p.m., a customer at Dubuque’s “Marino’s Meal on a Bun” found waitress Jackie Shireman lying in a pool of blood in the walk-in cooler. The 21-year-old newlywed and Sunday School teacher had been stabbed approximately 30 times with a pair of scissors. A trial returned no homicide conviction, and the case remains open.
Theodore Hoerstman
Missing Person:
Theodore Anthony Hoerstman
Missing From: Dubuque, IA (Dubuque County)
Age at Report: 45
Date Reported Missing: December 6, 1982
Theodore Hoerstman was reported missing to the Dubuque Police Department in Dubuque, Iowa, on December 6, 1982. Hoerstman is a disabled adult and has a 1-inch appendectomy scar and a scar on his right calf. The name “Sharon” is tattooed on his lower right arm.
Kenny Joe Johnson
Homicide:
Kenny Joe Johnson
14 YOA
Maus Park
Dubuque, IA (Dubuque County)
Home Residence: New Liberty, IA
Local Case # 87-21572
DCI Case # 8705013
October 10, 1987
Around 9 a.m. on Oct. 10, 1987, an elderly fisherman discovered 14-year-old Kenny Joe Johnson’s body near a floodgate in Dubuque’s isolated Maus Park. He was rolled in a 5-foot-by-9-foot piece of yellow-orange nylon carpet that had been dumped at the park, and an autopsy revealed he had been strangled by hand and sexually assaulted.
Paul Knockel
Missing Person:
Paul Joseph Knockel
Age at Report: 53
Missing From: Dubuque, IA (Dubuque County)
Missing Since: November 26, 1990
Paul Knockel was last seen in Dubuque, Iowa on November 26, 1990, and has never been heard from again. When Knockel didn’t show up for Thanksgiving dinner, family members became concerned and went to check on him. They believe he may have been abducted at his home and murdered.
Crystal Arensdorf
Missing Person
Crystal Ann Arensdorf
Age at Report: 20
Missing From: Dubuque, IA (Dubuque County)
Missing Since: July 4, 2001
Crystal Arensdorf of Dubuque, Iowa, was last seen at approximately 2:00 a.m. on July 4, 2001 at Knicker’s Saloon, 2186 Central Avenue in Dubuque. Arensdorf — a minor at the time of her visit to the bar — was there with friends and trying to get a ride to East Dubuque, Illinois.
If you have any information about any of these cases please contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Cold Case Unit at (515) 725-6010, or send e-mail to: coldcaseunit@dps.state.ia.us.
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