WI WI - Terri Erdmann, 15, Milwaukee, 24 June 1971

BLParks12 said:

There seem to be a lot of cold cases in the Milwaukee area during this time period. I have done some research on another Milwaukee cold case, the murder of Stephanie Casberg, and did come across the Tina Davidson case while doing that research. This is the first I have heard of Terri Erdmann. The MO for Terri, Tina and Diane all seem very similar, and I would think is good evidence those murders are from the same person. Stephanie Casberg was decapitated and dismembered, and parts of her body were found throughout Racine County and Milwaukee County. The news reports say her murderer must have been skilled with blades based on the dismemberment. She was 17 and killed in 1969. The MO is different, but I wonder if it is significantly enough different to rule out the same person responsible for the other murders. I live in Racine County and work in Milwaukee, so feel free to post if there is any information you need from a local.

Gruesome cold case murder of Milwaukee teen Stephanie Casberg remains unsolved 50 years later

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Ms. Sleuth said:

I know this is off topic and I apologize. But I am doing more digging on Diane Olkwitz and a book called The Devil at Genessee Junction: The murders of Kathy Bernhard and George-Ann Formicola By Michael Benson mentions Diane and that she was killed by a serial killer named Michael Lee Herrington. He was tied to other murders and I was wondering if you have heard of him or any of these names: Julia Beckwith, sherryl Tompson or Kathleen Dreyer. The book says that he was convicted in 1967 for the murders. But I am unable to locate this information online, and recently the journal sentinal just posted an article about Diane and how her murder is still unsolved? What does this mean? or where do i look next? Could Erdman and Casberg be related cases if Herrington is the killer?

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BLParks12 said:

I looked into Michael Herrington, but he was convicted in 1967 and has remained in a correctional institution without interruption to this day. He could not be their murderer. His MO fits, though. Maybe a copycat?

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Ms. Sleuth said:

So he was convicted for Diane's murder? If so, where were you able to find this information so I can move my post about her unsolved murder.

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BLParks12 said:

Sorry, no he was not convicted for Diane's murder. I was focusing on your comment about the possibility of him being related to Erdmann's and Casberg's murder. Herrington having been convicted of Julia Beckwith's and Sherryl Thompson's murder in 1967, and remaining in prison to this day would rule him out as a suspect in Erdmann's and Casberg's murder. My source, granted though it is not necessarily the most authoritative, is murderpedia. Specifically Michael Lee Herrington | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

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Ms. Sleuth said:

I don't think these cases are related, but I did just post an article I found about a young girl named Diane Olkwitz who was stabbed over 100 times in Menomonee Falls, WI which is not far from where Terri was. Probably 20 mins.
They were both murdered on a Thursday

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Wisconsin cold case: 1966 Menomonee Falls murder remains unsolved

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Quoththeraven said:

Additional information not found in other news articles: The June 25, 1971 issue of the Kenosha News reported that her arms were tied with twine and that a number of footprints were found at the scene.

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Quoththeraven said:

In researching other murders, I noticed that in the murders of Sharon Malone, 25, Hartland, WI, and Cheryl Ann Packard, 22, Pewaukee, WI, where both had been found murdered Sunday, April 25, 1967, in a lover's lane on the former George Blessinger farm in New Berlin, WI, located 6.5 miles SW of the lounge. Both women had been stabbed about five times in the chest. Malone was stabbed three times in the neck and Packard once in the abdomen. Both were wearing skirts and blouses, neither were wearing coats and the underwear of one of them was found nearby. One girl was gagged with a rag and the other one had also been gagged but worked its way loose. Both were last seen alive April 15 at Papa Joe's Cocktail Lounge, 16600 W. Blue Mound Rd in Brookfield, WI. Their car was found abandoned a quarter mile west of the lounge. Their car and cars of two other women were found to have their gas lines crimped. The lounge is 7.9 miles south of the location of the Olkwitz murder if you go straight down Pilgrim Rd.

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One similarity to the Erdmann murder was that both girls had their hands bound with twine.

Incidentally, Stephanie Casberg, a victim of a 1969 Milwaukee/Racine murder had died from two stab wounds to the neck.

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BLParks12 said:

There seem to be a lot of cold cases in the Milwaukee area during this time period. I have done some research on another Milwaukee cold case, the murder of Stephanie Casberg, and did come across the Tina Davidson case while doing that research. This is the first I have heard of Terri Erdmann. The MO for Terri, Tina and Diane all seem very similar, and I would think is good evidence those murders are from the same person. Stephanie Casberg was decapitated and dismembered, and parts of her body were found throughout Racine County and Milwaukee County. The news reports say her murderer must have been skilled with blades based on the dismemberment. She was 17 and killed in 1969. The MO is different, but I wonder if it is significantly enough different to rule out the same person responsible for the other murders. I live in Racine County and work in Milwaukee, so feel free to post if there is any information you need from a local.

Gruesome cold case murder of Milwaukee teen Stephanie Casberg remains unsolved 50 years later

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Quoththeraven said:

This is just some more info on the two murders along with maps to show their proximity to each other. The Olkwitz and Erdmann murders were 2.8 miles apart and both were on a Thursday. Both were found facedown and both had outer clothing pulled up. Both were found about 800 or so feet from a river.

On Thursday, June 24, 1971, Terri Lee Erdmann, age 15, was found in a wooded area north of the Northwestern Road railroad tracks, east of Appleton Ave, and south of the Little Menomonee located behind the old Moreway building located on the corner of West Appleton Ave (Highway 175) and West Carmen Ave., Milwaukee, WI. Her body was lying face down in a thicket of small trees and tall grass 200 feet north of the right of way and about a quarter mile from Appleton Ave. (If you follow the high tension wire in from Appleton Ave to the third high tension wire tower and made a left about 200 feet that would be the approximate location)

The Moreway building was located at 10130 West Appleton Ave. A building at that location is currently occupied by DaVita West Appleton Dialysis. Using Google Maps you can see the railroad tracks and the small patch of woods just north of the building. Right past that are some high tension wires with a right of way dirt access road, which, I assume, would be the ‘lover’s lane’. About 800 feet north is the Little Menomonee River.

https://goo.gl/maps/2phAgjnMycCa2Be99

She was found face down with her jersey sweater pulled up over her head. She had been stabbed 50 times.

If you went south on Appleton Ave, made a right on to W. Silver Spring Dr, you would pass Erdmann’s house on the left just past the baseball diamonds at 10411 West Silver Spring Dr. Continuing west for two miles and making a left on Williams Place, you would find yourself at Kenworth Manufacturing Co, N56W13777 Silver Spring Dr. It is now MPG Casting Technologies. It is located 800 feet west of the Menomonee River.

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About 4 years, 6 months and 27 days before Erdmann’s death, on Thursday, Nov 3, 1966, another body was also found lying face down, this one at Kenworth Manufacturing. Dianne June Olkwitz, age 20, worked there as a secretary. She was stabbed 106 times. She also worked part time at the former Dutchland Dairy Restaurant (currently Pepino’s Pizza), N84W15841 Appleton Ave, Menominee Falls. Dutchland Dairy was 5 miles north of where Terri Erdmann was found. She (Olkwitz) lived at W169N8924 Hoyt Drive, Menomonee Falls, WI, just north of Dutchland Dairy Restaurant.

An Olkwitz murder link
In 1966, a Menomonee Falls secretary was stabbed more than 100 times. Her murder has never been solved.

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Pugz said:

The dirt access road "Loves Lane" is just that a dirt path from people walking on it. Lovers Lane is an actual road South of Silver Spring, which changes again to Hwy 100 than later south S 108th. North of Silver Spring its N. 115th St. There is no actual "lovers lane" back there than or now. Current times there are paved bike / walking paths that run for miles. None the less there have been several tragic events in there over the years.
I made a different post about who were suspects in Terri's death. From what I recall there were no connections between any of them. With Terri at least once DNA testing became a thing her samples were to degraded. Her family left Milw around 1973. Her father passed in 2009 and mother in 2018. Her brother Dan passed away in March. Daryl no clue.

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Pugz said:

There were 3 suspects with Terri's case. A family member's friend. A shoe salesman that worked at Pay-less shoes next to Arlens. Which was across the street from her home on 103rd and Silver Spring. The last was 3 neighborhood boys. Who were thought to of graduated from animals to trying there skills on a human. One of the boys lived across the street from me. Right after the time of Terri's murder that family up and moved away. The other two boys. One went on to make a good life the other not a clue.

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