At least 17 women were murdered in cases where the suspected,
alleged, or convicted perpetrator was a current or former
husband, boyfriend, intimate partner or household/family member
of the deceased woman.
At least 5 children were murdered in cases where the suspected,
alleged, or convicted perpetrator was their mother's husband,
boyfriend, or intimate partner, or was the parent, foster parent,
guardian, babysitter, or household/family member of the child.
Rights Reserved. We ask that any use of this information be
identified as collected by the battered women's movement in
Minnesota through the:
Women murdered
1. Janel Wonsewicz, 26 St. Paul January 7, 1997
Janel Wonsewicz's nude and bloody body was found lying in the
snow in an equipment yard at 1400 Jackson St. in an undeveloped
industrial park owned by the city of St. Paul. She had last been
seen at a Minneapolis bar and a pair of bloody shoes thought to
belong to her were found in a parking lot in Lino Lakes. Janel
died of blunt force trauma to the head. Mike Patrick Welsh, 27,
has been arrested and charged in the slaying. 2. Catina Faye Henning, 24 Lakefield March 1, 1997
The Jackson county Sheriff's Department found 24-year-old Catina
Faye Henning dead in her southeast Lakefield home. She had been
shot once in the face. When Catina did not show up for work on
the morning March 1, her mother went to her house but the door
was locked. She also noticed Catina's car was missing. Her mother
returned later in the day with Catina's grandmother and entered
the home and found Catina's body. Lynn Allen Wehmeyer, 29, of
Lakefield was charged with the shooting death. He had been
convicted of fifth degree assault against Henning in the past
and had also been charged with violating a restraining order.
Wehmeyer is the father of Catina's 11 month old daughter.
Wehmeyer fled the state and committed suicide during a chase with
South Carolina police. 3. Jamie Sawatsky, 20 Redwood Falls March 3, 1997
Authorities found 20-year-old Jamie Sawatsky dead in her
apartment in Redwood Falls. Jamie was shot with a 44 Magnum
revolver found at the scene. Todd Hastings, 30, Jamie's former
boyfriend, was also found at the scene with a gun shot wound to
the head. Police believe he killed Jamie before turning the gun
on himself. Jamie and another woman gave Hastings a ride to a
farm in the area, and the second woman told police that Hastings
physically assaulted them and wouldn't let them leave the farm.
The three returned to Redwood Falls the next afternoon and
Hastings let the woman go. She then notified authorities. Todd
Hastings died from his wounds. 4. Nancy Marie Hart, 34 Minneapolis May 29, 1997
Myron Hart had been ordered to stay away from his estranged wife
but went to her home, kicked in the door and, while three
children watched, fatally shot her and than killed himself.
Their 14-year-old son attempted to revive his mother after she
had been shot. Nancy Hart and her children had been in a
shelter, but had returned home because they believed Myron
Hart was in jail. Instead he was living with his mother a block
away. This was the third time in the past month that Myron Hart
had assaulted and/or threatened his wife. 5. Dorothy Sandberg, 61 Burnsville June 13, 1997
Dorothy C. Sandberg, 61, was found dead in the doorway of her
Burnsville home. Her sister found her body after telephoning her
and getting no answer. Neighbors said Dorothy had a "nasty"
divorce and that her former husband had moved out last fall. The
cause of death has not been established and the investigation
continues. 6. Linda Lambert, 30 Crosby June 29, 1997
A police officer responding to a disturbance call found Linda
Lambert, 30, dead from a knife wound. Lambert was apparently
stabbed to death by her boyfriend Lyman Carlson, 47, who
committed suicide. The couple was living in Crosby with four
children. 7. Brenda Lang, 35 Litchfield July 4, 1997
Police found Brenda's truck in a water-filled ditch with Brenda
dead in the driver's seat. Kelly J. Maurer was arrested later at
a farm 9 miles from the ditch after a farmer reported someone
matching his description hiding in an abandoned barn on the farm.
Maurer was carrying shotgun shells and a shotgun was found
nearby. He later told authorities that he had shot Lang with the
gun and the pickup went into a ditch. Maurer was charged with
second-degree murder with bail set at $1 million. Maurer had told
his sister that he planned to kill himself and "would be taking
someone else with him". 8. Carla Dunn, 28 Minneapolis July 21, 1997
Carla Dunn was found stabbed at 417 Lowry Ave. and later died at
North Memorial Hospital. Denver Pratt, her live-in boyfriend was
arresed at the scene and has been charged with second-degree
intentional homicide. Carla's four young children watched as
their mother was attacked and stabbed. 9. Tina Simmons, 20
Reneshia Featherson, 1Minneapolis
Bodies found Oct. 13, 1994
Perp. charged Aug. 3, 1997
Tina Simmons, 20, and her daughter Reneshia Featherson, l, were
found dead in their apartment when a caretaker noticed a foul
odor coming from the apartnent. James Thomas got away with
murder for almost three years, until his girlfriend told police
that he had killed a woman. Thomas was a suspect early on but
police lacked evidence to arrest him until last August when he
was picked up on a domestic abuse charge. At that time his
girlfriend told police that Thomas had told her that he killed
Simmons. When police confronted Thomas with DNA evidence he told
them he had "freaked out", cut Simmons on the wrist and throat and
covered her face with a pillow to stop her from moaning. Thomas
said he left and returned the next day and gave Reneshia a
bottle, cleaned up the apartment and left. The bodies were found
about two weeks later and the baby had starved to death. Thomas
is charged with first and second degree murder. 10. Rhonda Overall, 23 Minneapolis September 7, 1997
Rhonda Overall was shot to death in the head during an apparent
domestic dispute. An autopsy revealed that she had bruises on her
back, legs, arms, feet and face. Her left eye was bruised and
swollen shut. Overall had a restraining order against Corey
Bradford that had recently expired. Bradford had called an aunt
who lives out of state and threatened to hurt Overall. Bradford,
27, was charged with two counts of murder in the shooting death. 11. Nirmala Singh, 19 Brooklyn Park September 8, 1997
Nirmala Singh was abducted from her Brooklyn Park home at
gunpoint by a male friend who wanted to begin a romantic
relationship with her. Her cousin, who had come to give Nirmala
a ride to work, was also abducted. The abductor, David Dwarka,
held a gun to "Mala's" head and told the cousin to drive to their
place of work. When they got to the plant he told the cousin to
go get Mala's parents (who also work there) but before the cousin
got into the building, Dwarka shot Nirmala. Dwarka then shot
himself. 12. Linda Boykins, 39 Rochester September 13, 1997
Linda Boykins was knocked down by the door of a car that was
being driven by her boyfriend, who then ran her over and dragged
her a short distance into the street. Witnesses heard them
arguing in the minutes before she waS run over. Linda Boykins
left behind nine children. Kenneth Micheal Wilson, 37, was
charged with third-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter and
two counts of criminal operation. 13. Ilka Mondane, 48 Minneapolis September 29, 1997
Ilka Mondane was shot to death in her driveway by a man who
police said should have been in jail on other charges. Over a
prosecutor's objections, bail had been lowered after Douglas
Mondane, Ilka's former husband, pled guilty to a gun charge. The
gun charge stemmed from a case in which he admitted shooting at
Mondane. The alleged perpetrator remains at large. 14. Deonna Jones, 17 Minneapolis October 3, 1997
Deonna died of a gunshot wound to the head. She was visiting at
her former boyfriend's house, with a cousin and two friends.
They had spotted a gun on a bed in the basement and said they
wouldn't sit down until the gun was moved - her former boyfriend
and another boy moved the gun and the four girls sat and played
Nintendo. They were laughing and joking when a bullet came
through the door, hit one girl in the collar bone and Deonna in
the head. A friend of Deonna's said that the night before the
shooting Deonna had confided that the former boyfriend had
threatened to kill her if she didn't break up with her new
boyfriend. The 15-year-old former boyfriend is in police custody
and a second teenager is being sought. 15. Theresa Carpenter, 19 Calumet November 27, 1997
Theresa's former boyfriend, David Pavich, crashed a gathering of
several neighbors saying he was looking for Theresa. According
to a witness, Theresa and Pavich argued briefly and Pavich began
shooting - fatally wounding her. The party host was paralyzed by
one of Pavich's shots before another person fatally shot Pavich
while trying to disarm him. Theresa Canpenter is remembered for
her outgoing and bubbly personality. The teen who charged Pavich
to protect himself and others acted in self-defense and is not
being charged. 16. Sharla Koski Duluth December 5, 1997
When Sharla Koski didn't come to work, a co-worker became
concerned and stopped by Koski's home and then called police, who
entered the home and found the bodies of Koski and her boyfriend,
Daniel Pawlowicz. Police said the victims died of gunshot wounds
consistent with a murder-suicide. This murder-suicide was almost
three years after he had shot and killed his wife of 30 years.
Pawlowicz was cleared of wrongdoing in that death, claiming he
shot his wife in the back while cleaning the firearm; four days
later he attempted suicide by asphyxiation, but was found and
survived. 17. Jane Rhodes, 35 Mankato Died August 2, 1996
Perp. charged 12/97
With their two sons asleep and vacation almost over, Jane and
Thomas Rhodes set out for a late night boat ride that turned
tragic when he said she fell into the lake and disappeared. The
death certificate for Jane Rhodes indicates she could have been
injured before midnight, saying she received several "soft
injuries" and a brain hemorrhage about 9 p.m. that led to the
drowning that caused her death at about 12:30 a.m. that same
night. Thomas Rhodes has been indicted by a grand jury on
charges of first and second-degree murder.
1. Zelinda Vargas, 5 months. Moorhead January 29, 1997
Authorities received a 911 call about an unresponsive infant on
Jan. 29. Attempts were made to resuscitate Zelinda Vargas, but
she was pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy determined
that she suffered homicidal violence - damage consistent with
injuries seen in children who have been shaken. It also
indicated that there had been multiple injuries over a period of
time. The investigation continues and no arrests have been made. 2. Desi Irving, 3 Richfield February 7, 1997
Desi Irving died Feb. 6 from a beating by her mother's hand. An
autopsy revealed that Desi had than 100 scars and bruises nearly
covering her body. She had been burned with cigarettes and
lighters. She had suffered 12 bone fractures, including both her
legs and her pelvis. A broken upper arm had calcified,
"essentially turning it into stone", according to the autopsy
report. Mildred Irving was sentenced to 40 years for killing 3-
year-old Desi. 3. Hannah Ritt, 2 Hastings March 25, 1997
Kelly Ritt, Hannah's mother, has been convicted of murder in
Hannah's death. Kelly was charged with setting a fire in her
daughter's room which ended her life. Hannah was deaf, required
feeding through a tube in her stomach, and was creating large
medical bills. Kelly Ritt had made statements to friends and
interrogators indicating that a part of her wanted to see Hannah
die, but that another part of her didn't. 4. Reneshia Featherson, 1 See Women Murdered #9: Tina Simmons 5. Princess Jones, 5 mos. St. Louis Park November 16, 1997
Princess Jones was dead when rescue personnel arrived at her home
and an autopsy revealed injuries to her neck muscles and head
consistent with Trauma. She was in the sole custody of her
father when she died. John Jones, Princess' father, has two
convictions for fifth-degree domestic assault - one for abusing
an older child and one for abusing his wife. Charges are pending
against John Jones.
"1997 FEMICIDE REPORT - Women and Children Murdered" - is compiled
from news accounts and information provided by law enforcement
aagencies, county attorneys, court administrators, battered
women's programs, and family members and friends of murder
victims. Please contact us if you have updated or more complete
information on any homicide.
450 N. Syndicate St, Suite 122
St Paul, MN 55104
651/646-6177 Voice/TDD * 646-1527 FAX
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