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

Sharon Hensley left her home in Bismarck, North Dakota, in the summer of 1970 with peace and love on her mind.

She wanted to experience life in a way that she hadn’t before, alongside fellow free spirits etching their existence into the aftermath of the now famous “Summer of Love.”

San Francisco was Hensley’s ultimate destination. She succeeded in her journey, yet the life that unfolded looked nothing like the idyllic lifestyle Hensley dreamt up in her North Dakota bedroom.

Instead, that life intersected with Felix Vail, her one-time boyfriend who is now known as the nation’s oldest serial killer.

https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/missing-north-dakota-woman-may-be-victim-of-nations-oldest-serial-killer

Sheltered, wealthy and enamored with alternative medicine, Dorothea and Claire Williamson were the perfect marks for Linda Hazzard, an osteopath-turned-fasting fanatic.

The British sisters, both in their 30s, had wealth and a life of leisure, which made it possible to travel whenever they wanted.

Orphaned at a young age, the siblings had grown especially close and came to view themselves as their own little family unit. Dorothea, also called Dora, saw herself as the mother figure, treating Claire, just four years younger, like a pampered child.

The Williamsons had another peculiarity. They were hypochondriacs. Although nothing was seriously wrong with them, they were sure they weren't well. Dora talked of swollen glands and rheumatic pains, while her younger sister was told by a physician that she had a dropped uterus.

While staying at a posh hotel in British Columbia, the sisters spotted an ad for Linda Hazzard’s book, “Fasting for the Cure of Disease.”

And so began their journey with Linda Hazzard... 

Written by Tammy Swift

https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/hazzard-ous-healer-how-this-minnesota-womans-deadly-fasting-methods-finally-caught-up-with-her

Linda Hazzard was a force of nature.

She stood nearly as tall as her 6-foot husband, although some wondered if her personality was so imposing that she simply seemed larger than she actually was.

A formidable figure with sharp cheekbones, a resolute chin and an unflinching gaze, everything about Hazzard exuded authority. She spoke with unwavering assurance — as if she were absolutely right and anyone who disagreed with her was a fool. While studying osteopathy in her quest to be a nurse, she became convinced that drastic fasting — ingesting only thin vegetable broths for weeks or even months — was the key to healing all disease.

Hazzard’s followers, who included prominent intellectuals and politicians, swore by her methods and proclaimed her a "gifted and intelligent" healer.

Others considered her a serial killer.

Written by Tammy Swift 

https://www.inforum.com/news/the-vault/minnesota-woman-linda-hazzard-was-infamous-starvation-doctor-whose-brutal-fasting-methods-may-have-killed-14

Every Thursday for 11 years, from 1982 to 1993, millions of Americans settled into their sofas as the notes started playing: “Making your world in the world today takes everything you’ve got…”

The theme song to the sitcom “Cheers” was recently ranked by “Rolling Stone” magazine as the 13th best. Writers praised the song for its initial “somber” lyrics about life’s challenges to its “rousing” conclusion about the simple beauty of going somewhere warm and welcoming where "they’re always glad you came.”

A Minnesota man found dead on walking path told family he was a 'goner' after identified as confidential informant. Yet despite the suspicious death, his case was closed after suicide determination.

The night before Zak disappeared, he’d been texting his mother about plans for Christmas and was arranging his work schedule at a Super One bakery in Duluth. Investigators feel that a cellphone ping may have misled the investigation from immediately searching the grounds near where he went missing. 

In this episode, reporter Tracy Briggs tells the story of Engolf Snortland, who started a life of crime as a teenager in North Dakota. He'd continue it with kidnapping and robbery in Idaho. But his return to North Dakota ended up inspiring a change in the law.

Days before the "Unsolved Mysteries" episode on Joshua Guimond aired, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office released 28 images of individuals found on the computer, along with a plea to the public to help identify those pictured. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office has had those images since — at least —2008. Joshua's father, Brian, lost a lawsuit this year to get his hands on investigative materials related to his son's case, which would have included those images, among other information provided to the Netflix series.   

*Correction: In this episode, it states Rev. Tom Andert was in charge of Joshua Guimond's dorm hall. It should say Rev. Tom Andert was in charge of the dorm Joshua Guimond visited the night he went missing.