BY MARK STODGHILL
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
It’s the warmest of the “cold cases” the Duluth police Violent Crimes Unit is looking at, and it’s already two years old.
It was Oct. 29, 2003, when Jeanie Marie Smith, 49, and her unrelated friend, Donald Erwin Smith, 48, were found beaten to death beneath a pedestrian walkway near Interstate 35 on the western edge of downtown Duluth.
No one has been charged in the slayings of the homeless pair.
Sgt. Scott Campbell, head of the Violent Crimes Unit, said police Chief Roger Waller wants investigators to revisit unsolved murder cases in the city.
“We’re looking at the cases with fresh eyes and a fresh view of the information that’s there,” Campbell said. “With that in mind, I have three current investigators that work with me in this unit and each one of them is going to be given a task, or has been assigned a task, to look at a spe- cific case when time is available for them.”
Sgt. Bob Shene, the lead investigator in the Smith double slaying, is now head of the Family Crimes Unit, but he hasn’t dropped the Smiths’ case.
“Periodically we get calls on different issues related to the Smith homicide,” Shene said. “Each one of those I’ve taken a look at and eliminated them as possibilities.
“It’s an ongoing investigation, but I have seen nothing in the leads that have come forth since we spoke last year that points in any different direction than where we were looking before.”
Shene and other members of the Violent Crimes Unit believe they know who killed the Smiths, but no evidence has been established and the possible suspect isn’t talking.
The possible suspect once lived with Jeannie Smith and was convicted of domestic assault against her a month before the slayings.
“One of the things I try to do is... to keep track of who this individual is dating, who he hangs out with,” Shene said. “When he changes, I try to find the person he used to date.”
Some day, he hopes, an ex-girlfriend will give information leading to murder charges.
Donald Smith and Jeanie Smith were camping where they were killed, at a place where homeless people often congregate.
Jeanie Smith had three children and 10 grandchildren. Her husband died in a 1982 car accident.
Donald Smith grew up in Nett Lake and attended Orr High School. He served in the Army and was divorced with no children.
Duluth police have created a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons involved in the slayings. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers of the Northland at 730-5690.
CASE SOLVED
The Duluth Violent Crimes Unit solved a cold murder case last year. An investigation into the disappearance of Julie Hill was opened in March 2004 after a Las Vegas relative of the dead woman brought her suspicions to Duluth police. Bloomer confessed on May 31, 2004, to killing the woman.
OTHER CASES
Campbell provided six other Duluth cold cases. He said a $1,000 reward would also be given to anyone who provides information leading to the conviction of anyone involved.
Carrie Andrew, 17, was found lying face-down in Twin Ponds in Enger Park on May 6, 1981. She had been shot in the head with a small-caliber gun.
Campbell began reviewing Andrew’s case last week. He said there’s DNA evidence that could point to her killer or killers.
“The DNA information is in the national database for continuous search for any hits in regards to any suspect or suspects involved in it,” he said.
Mary Chagnon of 2811 E. Superior St. planned to travel to a friend’s house in Minneapolis on Aug. 31, 1971. She never arrived.
Her car was found abandoned in Minneapolis and no evidence was found. Chagnon, who was 55 atthe time of her disappearance, was a freelance commercial artist who was active in political and women’s movements.
Her body was never found.
Florence Hector, a retired Duluth East High School English teacher, was last seen on May 10, 1976. She left her apartment in Mount Royal Manor for a trip to Minneapolis. Shenever arrived. Her car was found in a downtown Minneapolis parking lot. Like Chagnon, her body was not found.
Dennis Dean Olson, 48, was found dead in the first-floor apartment of the duplex he owned at 2620 W. Fifth St. on May 28, 1999. He was found bound, gagged and blindfolded with duct tape. Investigators believe he was killed for drugs and money he kept in his home.
The bodies of Sally Tharaldson, 44, and Virgil La Panta, 63, were recovered Aug. 29, 1983, when an ore boat’s anchor hauled up a vehicle with their partially
decomposed bodies from the Duluth Harbor. Tharaldson had been reported missing by her husband on Aug. 31, 1978.
John Wold, 18, was killed while working at the Holiday gas station at 502 N. Sixth Ave. E. on Sept. 15, 1966. The manner of death was a stab wound to the throat during an apparent robbery attempt.
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