In the early morning hours of December 12, 1981, 81-year-old Myrtle Cole was fast asleep in her securely locked, small-town Minnesota home when someone broke in and brutally murdered her. For more than 40 years, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office has dedicated countless man hours to finding out who killed her, and the answer may no longer be far out of reach.
Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Public Safety
Episode Info
If you know anything about the brutal murder of 81-year-old Myrtle Cole in 1981, please reach out to the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office. You can reach Investigator Kotschevar directly at 320-259-3733, or scan the QR code in the blog post for this episode.
To apply for the Cold Case Playing Cards grant through Season of Justice, visit www.seasonofjustice.org
A photo of Myrtle’s home roped off, published in the Star Tribune in December of 1981. Courtesy: Newspapers.com; Star Tribune
A photo of Myrtle’s neighborhood cats waiting to be fed after her murder, published in the Star Tribune in December of 1981. Courtesy: Newspapers.com; Star Tribune
A photograph featured in the St Cloud Times of investigators photographing the scene where Mrytle’s killer entered her home. Courtesy: Newspapers.com; St. Cloud Times
A poster of Myrtle hanging in the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office. Courtesy: audiochuck staff.
To submit a tip please scan this QR code. Courtesy: Stearns County Sheriff’s Office.
Episode Source Material
- St. Cloud Times: Authorities awaiting autopsy, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Victim a worrier, say friends, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Fairhaven murder not being linked to other slayings, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Report reveals little about Cole’s death, by Claude Werder.
- Star Tribune: Woman’s murder shakes up a town, by Nick Coleman.
- Star Tribune: Woman’s murder shakes up a town, by Nick Coleman.
- St. Cloud Times: FBI compiles personality profile of Cole killer, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Cole was strangled, Grafft confirms, by Sheri Brenden and Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Police checking Ture links, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: FBI helpful in Cole slay probe, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: A month later, Fairhaven still fearful over Cole killing, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Sheriff calls on public to help with Cole killing, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Hand print, knife clues to unsolved murder, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: Cole probe sends officers to Colorado, by Claude Werder.
- St. Cloud Times: One year later, Cole murder still unsolved, by Tony Kennedy.
- Star Tribune: Man, 18, denies involvement in Stearns slaying, by Robert Franklin and David Peterson.
- St. Cloud Times: Slaying suspect no killer, says friend, by Tony Kennedy.
- St. Cloud Times: Friends recall bighearted murder victim, by Tony Kennedy.
- St. Cloud Times: Possible link to Cole case probed.
- The Winona Daily News: Death linked to Lucas? By the Associated Press.
- Star Tribune: Detectives go to Texas for clues in killing, by the Associated Press.
- St. Cloud Times: Man says he didn’t kill area woman, by Tony Kennedy.
- St. Cloud Times: Pair probed in widow’s murder, by Tony Kennedy.
- Star Tribune: Whodunit? In some cases we may never know, by Paul Levy.
- St. Cloud Times: 6 cold cases in area included in card sets, by Times staff and news services.
- Cold cases of Stearns County, Minnesota (print edition), by Robert M. Dudley.
- Tri-County News: Unsolved for 40 years, by Jean Doran Matua.
- CBS Minnesota: 40 years later, 81-year-old Myrtle Cole’s brutal murder remains unsolved.
- FOX 9: 40 years since unsolved murder of 81-year-old Myrtle Cole, by FOX 9 staff.
- Lakeland Broadcasting: Billboard seeks tips on 1981 Stearns County murder, by Learfield Wire Service.
- KARE11: Elderly woman murdered in her own home, crime goes unsolved for 40 years, by Jennifer Hoff.
- Star Tribune: Unsolved 1981 death reopened, by Jenny Berg.
- WJON: Unsolved: 40 years since Myrtle Cole stabbed to death, by Jim Maurice.
- Front Page Detectives: A town of 100 was shocked to learn of an 81-year-old’s murder. Now, decades later, police have yet to solve her killing, by Front Page Detective staff.
- Weather Underground: Saint Cloud, MN weather history.
- People: Texas ‘Confession Killer’ admitted to murder of 600 people — but how many did he really kill? By KC Baker.
- The Guardian: He was America’s most deadly serial killer — but it was all a lie, by Adrian Horton.
- TIME: The story of Henry Lee Lucas, the notorious subject of Netflix’s The Confession Killer, by Mahita Gajanan.
- Biography: Henry Lee Lucas.
- Tri-County Action Program: About.
- Minnesota Judicial Branch, Minnesota Court Records Online (MCRO): 05-K4-90-000381.
- Justia: State v. Berry.
- Star Tribune: St. Cloud/2 men charged in woman’s death.
- St. Cloud Times: Milo Cole, 85, South Haven.
- St. Cloud Times: Milo Cole, 85, Fairhaven.
- Google: Stearns County population 1981.