Secrets of the Congdon Mansion

More about the book

An inside look at Minnesota's most infamous murders. Elisabeth Congdon, an 83-year-old heiress, and her nurse, Velma Pietila, were brutally murdered in the 39-room Congdon mansion on the shores of Lake Superior in Duluth. Accused were Congdon's adopted daughter and new son-in-law. The greed, speeding up an $8 million inheritance. The son-in-law was convicted, but a jury found the daughter not guilty of planning the crime. In the mind-boggling aftermath, the killer was freed, the daughter accused of bigamy and convicted of arson in two states. And she's been investigated in other deaths. Guides on the popular tours at Glensheen won't say much about the murders, so the book helps guide visitors understand the crime as they go through the mansion.