By Tiffany Miller
Do you love true crime? Does the process of criminal justice fascinate you? Can you think of no better way to spend a weekend than binge-reading a story that feels like it couldn’t possibly be a true story about small-town America? Have you ever wondered how the University of Minnesota came to own a gorgeous mansion on the Lake Superior lakefront?
If you said yes to any of these statements, then Will to Murder is for you!
Last summer, I took my second tour of Glensheen Mansion. I was anxious to get there again because I had heard that they restored and opened the third floor of the mansion that was previously unopened for viewing. The mansion is not only a piece of art, but it’s also flabbergasting to believe that this place of beauty could be the scene of an insidious crime (a detail I remembered from my first tour of the mansion).
On my second tour of Glensheen, I waited for the guide to mention the murder but before I knew it, the tour was over and there was no mention of it. At the end of the tour, I asked the tour guide, “Wasn’t there a murder that took place here?”. The employee indicated that yes there was a murder at Glensheen and it was previously part of the tour before the Congdon Family asked that the murder be removed from the mansion tour, but if I wanted more details, I could read about it in a book titled Will to Murder. Naturally, I needed to pick it up.
The book was gripping, shocking and full of so much interesting history about the city of Duluth, the Glensheen family, and the economy of Northern Minnesota. Written by the lead investigator of the case and a career journalist, this book follows the story of the philanthropic, millionaire Gleensheen family and the shocking murder of the youngest Glensheen daughter Elisabeth Congdon and her night nurse Velma Pietila.
In 1971, an intruder entered Glensheen mansion, stole a basketful of jewellery, smothered heiress Elisabeth Congdon to death with a satin pillow, and bludgeoned her night nurse Velma Pietila. The prime suspects were Marjorie Congdon, the adopted daughter of Elizabeth—a charismatic sociopath, narcissist, and arsonist—and her husband, Roger Caldwell.
Will to Murder brings readers behind the scenes of Minnesota’s infamous double murder. Written by the lead investigator, Duluth Police Detective Gary Waller, St. Louis County Prosecutor John DeSanto, and former Duluth News Tribune crime reporter Gail Feichtinger, this book captures the decade-long investigation, legal proceedings, and court trials to bring justice to the Glensheen family. You won’t believe this story is true, and you will grow such a deep admiration for the police detectives and prosecutors who committed decades of their lives to serve justice and protect society from two pathological criminals—you won’t be able to stop reading.