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Unsolved: Killing of Chisago County mother, 7 children in fire
The Johnson family’s remains were all found in a burned-down farmhouse in 1933, except for Albin Johnson, who was never seen again.
HARRIS, Minn. — About an hour north of the Twin Cities is a small, Lutheran cemetery where a mother and her seven children are buried.
Their remains were all found in their Chisago County farmhouse that burned down 90 years ago on April 11, 1933.
But who killed them is a mystery that still divides Harris all these years later.
The small town is known as much for its café, full of friendly faces and home-cooking, as it is for the murders Brian Johnson knows about all too well.
“When I was a kid, I always thought it was a terrible, tragic accident,” said Johnson. “It wasn’t until I got older that I became more and more curious about it.”
Back then, Brian and his family would often visit the nearby cemetery to pay their respects at the graveside of his grandmother’s sister, Alvira Lundeen Johnson, and her seven children, who are all buried together in one casket.
“It was a great shock to the community, as you might expect, and so it was a very sensitive topic,” said Johnson.
Alvira was just 29 years old and a dedicated mother during what was the Great Depression. She was married to a man named Albin Johnson, who had fallen on such hard times that their family would be evicted by her own father-in-law.
Albin’s remains were the only ones that have never been found.
“I believe he did it — I believe Albin did it,” said Johnson. “It was a very desperate time, of course, and he was a very, very desperate man and felt like there was no way out and that he somehow got away.”
Johnson thinks Albin escaped to Canada where he once worked as a logger.
The news even made headlines there — and across the country. After a months-long manhunt turned up nothing, a grand jury eventually indicted Albin in the deaths.
But former Chisago County Sheriff Floyd Pinotti will tell you that Albin isn’t to blame. Rather, he thinks Albin’s own brothers killed him, fighting over their land and then burying him beneath a hill on the old property where a new house now stands.
Pinotti points out what little evidence investigators had back then, including a kerosene can left at the scene, fresh automobile tracks and reports the field was being farmed only hours after the fire was first reported.
“The brothers and the family were at odds over that (the land),” said Pinotti. “Which leads you to wonder at a time like this, at that time in the morning, is that something normal people would do?”
Pinotti still lives across the street from the scene and would go on to be friends with one of the Johnson brothers, who eventually took over the farm.
Pinotti, admittedly, also says he was a suspect in the crime that has long gone cold, 90 years later. Now in 2023, files relating to the case no longer exist.
“It’s hard for me to imagine he was involved because he was so nice,” said Pinotti about the one Johnson brother. “It could be a repentance, a repentance on his part.”
As for Brian Johnson, who isn’t related to Albin, he’s left to look back on all the pictures he has of his family, gone too soon.
Even the wanted poster for Albin continues to hang in the Harris café, a reminder there’s still a search for answers and that those who died will never be forgotten.
“I feel like he robbed us of getting the opportunity of knowing Alvira and those kids,” said Johnson. “If anyone has any information that would shed more light on this case, I would love for them to come forward.”
In 2019, Johnson wrote a book about the murders. It’s available on Amazon.
Unsolved: Chisago County mother, 7 children killed in 1930s farmhouse fire
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The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way.
WELCOME, Minn. — Nine students were injured Wednesday morning when a truck crashed into a bus in southern Minnesota.
The crash occurred at 8:15 a.m. in Welcome, Minnesota after the bus driver failed to yield to the truck, which had the right-of-way at the intersection of County Road 7 and 280th Street, according to the Redwood County Sheriff’s Office. In a press release, officials say the nine students sustained “minor injuries” and were transported to a nearby hospital.
The initial investigation indicates that the truck, an F550, was traveling north on County Road 7, while the bus, which was providing service to the Wabasso Public School District, was traveling east on 280th Street. The news release says the truck had the right-of-way at the intersection.
“We are grateful that no serious injuries happened to our students, the driver or the other driver, however, nine students were transported to area hospitals for follow-up treatment,” Superintendent Jon Fulton said in a letter to parents. “… The District and 4.0 bus transportation company is praying for a speedy recovery for the students and families involved.”
Several fans said this team has inspired them to pursue a career in sports.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx is inspiring the next generation of athletes regardless of whether they win or lose.
Sophia Witkowski went to the game with her mother, Christy, to watch Game 3 of the WNBA Finals.
“For her to see all her idols it’s just so fun,” Christy said.
“I like it because women’s sports aren’t that popular. Now the WNBA is really popular,” Sophia said.
They weren’t the only mother-and-daughter duo at the game. Amanda Williams took her 10-year-old daughter Abby to watch.
“It’s really awesome to have my daughter here to see great role models from the team and the fact,” Amanda said.
“I think that it’s super cool that they get to do what they want to do, and they get paid for it too,” Abby said.
Maggie Niska with Her Next Play, a nonprofit working to empower the next generation of female leaders through sports, said their visibility is everything.
“I think it gives these girls someone to look up to, and it gives them something to aspire to, and by having them in the community it makes seem a little more reachable too,” Niska said.
She said the Lynx Academy put on a basketball clinic for some of her girls in Hopkins Tuesday night. Niska said all of the professional women’s sports teams in Minnesota show girls they can have a future in sports.
“I just think that any visibility these girls can get to women competing at sports at a higher level, hearing these women speak, and seeing them succeed, and getting insight into their lives and what they do to compete at this higher level, I think all of that serves as a great inspiration to these girls,” she said.
It’s something Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve understands well.
“For young girls to see the opportunities for them to play in any sport and then also more in sport, jobs in sports that sports can be a career,” Reeve said.
Sophia Ritter and Taylor Tool drove hours to see the players in action.
“We traveled from Aberdeen, South Dakota and the Northern State women’s basketball team took two vans,” she said.
Ritter and Tool both said it was a cool opportunity for them to see two great teams play on the professional level.
“Growing up, WNBA wasn’t really a big a thing and something that everyone was watching and now that it’s growing it’s really nice to see,” Ritter said.
“It’s really fun seeing all the support and seeing how many people come to watch the games like it’s really cool to see all the fans in the stands filling up and it’s growing,” Tool said.
Gophers’ Shoot Guard Mara Braun went to the game with her team after practice.
“These women out here are just amazingly talented and they play with this toughness that I think we’re really trying to embody as a team,” Braun said.
She knows young girls are looking up to her and her teammates just like they are with the Lynx.
“Especially growing up, you know, you want to play college basketball, and the next level is WNBA or overseas or whatever it is, so for me this is obviously a dream and something I’m working towards to be able to see it,” she said.
Braun dreams of playing in the WNBA and watching the Lynx and the Liberty in the finals makes that dream feel like it could be her new reality.
The department is the only one in the state to start a non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The City of St. Paul has seen a number of deadly shootings recently, but often it’s the ones that aren’t fatal that don’t get as much attention. And for police, they can also be harder to solve.
The department, though, is trying something new to try and reverse that trend.
“The amount of guns that are on the street right now,” St. Paul Police Commander Nikkole Peterson said about the biggest change she’s seen in the 22 years she’s been a cop. “It’s jaw-dropping.”
Commander Peterson is now in charge of the department’s non-fatal shooting unit that launched in January focusing only on those crimes.
It’s the only department in the state implementing something like that, after it saw success with the police department in Denver, Colorado doing something similar.
“If there’s a shooting, it doesn’t matter what time of night that happens or time of day, that sergeant will get called in to begin the investigation immediately,” said Commander Peterson.
The crime used to fall on the homicide unit that’s already burdened by heavy case loads. There’s also usually little victim cooperation which can stall solving non-fatal shootings.
“A lot of times we wouldn’t investigate it any further or the prosecutor wouldn’t charge those crimes and we knew that something different had to be done,” said Commander Peterson.
The unit is now treating non-fatal shootings like homicides and making them a priority. The investigators also rely more heavily on evidence and devote just as many resources, from forensics to video management and even SWAT teams.
“We are utilizing all these different resources to help solve these crimes,” said Commander Peterson. “We’re chasing down every lead that we can.”
In a press conference on Tuesday, St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said there have been 86 non-fatal shootings compared to 99 this same time last year. But two years ago, there were 170, putting the city’s solve rate around 60%.
“Anything above 50% is just incredible and so we’re really happy with where we’re at right now,” said Commander Peterson.
Commander Peterson also credits the city’s ASPIRE program that focuses on intervention, particularly with youth. She also points to the Office of Neighborhood Safety that partners with local organizations working on prevention, saying this cooperation is ultimately what will reduce crime.
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