Murder in Peterson: The Mabel Torgerud Story

In November 1974, 69-year-old Mabel Torgerud was found murdered in her quiet farmhouse near Peterson, Minnesota. Her home had been ransacked. She’d been shot four times. And nearly fifty years later, no one has been held accountable.

In this episode, Lenora and Preston retrace the final days of Mabel’s life, explore the crime scene details, and examine the limitations of rural law enforcement in the 1970s. They reflect on what it meant to be a woman living alone in a remote corner of Fillmore County—and how her story still echoes through the community.

Was it a robbery gone wrong? A personal vendetta? Or something more elusive?

📜 Sources Referenced

• Minnesota BCA Case File — Official summary of the investigation

• Winona Daily News Obituary — Details from the original reporting

• Find a Grave Memorial — Burial information and community remembrance

• AncientFaces Profile — Genealogical context and public memory

• KROC-AM News — Commentary from Fillmore County Sheriff Tom Kaase on the county’s only remaining unsolved murder