Case File: Dr. Harvey Burdell
Overview
In 1927 a student of music and a member of the Mendelsohn Chorus was brutally killed just feet from her sisters home where she was staying. A small down girl, she had only returned two Minneapolis two weeks prior - having spent the previous year in college before going home in Pelican Rapids for part of the summer. She wasn't found until later in the afternoon when neighborhood boys were playign hide-and-seek, and one dodged into a shed to hid, but instead stumbled over the body of Pearl Osten.
Locations
- 1413 5th St N, Minneapolis - home of Mrs. H. Salchert, right next to the shed.
- 1415 5th St N, Minneapolis - home of Johnny Kerner, who found the body
- 1418 6th St N, Minneapolis - home of Mrs. A. W. Kampf, passenger on street car, among last to see Pearl alive; also of Charles Dorinski
- 1422 6th St N, Minneapolis - home of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Lanseth
- 1835 Harvester St, St. Paul, Minnesota - residence Robert F. Roffler, street car conductor
- 2623 Newton Ave N, home of Mrs. John Munson and residence of Pearl from Feb to Jul 1927
- 3321 43rd Ave S, residence of friend Nora Aas, where sister assumed Pearl had spent the night.
- Bostrom Mortuary, 3008 27th Ave S.
- Jolly Peasant Tearoom, 218 8th St S.
- Norwegian Grove, a township in Otter Tail County, Minnesota
Gallery
People
| Type | Name | (Born-Died) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victim | Osten, Pearl | 1907-1927 | beaten and strangled |
| Suspects | "man in small coupe" | accosted Pearl Friday night | |
| "negro and white man" | unidentified, released | ||
| young man on street car | a young man, well dressed, accompanied her from streetcar | ||
| Witnesses | Aas, Nora | friend of Pearl's | |
| Anderson, Mrs. Effie | passenger on street car | ||
| Bergesen, Rev. B. E. | pastor of Zion Luthern Church, their church in Minneapolis | ||
| Christianson, Adolph | harvest worker and lodger in Wisconsin | ||
| Dorinski, Charles | saw a man loitering about the Langseth house | ||
| Hayes, Mark | passenger on the streetcar | ||
| Huisinger, M. L. | identified black man as loitering near shed | ||
| Kempff, Mrs. A. W. | passenger on street car | ||
| Kerner, Johnny | c1915-? | found the body | |
| Logowski, Joe | passenger on street car, paid not particular attention | ||
| Munson, Mrs. John | previous landlord to Pearl | ||
| Nelson, Dr. Frank | President of Minnesota College | ||
| Nelson, Mrs. Helma | landlord to Charles Dorinski | ||
| Nelson, Melvin | boy playing with Johnny Kerner when Pearl was found | ||
| Nelson, Mrs. | mother of Melvin Nelson, talked to police | ||
| Panning, A. E. | proprietor of the Jolly Peasant Tea Room | ||
| Roffler, Robert F. | street car conductor, witness | ||
| Salchert, Mrs. H. | neighbor, heard nothing | ||
| Sanbeck, Dagny | c1913-? | heard screams | |
| Severs, Carl | passenger on the streetcar | ||
| Officers & Investigators | Bell, Dr. E. T. | performed autopsy with Coroner | |
| Brunskill, Frank W. | Superintendent of Police | ||
| Crummy, Andrew | Capt of the Detectives. | ||
| Forby, William | Detective | ||
| Hanaford, Walter | Detective | ||
| Helwig, Richard | Detective | ||
| Marxon, Al | Detective | ||
| Seashore, Gilbert | Coroner | ||
| Family | Hovland, Theo Mathilde | 1871-1957 | mother of Pearl |
| Lanseth, Alma Osten | 1897-1992 | sister to Pearl | |
| Lanseth, Johan Melvin | 1889-1959 | brother-in-law to Pearl | |
| Osten, Alma {Langseth/Shields) | 1897-1992 | sister to Pearl | |
| Osten, Martin Andreas Simon | 1867-1956 | father of Pearl |
Documentation
Burials
Newspaper Articles
- 3 Oct 1927 (Minneapolis Journal): Honor Pupil, 21, Slain Returning From Night Job