Help With Case

[Thiussat]

I watched the Ayleen Conway case and it reminded me of another case I am sure I saw on UM. This case was also from one of the earlier seasons (87-92 or so). It involved a woman (I would say she was 50-70 years old) who's car was found burned out on a rural road. I don't remember if her body was in the car or not. It seems the car was at an intersection, but I am not sure. It was definitely on the road, though, and it was in a rural area. And, no, this was not the "Two Mary Murder" case (the case of the mistaken hit).

Anyone have any idea what case this could be? I would like to see if I can find it on the bad site. I remember how interesting it was, but I am short on details.

[MegtheEgg86]

I watched the Ayleen Conway case and it reminded me of another case I am sure I saw on UM. This case was also from one of the earlier seasons (87-92 or so). It involved a woman (I would say she was 50-70 years old) who's car was found burned out on a rural road. I don't remember if her body was in the car or not. It seems the car was at an intersection, but I am not sure. It was definitely on the road, though, and it was in a rural area. And, no, this was not the "Two Mary Murder" case (the case of the mistaken hit).

Anyone have any idea what case this could be? I would like to see if I can find it on the bad site. I remember how interesting it was, but I am short on details.

Kathy Bonderson is the closest thing to that description I can think of.

[Thiussat]

Yes, that's it. I remembered the railroad crossing being involved. Thanks!

EDIT:

After watching this again, there was little doubt in my mind that she was murdered. It's extremely hard for me to believe that a mere electrical fire would cause that kind of fire damage. And even if it could, I find it hard to believe she wouldn't have found a way out of the car before it burned up. After all, the accident was not a severe one -- the car was intact and there was no structural damage whatsoever. Therefore, it is a stretch to assume that merely going over some raised railroad tracks would cause a death and then throw the driver into the passenger's seat floorboard. It's even harder to believe that such a minor accident would cause a fire that burned the car to such a degree. I mean come on.

I know this case is now closed -- the husband committed suicide after the cold case investigators wanted to speak with him years later. He also moved in with a girlfriend not long after this happened. But even before I read about the update, I knew his story about Kathy going out to find her son was a ruse. It's pretty obvious that was a cover story concocted by the husband. He either lured her out that night or killed her at home and then drove her in her car to that area. I think the only thing that was true about his story was that he and Kathy were arguing.

It is pretty scary that there are Sheriff departments out there that are this bad at putting together the pieces. I mean that Sheriff's investigative skills were so bad that it makes one wonder if he was friends with Mr. Bonderson. Thank God for the highway patrol investigator.

I would put this case near the very top of UM cases where the police work sucked.

[TheCars1986]

It is pretty scary that there are Sheriff departments out there that are this bad at putting together the pieces. I mean that Sheriff's investigative skills were so bad that it makes one wonder if he was friends with Mr. Bonderson. Thank God for the highway patrol investigator.

I think that has a lot to do with certain people of authority who can never admit that they're wrong. The Sheriff in the Bonderson case was definitely one of those people. Didn't her son say he saw her being followed by another vehicle with someone driving that he didn't know?

[MegtheEgg86]

Here's a link from the North Dakota Attorney General's office:

http://www.ag.state.nd.us/NewsReleases/2006/06-27-06.pdf

According to that release, apparently either Kathy's husband Robert was actually driving her car--or was following in the unrecognized vehicle behind her--as he did say he'd driven out of town on the night in question and had passed his stepson and girlfriend.

[RobinW]

I think that has a lot to do with certain people of authority who can never admit that they're wrong. The Sheriff in the Bonderson case was definitely one of those people. Didn't her son say he saw her being followed by another vehicle with someone driving that he didn't know?

Yes, Sheriff Ed Allmaras is definitely one of the most unpopular LE officers from UM ever discussed on this board. However, I really don't think the guy was incompetent or anything, just INCREDIBLY stuborn! He struck me as a sheriff who was close to retirement and possibly had no unsolved cases under his belt, so he'd be damned if Kathy Bonderson's death was going to screw up his perfect spotless record!