On May 8, 1979, 18-year-old Marlys Wohlenhaus was found in a downstairs room of her family home in Afton, Minnesota, with severe head trauma and multiple star-shaped cuts to her scalp. She also had a fractured skull, broken fingers, and bruises on both hands. Rushed to hospital and placed on a respirator, she died the following day without regaining consciousness.

A neighbor said a car sped away from the Wohlenhaus driveway around 3:15 p.m. the day of the attack. A friend recalled that the night before Marlys became upset after seeing a man at a local restaurant; the man was described as light blond, wearing a leather coat, sunglasses, and a baseball cap, and reportedly followed the two women on a motorcycle after they left. Investigators compiled a list of nearly a dozen potential suspects but the case went cold.

Reopened work later focused on Joseph Donald Ture Jr. He had allegedly confessed in prison to a cellmate and provided a written confession before recanting, and his initially reported alibi was discovered to have been given in his father’s name. In 1998 he was convicted of first-degree murder and given a life sentence. Did anyone in Afton or the surrounding area know Marlys or recognize the man seen with her the night before?