Bruce Lindahl (criminal)

Bruce Everitt Lindahl (January 29, 1953–April 4, 1981)[1] was an American serial killer and rapist who committed a series of rapes and murders in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 2020, 39 years after his death, on the basis of DNA profiling, Lindahl was connected to the death of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer, who was killed on January 13, 1976 in DuPage County, Illinois. In this respect, he was declared a suspect in at least 12 murders and 9 rapes, committed in different Chicago suburbs from 1974 to 1981, which are currently being investigated. In total, over 70 girls and women were killed during the indicated time period, both in DuPage and the surrounding counties.[2]

Bruce Lindahl
Born
Bruce Everitt Lindahl

(1953-01-29)January 29, 1953
St. Charles, Illinois, U.S.
DiedApril 4, 1981(1981-04-04) (aged 28)
Naperville, Illinois, U.S.
Cause of deathBleeding caused from accidental self-inflicted injuries
Conviction(s)None
Criminal penaltyNone
Details
Victims2–12+
Span of crimes
1976–1981
1974 (possible)
CountryUnited States
State(s)Illinois
Date apprehended
Died before he could be apprehended

Biography

Bruce Lindahl was born on January 29, 1953 in St. Charles, Illinois, to Jerome and Arlene Lindahl.[3] In addition to him, the family had three other children.[4] He attended college and graduated in the mid-1970s with a degree in electromechanics. The next few years, he worked as an electrician, while studying additionally at the Midvalley Vocational Center in Kaneville. In his free time, Lindahl was fond of parachuting and racquetball, with his friends and acquaintances speaking extremely positively of him, despite the fact that he easily fell into states of irresistible impulses and occasionally showed aggressive behavior towards others. In December 1976, he was arrested for possession of marijuana, but did not appear to be drug-addicted.[5]

Crime spree

Since 1974, Lindahl committed many minor offenses and was repeatedly arrested, but each time, the court gave him only fines. During this time period, he changed residences on several occasions. Over the years, he lived in Chicago and its various suburbs, before moving to Aurora in 1978. On March 6, 1979, on the pretext of selling marijuana, Lindahl lured 20-year-old Annette Lazar into his Aurora home, where he raped her under the threat of a gun. He later released her after she gave him consent to continue further intimate relationships, after which Lazar contacted the police. However, since she was a drug addict, and the house where she was raped belonged to Officer Dave Torres, a close friend of Bruce, her testimony was thrown out and Lindahl got off without any charges.[6]

On June 23, 1980, Lindahl abducted 25-year-old Debra Colliander from the parking lot of a shopping center in Aurora. He took her to his apartment, where he raped Colliander before releasing her. She notified police, and this time, he was arrested and charged. However, Lindahl paid his bail and was released. On October 7, Debra Colliander went missing after leaving work, and the trial, which was supposed to take place in 1981, was canceled, due to the absence of the key witness. Subsequently, all charges were dropped.[7]

On December 22, Bruce attacked a 30-year-old woman in northern Aurora, after she refused to provide him with sexual services in exchange for money. Since there were several witnesses, Lindahl hurried to leave the scene without causing serious harm to the victim. The injured woman contacted police, and during the interrogation was presented with photographs of various criminals for visual identification. But, since Lindahl was not among them, the victim instead picked out another man with a similar appearance instead.

On January 28, 1981, Lindahl was convicted of illegally tapping and recording other people's phone calls to extort them. While they were trying to detain him, he attacked a police officer, who pointed a gun at him. After his arrest, he was charged with resisting arrest, illegal possession of weapons, and assault, but was again released on bail, and remained free during the preliminary investigation.[8]

On an unspecified date, Lindahl was driving when he was pulled over by the police. The police discovered an unconscious woman bleeding from a deep gash in her head. They asked him what he was doing and he claimed that he was taking her to the hospital, although he was going in the wrong direction. An ambulance took the woman to the hospital, where an examination revealed she had been sexually assaulted. The woman stated that she did not remember what happened after Lindahl gave her a sip of something at a party. No charges were ever filed.[9] November 5, 1979, Deborah McCall disappeared. She was 16 years old and attended Downers Grove North high school. Her photo was found in Lindahl's possession after his death. Date Withheld, Fran (surname withheld) was raped at Lindahl's Lilse apartment. Fran was 16 years old and knew Lindahl for a significant time before the incident. From Daily Beast article. March 6, 1979, Annette Lazar went with Lindahl to his basement Aurora rental home. She was raped at gunpoint. Using flattery and complements, she was released. Annette filed a police report, however police did not believe her. Lindahl was renting a room. The owner was an Aurora policeman. From CBS Chicago News interview

Murder of Charles Huber and death

On April 4, 1981, while cruising around in one of the shopping and entertainment districts of Naperville, Lindahl met 18-year-old Charles Huber. After playing some ten-pin bowling together, Bruce suggested that they to go to his girlfriend's house and drink alcohol, to which Charles agreed. That same evening, when they arrived in the apartment, Lindahl attacked Huber with a knife, stabbing him a total of 28 times. During the attack, however, Charles resisted, causing Lindahl to stab himself in the thigh, damaging a femoral artery. This resulted in heavy bleeding, from which Bruce Lindahl died within a few minutes, right beside his deceased victim.[10][11]

Subsequent events

After Lindahl's death, one of his would-be victims contacted the authorities and identified him as her attacker. While inspecting his apartment, several photographs of young girls were located, including one of 16-year-old Deborah McCall, a Downers Grove resident who went missing in November 1979. The investigators suspected that Lindahl was involved in her disappearance, but McCall's body hasn't been located to this day.[12][13]

In 1982, the half-decomposed body of Debra Colliander, who had been missing since October 7, 1980, was located. Soon after, a man contacted the Aurora police, claiming that Bruce had offered him a monetary reward in exchange for killing Colliander, to prevent her from testifying at trial, which led investigators to place him as the prime suspect, as Lindahl had a clear motive to commit the murder.[14]

In 1993, the criminal case of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer, who was killed in January 1976, resumed.[15] The girl was raped before death, and the criminal's biological traces were found and the DNA isolated. Using public genealogy sites, it was revealed that the killer's DNA matched with one of Lindahl's relatives. In 2019, his body was exhumed and a sample of flesh was taken from his remains, from which suitable DNA was extracted for laboratory research. In January 2020, he was officially tied via DNA evidence to the Maurer murder.[16] DuPage County Police later stated that further DNA testing would be conducted with the aid of the Chicago Police Department, to determine whether Bruce Lindahl was involved in at least 10 other killings.[17]

References
  1. "Bruce Everitt Lindahl - BIRTH29 Jan 1953 - DuPage County, Illinois, USA - DEATH 4 Apr 1981 (aged 28) - Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois, USA - BURIAL Clarendon Hills Cemetery - Darien, DuPage County, Illinois, USA".
  2. "West suburban man linked to teen's 1976 murder is a suspect in 12 murders, nine rapes, investigator says. Jan 17, 2020".
  3. "How DuPage police solved the 44-year-old murder of Pamela Maurer. 1/14/2020".
  4. "Bruce E. Lindahi Funeral".
  5. "Retired Aurora police officer explains his friendship with the man suspected in 12 murders, 9 rapes: 'He was a nice guy with a short fuse'. Jan 17, 2020".
  6. "Victim of suspected suburban killer Bruce Lindahl describes, decades later, her harrowing escape: 'He said no one would believe me'. Jan 23, 2020".
  7. "Police Link Illinois Killer To Death Of Waukesha County Woman. Jan 14, 2020".
  8. "Years of violence: A timeline of Bruce Lindahl in the west suburbs. Jan 23, 2020".
  9. "Was killer in 1976 slaying of suburban teen a serial killer?". Jan 14, 2020.
  10. "2 die in struggle.April 6, 1981".
  11. "Naperville police chief recalls finding killer's body atop stabbing victim's. 1/13/2020".
  12. "Deborah A. McCall. Deborah, circa 1979; Age-progression to age 54 (circa 2017). Missing Since 11/05/1979. Missing From Downers Grove, Illinois. Classification Endangered Missing".
  13. "Cold Case: Police suspect serial killer strangled Illinois teen in 1976. Jan 14, 2020".
  14. "Years of violence: A timeline of Bruce Lindahl in the west suburbs. Jan 23, 2020".
  15. "1976 MURDER CASE IS REOPENED. December 9, 1993".
  16. "Police use DNA to solve a 1976 murder — and now the public can help crack more cold cases. Jan 14, 2020".
  17. "Man Linked to 1976 Murder Now a Suspect in 12 Killings, 9 Rapes".
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