Murder in Minnesota

A Collection of True Cases

Author Walter Trenerry

Minnesota Historical Society Press (April 15, 1962)

This treasury of vintage crime offers a vivid picture of Minnesota from the time it achieved statehood in 1858 through 1917. It also traces the gradual changes in social attitudes from the days of frontier justice to the abolishment of capital punishment in 1911.

Description

"My investigation of Minnesota murders over the years revealed no new motives for killing anyone. The old ones are perfectly satisfactory. . . . I hope you will find these murders interesting. I regret that I could not report the most ingenious and remarkable ones. They looked like accidents or natural deaths and were never discovered."—Walter N. Trenerry

Murder in Minnesota features some of the state's most infamous criminals—a collection of fascinating and disagreeable characters usually ignored by historians. They live again in these pages as the conniving, clever, mad, or pitiful creatures they were. Fifteen chapters—involving both well-known and obscure practitioners of the deadly art—tell the stories of Ann Blansky, the only woman hanged in Minnesota; the famous Younger brothers, who with the James boys robbed the Northfield bank in 1876; the six Arbogast women of St. Paul, who kept a murderous secret that still remains undisclosed; and many more.

Praise for Murder in Minnesota:

"You should not overlook this exemplary work."—New York Times Book Review

"An exemplary treatment of regional history as revealed by the spotlight of crime. Would that the other . . . state historical societies might follow Minnesota's noble example!"—Anthony Boucher, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

"A fine example of true-crime writing for all devotees of that form."—San Francisco Chronicle

Author information

Walter N. Trenerry spent two years researching and writing about the colorful, if sometimes gruesome, deeds of some of Minnesota's most notorious criminals. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, former professor at the St. Paul College of Law, retired lawyer, and amateur historian.

• This title is also available at your favorite e-book vendor.
• 264 pages
• 5.375 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN: 9780873511803