Joseph Ture Jr.
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Joseph Donald Ture Jr. (born February 7, 1951) is an American
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
who committed at least six murders central Minnesota from 1978 to 1980. He murdered four members of the Huling family in Clearwater during a
burglary Burglary, also called breaking and entering (B&E) or housebreaking, is a property crime involving the illegal entry into a building or other area without permission, typically with the intention of committing a further criminal offence. Usually ...
of their residence in December 1978, followed by two female
college student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school ...
s in the
Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Minnesota River, Minnesota, and St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota), ...
area in 1979 and 1980. He is currently serving six
life sentences Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...
at MCF Stillwater in Bayport, Minnesota.Offender Information
/ref>


Early life

Joseph Donald Ture Jr. was born on February 7, 1951, in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
. His parents divorced when he was 10, and his father won custody of him, though he was primarily raised in an orphanage. In his late teens, he joined the
U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...
, but stayed for only about six months before returning to the St. Paul area, where he held many low-skilled jobs. He was barely able to afford proper living conditions, and reportedly he spent some time living in his car.


Known crimes

* On the morning of December 15, 1978, Ture entered the home of Alice Huling, 36, in Clearwater. He fatally shot Alice with a shotgun before ascending to her children's bedrooms and tying them up before shooting them; 16-year-old Susan, 12-year-old Patti, and 13-year-old Wayne, were killed, while a fourth child, 11-year-old William "Billy", survived. Four days after the murders, Ture was arrested at a pizzeria for auto theft. * On May 8, 1979, Marlys Ann Wohlenhaus, 19, returned home after attending school. Ture, who had broken in and waited for her to come home, attacked and sexually assaulted Wohlenhaus before viciously beating her to death with a blunt instrument. Later that day, Marlys' mother discovered her body. That same year and 1980, three teenage girls were lured into a man's car during separate incidents, resulting in each of them being raped. * On September 26, 1980, Ture abducted 19-year-old Diane Edwards, a
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
student, while she was walking home from her job as a waitress at a nearby Perkins Restaurant in West St. Paul. He took her to the nearby woods, where he sexually assaulted and stabbed her to death.


Arrest and incarceration

On October 30, 1980, Ture was arrested for the rapes of a 13-year-old
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
girl and two other women. While in custody, local police began investigating him in the murder of Diane Edwards, whose nude and battered body was discovered near Elk River on October 3. She had been reported missing on September 26 after being seen getting into a man's car. At least five witnesses who witnessed Edwards' abduction described the man's vehicle as an older, rusted station wagon. This description was similar to Ture's vehicle, a 1974 Ford Galaxie. Four teenage girls witnessed her abduction and identified Ture as the man they saw forcing her into his van. In April 1981, Ture was convicted of rape and kidnapping involving the rape cases. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Afterwards, he was indicted in Edwards' murder. Based on eyewitnesses identifying him at the murder scene, Ture was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. After his conviction, he confessed to the 1978 murders of Alice Huling and her three children, but he quickly recanted his confessions. In 1982, Ture was attacked by several of his cellmates while imprisoned in Stillwater, and sustained a
broken nose A nasal fracture, commonly referred to as a broken nose, is a fracture of one of the bones of the nose. Symptoms may include bleeding, swelling, bruising, and an inability to breathe through the nose. They may be complicated by other facial fra ...
as a result. The beating occurred a few hours after Ture was placed in general population.


Revelations

Ture would have been eligible for
parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
in 2008; however in 1996 a grand jury was convened and indicted him with the murder of Marlys Wohlenhaus. After reexamining the case, investigators found that Ture was investigated shortly after her death but provided an
alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...
which investigators used to clear him, but a new investigation showed that the alibi had been fabricated. Following the indictment, Ture agreed to be interviewed on '' 48 Hours'', during which he professed his innocence. Days after the interview aired, numerous young women contacted the program claiming to recognize Ture as a man who
sexually assaulted Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexua ...
them in the 1970s. It was found that most of these sexual assault victims had worked as waitresses, and police believe Ture had stalked them for weeks leading up the assault. In 1997, Ture was convicted of Wohlenhaus' murder and was given an additional life sentence. During his imprisonment, Ture allegedly bragged to his cellmate about committing the 1979 killing of Joan Bierschbach, 20. In 1999, Ture was indicted in the Huling family murders, and in 2000 was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
. Ture claims he is innocent in all the murder cases and claims that investigators used him to solve
cold case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...
s.


In popular culture

The documentary series ''
Cold Case Files ''Cold Case Files'' is a reality legal show/documentary on the cable channel A&E Network and a rebooted series. It is hosted by Bill Kurtis and the original series produced by Tom Golden. The show documents the investigation of many long ...
'' features the investigation into Ture's murders on season 2 episode 11 "Murder on the Menu"."Cold Case Files" Murder on the Menu
/ref> The American
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
band
Hüsker Dü Hüsker Dü () was an American punk rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continuous members were guitarist/vocalist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer/vocalist Grant Hart. They first gained notability as a hardc ...
released the song " Diane" in 1983 which is based on the murder of Diane Edwards, Ture's last victim.


See also

*
List of serial killers in the United States A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...


References


External links


To Catch A Killer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ture, Joseph, Jr. 1951 births 20th-century American murderers American male criminals American mass murderers American murderers of children American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Living people People convicted of murder by Minnesota People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Minnesota Serial killers from Minnesota