Clinton County in Iowa

Clinton County in Iowa

Cold Cases in Clinton County, Iowa

*Please Note: The cases listed below are within Clinton County but may fall under a city police department’s jurisdiction. They are included here for cross-reference purposes. More specific information may be found on each victim’s individual page.

 

henry-nurre-gravestone-165pxHomicide
John Bernard “Henry” Nurre
76 YOA
Sugar Creek, Brown’s Station, IA
Clinton County
March 11, 1890

On Tuesday, March 11, 1890, Henry Nurre, 76, and his wife were attacked in their rural Clinton County home near Brown’s Station, Iowa. Mr. Nurre, who suffered a large gash to the back of his head, died that same day. Mrs. Nurre, who was beaten in the head with a hammer and suffered a fractured skull, lived a while longer but was never able to provide any details about the killer or killers.


edwin-jacobs-gravestone-165pxHomicide
Edwin H. Jacobs
55 YOA
Ike’s Peak
Clinton, IA (jurisdiction)
Clinton County
January 2, 1972

The body of 55-year-old Edwin Harry Jacobs was found in a wooded area known as “Ike’s Peak” in Clinton, Iowa, on January 2, 1972. He’d been shot to death with a .22 caliber weapon.


judith-reed-gravestone-165pxHomicide
Judith I. Reed
38 YOA
Charlotte, IA
Clinton County
December 27, 1974

On December 27, 1974, 38-year-old Judith Reed died in her sleep at a friend’s home in Charlotte, Iowa. Her death was attributed to a head injury received during an altercation the night before at the Welcome Inn tavern in Gooselake.


louis-reed-gravestone-165pxHomicide
Louis Dale Reed, Sr.
53 YOA
Clinton, IA
Clinton County
February 14, 1974

On Thursday, Valentine’s Day 1974, Louis Dale Reed, Sr., was killed by a 410 shotgun blast to the chest inside a building at the salvage yard he operated on Clinton’s south side. He also had a shotgun wound to his left arm.


Ewald Bandixen

Ewald Bandixen

Homicide
Ewald Emil “Ed” Bandixen
70 YOA
U.S. Highway 67
Folletts, IA
Clinton County
Case # 74-00523
October 28, 1974

On October 28, 1974, Ewald Bandixen, 70, was shot in the head at the Folletts, Iowa service station he’d owned and operated for 43 years.


Homicide
Unidentified Body
Description: Black female, 12 – 23 years of age, 5’2″ to 5’4″, 100 to 120 lbs., average build, black hair.
Details: Body found 04/11/75, in river in Clinton County. Victim was approximately 10 weeks pregnant.
Clothing: None
Jewelry: None
Cause of Death: Gunshot Wound. Death occurred sometime in early 1975.
Agency: Clinton County Sheriff’s Office 319-242-9311


Steven Barrette

Undetermined
Steven F. Barrette
20 YOA
Clinton, IA
June 5-6, 1976

Steven Barrette, a 20-year-old Army veteran, was killed in early June 1976 during a weekend camping trip. On Tuesday evening, June 8, 1976, Clinton police arrived at the Barrette’s family doorstop to notify them Steven’s body had washed ashore and been found near the Mississippi River.


Pamela Hinrichs

Pamela Hinrichs

Homicide
Pamela Hinrichs
19 YOA
Amvets Post No. 28
1317 S. 17th St.
Clinton, IA
Clinton County
Case # 81-00259
January 13, 1981

In the early morning hours on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1981, Pamela “Pam” Hinrichs, 19, was shot during a robbery of the AMVETS Post No. 28 at 1317 S. 17th St. in Clinton, Iowa, where she worked as assistant manager.


George Leonard

George Leonard

Homicide
George Leonard
53 YOA
The Inn
902 S. 14th Street
Clinton, IA
Clinton County
Case # 81-06936
November 28, 1981

George Leonard was shot while bartending at the Inn Tavern in Clinton on the morning of November 28, 1981.


Robert Clary

Robert Clary

Homicide
Robert M. Clary
48 YOA
419 1/2 14th Avenue S.
Clinton, IA (jurisdiction)
Clinton County
Case # 82-05190
September 29, 1982

On September 29, 1982, Robert M. Clary, 48, was found dead on the floor of his trailer with a gunshot wound to the chest.


Terry Johnston

Homicide
Terry L. Johnston
55 YOA
Clinton, IA and
Princeton, IA
Clinton County
Mississippi River
Body Found: October 1, 1997

A missing 55-year-old Clinton County man, Terry Leon Johnston, was found dead in the Mississippi River Wednesday, Oct. 1, 1997, in Princeton, Iowa.


Josh Yoder

Josh Yoder

Hit-and-Run Homicide
Josh Yoder
4 YOA
500 Block of South 9th Street
Clinton, IA
Clinton County
May 3, 2005

The Clinton Police Department is renewing its appeal for information on the hit-and-run death of Josh Yoder. Josh Yoder, age 4 was killed on May 3, 2005, when a hit and run driver struck him in the 500 block of South 9th Street in Clinton, Iowa. The Clinton Police Department is seeking information leading to the identification of the driver, or the offending vehicle, involved in the incident.


Ben Roseland

Ben Roseland

Missing Person
Benjamin M. Roseland
Age at Report: 19
DOB: November 24, 1988
Weight: 175 lbs.
Height: 5′ 11″
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Missing From: Clinton, IA
Clinton County
Missing Since: February 9, 2008

Around 10:30 p.m. on February 9, 2008, Ben Roseland left a friend’s house in the 400 block of 10th Avenue South, Clinton, Iowa, to walk a few blocks to a Hy-Vee grocery store located in the 900 block of South 4th Street. He never made it to the store.

 

2 Responses to Clinton County

  1. Leif says:

    A life sentence was imposed but later overturned in the 1950 Lillian Chapman strangulation murder in Clinton. No subsequent conviction was made.

  2. Ken Wright says:

    Maquoketa Excelsior
    March 15, 1890

    Murder Most Foul.

    Henry Nurre and wife, prominent and wealthy farmers of Clinton County, living near Brown’s Station, east of Delmar, were murdered in cold blood Tuesday afternoon. We are indebted to P. O. Ward, of Preston, and the Telephone Company for the particulars, so far as they are known, of this awful tragedy. The neighborhood in which Mr. and Mrs. Nurre lived is made up almost exclusively of Catholics, who Wednesday held a thirteen hour meeting. Mr. and Mrs. Nurre, who are strong Catholics, and seldom miss any of the meetings of the church, were not present at this meeting and when they did not appear at the Thursday morning meeting, the Priest and Theo. Hullman, a son-in-law of Mrs. Nurre, became alarmed, and the latter went to the Nurre residence to investigate. Finding what the trouble was, he immediately ran over to the depot and telegraphed to Preston for a physician. A party was made up at Preston upon receipt of the telegram and went to the scene of the tragedy. Entering the house they found the dead body of Mr. Nurre on the kitchen floor, all dressed and overshoes on. Two caps and two pairs of mittens were on the floor near the body. There was a large gash in the back of his head and another, which the doctor thought severed the jugular vein in his neck.

    The party then went in to the sitting room. Here they found a large pool of blood, near a table, where they concluded Mr. Nurre had been sitting writing a letter when attacked. The letter was in answer to one from his son out west, which was received March 10. The answer, which was nearly finished, was dated March 11. From these and other indications the party concluded that murder was committed Tuesday afternoon.

    The murderers commenced to wipe up the pool of blood. The cloths used were found, and stains of blood were found on the tea-kettle in the kitchen. It is thought that they dragged the body into the kitchen intending at first to secrete it somewhere and destroy all vestige of their work.

    Going up stairs and entering a bedroom they found Mrs. Nurre, lying on the floor, unconscious, but still alive. The back and crown of her head were pounded into a pulp and the skull was broken in two or three places making it impossible for her to recover. These wounds were inflicted with a hammer, which was found. The bedstead was all broken to pieces and the bedding scattered about the room. The floor and walls of this room were all bespattered with blood. The indications were that when Mrs. Nurre entered this room she had barricaded the door. It had been broken open with a poker, with which the murderers first attacked her, before finding the hammer.

    Continuing their investigations, the Preston party in another bedroom found Mr. Nurre’s safe. They could not tell whether the murderer’s had succeeded in opening it or not, but it is evident that they tried, for the dial had been broken off. In the same room on the bed was found a little satchel, which Mr. Nurre usually carried his money and papers in when he went to town. Over it had been thrown one of Mrs. Nurre’s skirts and in it was found $1,105 in cash and some papers indicating that Mr. N. intended to go to Preston as soon as he had finished that letter and eaten his dinner, which was partially prepared in the kitchen. The son-in-law, Mr. Hullman, says that Mr. Nurre was not in the habit of keeping more than from $100 to $150 in the house. He, himself, had paid Mr. Nurre $1,000 Sunday, which accounts for his having so large a sum by him at that time. The murderers, whose object was undoubtedly plunder, evidently failed to find the satchel, although it was so near them all the time they were trying to open the safe.

    Mr. Nurre was one of the wealthiest men in this part of the state. He held more real estate mortgages in Jackson County than any other man. His wealth is estimated by those who have had business dealings with him at $250,000. He was for years a member of the Board of Supervisors of Clinton County and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. We hope the murderers may be brought to justice.

    This tragedy should serve as a warning to the many people who are in the habit of keeping money in the house. We can hardly pick up a paper without reading of some one of these persons meeting a fate similar to that met with by Mr. and Mrs. Nurre.

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