The Vault

Walter Liggett was shot dead while holding a bag of groceries. In part 2 of "The Slaying of Walter Liggett," why a Minnesota governor and a former North Dakota governor were players in the tragedy.

Written by: Tracy Briggs

Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas

Link to full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/wife-of-former-fargo-newspaper-editor-swore-minnesotas-governor-ordered-the-1935-mob-hit-of-her-husband

Walter Liggett was beaten up, framed on rape charges and eventually murdered. In part 1 of this two-part report, Tracy Briggs explores the question: What was he writing about?

Written by: Tracy Briggs

Hosted by: Trisha Taurinskas

Full story: https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/what-lead-up-to-an-alleged-mob-hit-on-a-former-fargo-newspaper-editor-in-1935

*This episode contains disturbing descriptions of both strangulations and hangings. Please take care while listening.

In this episode, we examine the role of the medical examiner in suspicious death cases. Can a medical examiner determine whether a death was a suicide? The answer is complex.

I have a bit of a treat for you folks who are fascinated with Al Capone. Forum journalist Tracy Briggs put together a three-part series on some incredibly fascinating — and definitely not well known — stories of Capone and his shocking connections to Minnesota and North Dakota.

I have a bit of a treat for you folks who are fascinated with Al Capone. Forum journalist Tracy Briggs put together a three-part series on some incredibly fascinating — and definitely not well known — stories of Capone and his shocking connections to Minnesota and North Dakota.

I have a bit of a treat for you folks who are fascinated with Al Capone. Forum journalist Tracy Briggs put together a three-part series on some incredibly fascinating — and definitely NOT well known — stories of Capone and his shocking connections to Minnesota and North Dakota.

Expert insight into the death investigation of Refugio Rodriguez reveals critical errors in police procedure that compromised key evidence collected from the crime scene and failed to document critical details related to the hose found around Rodriguez's neck.

The review by a retired crime scene investigator comes as police in Montevideo, Minnesota, have referred the Rodriguez case to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension after a series of Forum News Service investigations revealed oversights and questionable decisions in the original police investigation.

Rodriguez was found dead in Chinhinta Park in Montevideo, Minnesota, on Sept. 20, 2020. The initial incident report indicated Rodriguez was found hanging from a tree by a passerby. He was, in fact, found on his knees, with a hose, attached to a tree, wrapped around his neck. Montevideo police later ruled the death a suicide and closed the case .

Sal Rastrelli, a retired crime scene investigator with more than 30 years of experience, specializes in cases involving suicides and homicides. He was provided with investigative documents obtained by Forum News Service related to the death of Rodriguez, including the police report, medical examiner's report and crime scene images.

Full story, written by Trisha Taurinskas, can be found here. https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/national-expert-weighs-in-on-refugio-rodriguezs-death-investigation-as-new-image-of-body-surfaces

According to The Forum, the first person to notice the fire that night was Kathryn. She later told investigators she had gone downstairs just after midnight and when she flipped a light switch fire erupted. The Jenkins' son-in-law Dean Bienusa started trying to put it out.

He said he told his family along with Kathryn to take refuge from the flames in a black 1961 Ford parked outside. Eventually, the family, including a barefoot Kathryn, ran to the neighbor's house.

Written by Tracy Briggs

A Minnesota police investigator who closed the case on a possible murder after labeling it a suicide was simultaneously under fire for shoddy police work in another case, according to court records.

The matter raises serious concerns for the family of Refugio Rodriguez. Montevideo, Minnesota, Police Department investigator Carmen Beninga closed the investigation into Rodriguez's September 2020 death despite multiple credible leads indicating his death might have been a hitjob, a Forum News Service investigation has shown.

Full story can be found here.

On this episode, Forum Digital Managing Editor Paula Qualm interviews Forum columnist Jim Shaw about the deadly Medina Shootout. Jim recently wrote a 3-column series on the infamous shootout that occurred four decades ago.

https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/the-medina-shootout-40-years-after-the-tragedy-that-didnt-need-to-happen