The Vault

Holly Spangler's body was discovered in a Minnesota park, with a single stab wound to the chest on July 20, 1993.

After five days of being exposed to the elements, her body was in a state of decomposition. Little evidence was discovered nearby – and, since that day, her case has gone cold.

Now, one detective is hoping she can crack the case, put an end to the mysterious death and deliver a sense of peace to Holly's family.

Narrated, writen and produced by Trisha Taurinskas.

Full story can be found here: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/a-minnesota-detectives-final-mission-prove-who-killed-holly-spangler

On June 7 – a little over two months after Madeline "Maddi" Kingsbury went missing – her body was found in a remote area near Mabel, Minnesota — her boyfriend's hometown.

Inside a fitted sheet, enclosed with Gorilla tape, investigators discovered Madeline Kingsbury's body, with a knotted towel wrapped around her head and neck, according to court documents.

An autopsy report later revealed she died by homicidal violence.

It was a devastating end to the search for the loving mother of two young children – and the beginning of an investigation that revealed the true nature of the domestic abuse inflicted on Madeline Kingsbury by Adam Fravel.

Adam Fravel has been arrested and charged on two counts of second-degree homicide. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.

Adam Fravel is slated to appear in Winona County Court on Sept. 22.

This episode is written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas

The Vault's editor is Jeremy Fugleberg

The Vault's audience engagement specialist is Madison Hunter

For the full story, visit: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/madeline-kingsbury-case-boyfriend-adam-fravels-troubling-texts-and-fascination-with-gabby-petito

In this episode, Tracy Briggs dives into the story of a man knonwn as the "Dakota Desperado," who left his mark on North Dakota through a life of crime and murder.

Written and narrated by Tracy Briggs

Edited by Kris Kerzman

Hosted by Trisha Taurinskas

In part two of this two-part series, learn what happens when a Minnesota father and husband is let off the hook for the death of his first wife. Does he remarry in Texas and repeat the pattern? Find out.

Written and produced by Trisha Taurinskas

Hours before Helen Lundstrom's death, she and her husband sat at the dining room table, preparing Sunday school lessons for the weekend. It was a normal Saturday night — a weekend ritual for the church leaders.

Yet what came next was anything but routine.

Written, narrated and produced by Trisha Taurinskas

Kate Richards O'Hare was sentenced to a five-year sentence of hard labor at the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City. Her crime? Violating the Espionage Act of 1917 for making an anti-war speech in Bowman, North Dakota, just two years earlier.

Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/she-delivered-her-anti-war-speech-all-over-the-u-s-but-north-dakota-threw-her-in-prison-for-it

This episode focuses on the book, "Vanished in Vermillion," written by award-winning journalist Lou Raguse.

"Vanished in Vermillion," peels back the layers of complexity that hide behind headlines. Through years of added research and interviews with those involved, Raguse tells the story in a way that captures the nuances of it all.

True crime books often focus on the crime itself and the investigation, or lack thereof, that follows. This story shows what happens when law enforcement makes critical mistakes in the investigation, and how those errors can impact the lives of those caught in the tangled web.

In this episode, Trisha Taurinskas shares her thoughts on the book, along with parts of her interview with Lou Raguse.

Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/vanished-in-vermillion-peels-back-layers-of-complexity-in-infamous-south-dakota-cold-case?ajs_aid=da7b69ca-81f8-41d5-90bb-fd7337a4d74e

Court documents newly obtained by Forum News Service show the man who was acquitted in the 1981 brutal murder of his girlfriend, 18-year-old Karla Jo Nieland, at a farm party had first asked a judge to dismiss second-degree murder charges on the grounds that he did not intend to kill her.

The newly obtained Minnesota Supreme Court documents relate to appeals the defense team filed prior to the trial of John Keep. They argue damage to Nieland caused by the horsehoe ring Keep wore on his right hand shows Keep made "backhand slaps," not "bludgeoning blows."

Keep's legal team also argued he was drunk and not in a state of mind to kill Nieland.

In addition to arguments that Keep should not stand trial for second-degree murder, his legal team also appealed to have him tried as a juvenile, based on arguments that he wasn't a threat to the public.

Keep was 17 years old at the time of Nieland's death.

Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/karla-jo-nieland-was-murdered-at-a-1981-minnesota-farm-party-now-new-documents-reveal-complexities-in-case

Written and narrated by Trisha Taurinskas

In less than a week, 18 pipe bombs packed with lead shot and nails were either found or detonated in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. At least six people were injured in Iowa, four of whom were mail carriers .

With a country still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the FBI got involved and began the task of putting the pieces together. This time, the war on terror would lead investigators not to foreign lands but to Minnesota and neighboring Wisconsin.

Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/21-years-ago-a-midwest-pipe-bomber-tried-to-make-a-smiley-face-on-national-map?ajs_aid=da7b69ca-81f8-41d5-90bb-fd7337a4d74e

Written by: Mark Wasson

Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas

The 1979 death of a young woman, Denise Daly, who fell from a moving grain truck in Carlton County, Minnesota, was initially thought to be a suicide or an accident. That was until an anonymous tip nearly 15 years later connected the incident to the 1983 fire that claimed the life of her sister, Mary Daly, and infant nephew, Christopher Daly, in Superior, Wisconsin.

First-degree murder charges against two individuals were dismissed in 1996 because of irregularities in the grand jury proceedings, Sixth Judicial District Judge Donovan Frank ruled. The grand jury returned the indictments about five hours after they watched the O.J. Simpson verdict on TV at the Carlton County Courthouse.

"Both cases involved a male member of a racial minority allegedly killing a Caucasian woman with whom he was intimately involved in a brutal fit of rage," Frank wrote in his decision. "The court agrees with the defendants that O.J. Simpson verdict —and the emotions it incited —injected prejudice or the appearance of prejudice into the grand jury deliberations. As a result, this event compromised the integrity of this grand jury process."

The State of Minnesota unsuccessfully appealed the trial court's decision Jan. 21, 1997.

The arson investigation continued regardless of the decision to drop the incitements in Denise's murder case. New evidence in the arson case surfaced in fall 1995 that eliminated some suspects and raised questions about others, but it remains unsolved.

Written by: Brielle Bredsten

Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas

Full story: www.inforum.com/thevault