TX TX - Linda Muegge, 55, Fredericksburg, 14 May 2007

ViCAP Homicides and Sexual Assaults
The Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) maintains the largest investigative repository of major violent crime cases in the U.S. It is designed to collect and analyze information about homicides, sexual assaults, missing persons, and other violent crimes involving unidentified human remains. Select the images to display more information.

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/hom...selected-uid=c01829f02bb63ff8f51d1d33a79a6aa3

V I C A P A L E R T
UNSOLVED HOMICIDE
Attention: Violent Crime / Homicide / Cold Case / Crime Analysis Units

On May 14, 2007, at approximately 8:00pm, emergency personnel arrived at the scene of a house fire at 506 Franklin Street, Fredericksburg, Texas, and discovered the body of Linda Muegge, a 55-year-old white female.

Muegge was severely burned and found lying face down under a large amount of debris which had fallen from the ceiling. Muegge had stab wounds and blunt force injuries on her head and neck. A knife was found in the living room, where the fire is believed to have been ignited by an accelerant. Muegge’s underwear was down around her knees; yet there were no signs of a sexual assault. In addition, a large sum of money was left in the house, however, the victim’s cell phone, wallet and car keys were never located.

Two past incidents of possible interest involving Muegge occurred in the years prior to her murder, which are detailed as follows: On September 3, 2003, Muegge reported a suspicious white male in his 50s named Frank, whom she had met through a friend. The report indicated she did not feel comfortable with this man on her property but no further information or reports were ever documented. Separately on February 12, 2006, Muegge reported that two of her bottle fed sheep had been shot. It was later determined that the sheep had been shot with a .22 caliber rifle.

To provide or request additional information related to this case, please contact: Sergeant Terry Weed, Fredericksburg Police Department, Texas
(830) 997-7585, tweed@fbgtx.org - FBI ViCAP, (800) 634-4097, vicap@leo.gov -

Alert # 2011-05-02; Released 5/12/2010; hlw

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/vicap/homicides-and-sexual-assaults/ViCAP Linda Muegge.pdf

Texas Rangers Cold Case Investigation Details

Linda Muegge
COMPANY: F REFERENCE NUMBER: 8 - Unsolved
RACE: White
SEX: Female
CITY: Fredericksburg
COUNTY: Gillespie
RELATED YEAR: 2007

DETAILS:
Linda Muegge, 55 year old white female, resident of Fredericksburg and business owner of The Peasant Kitchen. She was a very spirited person well liked by many who also felt she had a giving heart. On Monday evening, 05-14-2007, Linda returned home from a local yoga class at approximately 5:30 PM. At approx. 7:54 PM local witnesses reported her house on fire which was located at 506 Franklin Street. After the fire was extinguished, Linda was found deceased inside the partially burned home. An autopsy later determined the manner of her death was homicide. Investigators also learned the fire at her residence had been deliberately set and ruled as arson.
Investigators believe there is someone who has further information in reference to Linda’s murder.


Anyone with information is asked to submit a tip thru the Texas Rangers’ Cold Case website or contact us at the Missing Persons Watts Line: 1-800-346-3243 .

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/TexasRangers/UnsolvedHomicides/Details.aspx?&id=8

Gillespie County Crime Stoppers

Major Unsolved Crimes - If you have any information about the below
listed crimes please call our local Crime Stoppers hotline at 997-8477.

Homicide - On May 14, 2007 at 7:58 pm, Officers from the Fredericksburg
Police Department were dispatched to 506 Franklin Street reference a house
fire. The owner of the residence Ms. Linda Muegge was found deceased
inside the residence. The Travis County Medical Examiner ruled the death of
Ms. Muegge a homicide. This offense is believed to have occurred shortly
before officers arrived at the scene. Please direct questions about the case to
the Fredericksburg Police Department at 830-997-7585.

http://www.gillespiecounty.org/users/0018/Documents/Major Unsolved Crimes.pdf

$15K offered in Fredericksburg murder case
Posted: Thursday, August 2, 2007 12:00 am

Residents there have raised a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the May 14 homicide of Fredericksburg resident Linda Ann Muegge, 55.

http://dailytimes.com/news/article_5d0af186-5a77-574c-9b62-9d58110b7273.html?TNNoMobile

Murder shocks Fredericksburg
05/18/2007 01:50 AM

What police thought was an accidental death now looks like
the first murder the Gillespie County town has seen in more than a decade.

Linda Muegge, 55, lived on Franklin Road in southeast Fredericksburg.

"Everybody that has talked to me about her has had nothing but good things to say," Police Chief Paul Oestreich said.

Dental records where used to identify Muegge. The Travis County Medical Examiner ruled that she sustained trauma before the house went up in flames.

snipped

"We have a very good community. We have a very little violent crime in Fredericksburg and this is unusual. This is strange for
something like this to happen," Oestreich said.

http://austin.ynn.com/content/news/184433/murder-shocks-fredericksburg

New details in cold-case killing
Fredericksburg murder unsolved after two years
Updated: Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 12:20 PM CDT
Published: Thursday, May 14, 2009, 12:32 PM CDT

Two years ago, officers responded to a house fire on FranklinStreet. Crews found Muegge's body inside her home and ordered anautopsy. Results indicated Muegge actually died before the fire,most likely from sharp and blunt force injuries to her head andneck.

The medical examiner said some of the injuries suggestedsmothering or strangulation. The state fire marshal also determinedthe fire was arson.

"Since then, we've had no solid leads," Oestreich said. "It'slike the person who did this just disappeared off the planet."

He hopes releasing new details in Muegge's background willprompt others to come forward with new leads. According toOestreich, they have details about her before the murder occurredthat may help them find her killer.

"We know that Linda came to the police twice before the fire,"said Oestreich. "The first was a few years before when a man onlyknown as Frank made her feel uncomfortable. We never found himafter that. And the second was when someone shot and killed herbottle-fed sheep."

Muegge's nextdoor neighbor Larry Nevels recalled, “It wasa few months before, she told us she was in her house and heard thereport of gunfire, came out, and two or three, I don’t knowexactly how many of her sheep were killed.”

snipped

Oestreich's officers recently began working with FBIbehavioral-analysis agents. He had hoped that the effort could helpreveal a criminal profile for the killer, but results have beeninconclusive so far.

"The FBI said this is a solvable case," he said. "It's justgoing to be like peeling an onion."

http://www.kxan.com/news/new_details_in_cold_case_murder

Not sure if it's okay to post this, but this blog has pictures of old news articles about Linda's case.

http://vocct.blogspot.com/2010/12/muegge-murder.html

No updates, but Austin, TX news station KXAN recently featured Linda Muegge's cold case:

Cold Case: Linda Muegge
http://kxan.com/2014/02/07/muegge-murder-cold-case-fredericksburg-texas/

maima said:

No updates, but Austin, TX news station KXAN recently featured Linda Muegge's cold case:

Cold Case: Linda Muegge
http://kxan.com/2014/02/07/muegge-murder-cold-case-fredericksburg-texas/

Click to expand...

Posting KXAN's Youtube link of the same video in your KXAN article post, in case the article ages off their website.
http://youtu.be/1ThHDOM0EjA

maima said:

No updates, but Austin, TX news station KXAN recently featured Linda Muegge's cold case:

Cold Case: Linda Muegge
http://kxan.com/2014/02/07/muegge-murder-cold-case-fredericksburg-texas/

Click to expand...

Ex-husband was never cleared. From your link:

Fred told police he was at yoga class in Austin on the night of the fire, and police confirmed his credit card was used there that night, but they were never able to confirm whether Fred swiped the card himself or whether someone else swiped it for him.

“He was not 100 percent cleared,” said Weed.

Investigators also say Fred failed two polygraph tests, and they say his DNA was found at the scene.

But Fred died in December slowing down the case even more.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"8 years later, a killer still walks"

http://www.fredericksburgstandard.com/articles/2015/05/20/8-years-later-killer-still-walks

Despite erroneous reports to the contrary, police still do not have a prime suspect in the murder and no DNA evidence has been found to indicate a specific suspect.

“There have been people who have honed in on certain people (as suspects),” Weed said. “I think I have — and the investigators that have been a part of it have — kept that open mind about it.”

Click to expand...

Reward doubled in unsolved Fredericksburg murder
July 1, 2015
http://www.kvue.com/story/news/loca...d-in-unsolved-fredericksburg-murder/29585345/

FREDERICKSBURG, Texas - Gillespie County Crime Stoppers have doubled the reward in the unsolved 2007 murder of Linda Muegge.

During the month of July, they are offering $10,000 for any information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed her.

Click to expand...

If you have any information call Gillespie County Crime Stoppers at 830-997-8477. You can remain anonymous.

The Fredericksburg police chief said they've only had three murders in the city. This murder is the only one that has not been solved.

Click to expand...

More at link.

State offering more reward money for unsolved cases

http://kxan.com/2017/02/15/state-offering-more-reward-money-for-unsolved-cases/

The state is hoping the lure of money will help them solve more cold cases. On Wednesday, the Office of the Governor, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Texas Crime Stoppers launched a new reward program related to the Texas Ranger Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program. Texas Crime SToppers will now pay a reward of up to $3,000 to any person who provides information that leads to an arrest for a cold case listed on the DPS Unsolved Homicides website.

Linda Muegge’s 2007 death in Fredericksburg is one of the cases profiled. On May 14, 2007, Muegge, 55, came home from a local yoga class when witnesses reported her house on fire. Authorities say after the fire was put out, Muegge’s body was found inside. Investigators say Muegge was murdered and her home was intentionally set on fire.

Click to expand...

Rangers look for leads in cold case murder

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/news/2017/03/28/rangers-look-leads-cold-case-murder/99737276/

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is asking for the public’s help in solving the 2007 murder of Linda Muegge, 55, in Fredericksburg. A reward up to $6,000 is being offered for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible if the tip is received before next month’s featured case is announced. The Gillespie County Crime Stoppers also is offering a reward up to $10,000 associated with this case.

Click to expand...

R.I.P. Linda

The Cheese said:

Not sure if it's okay to post this, but this blog has pictures of old news articles about Linda's case.

http://vocct.blogspot.com/2010/12/muegge-murder.html

Click to expand...

I had seen this blog years ago but was encouraged to see that Linda's mother sees it as a possible COLD JUSTICE case. So do I. I knew Linda, Fred, and I know Fredericksburg. There were many strange things about this case. At one point, someone close to Linda told me that the police had a suspect in mind but didn't have enough evidence. I don't know if that's true. I can say that Linda wasn't an easy person to know. She was abrasive and difficult at times. I was surprised to read about her heart of gold. I'm sure she had one, but she could also be really unpleasant, even just socially. FWIW. I also knew her ex-husband Fred. I can't imagine Fred doing it, and yet-- Linda could be infuriating and Fred was his own kind of different. There was also some newspaper info early on in the investigation that Linda led a double life, frequenting bars and having a whole "nother" set of friends unconnected to her catering and church work. So clearly, there are stones left unturned.

I certainly don't mean to victim shame Linda, but I think it's important to be truthful or the truth can't be known. I loved Fred dearly, but he was an odd man. I was happy when they divorced because she was so cruel to him in front of others. He let her have the house (that burned) and all the handcrafted furniture he had made. The murder was during broad daylight! In town! On the day when everybody picked up food from Linda's business. Either a drifter who didn't know any of that or someone who knew her who went into a rage and wasn't thinking.

Cold Case: Who killed Linda Muegge 12 years ago?

[...]
The Texas Department of Public Safety has had few leads in the past 12 years and has made several appeals to the public for information, even offering thousands of dollars as a reward. The Fredericksburg Police Department made another appeal Monday night hoping someone would come forward.

If you or someone you know has information, you can contact the Fredericksburg Police Department at (830) 997-7585 or Gillespie County Crime Stoppers at (830) 997-TIPS.

So she got home at 530 and this call came in a little before 8 and in mid May there should have been decent daylight when this occurred.