Sonja McCaskie (19 February 1939 – 5 April 1963)
was a British
alpine skier
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether ...
who participated in the
1960 Winter Olympics
The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley ...
. McCaskie lived in
Reno, Nevada
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...
, with her son and worked at a nearby ski resort as an instructor prior to her death in 1963.
Murder
A neighbor who was babysitting initially called the police to check on McCaskie after she failed to pick up her son. Police found McCaskie strangled, raped, and dismembered in her 2640 Yori Avenue apartment on Friday 5 April 1963.
She had been murdered by Thomas Lee Bean, an 18-year-old high school student who attended nearby
Wooster High School. Bean was sentenced to death in the Nevada gas chamber for the murder, but was taken off death row in 1970.
As of 2019, he was incarcerated in
Northern Nevada Correctional Center
Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) and Stewart Conservation Camp (SCC) are part of a prison complex located in Carson City. The correctional center was established in 1964 and is managed by the Nevada Department of Corrections. The mediu ...
and was the longest-serving inmate in the Nevada Department of Corrections. As of 2025, the Nevada Department of Corrections website reported that he was deceased.
The murder was sensationalized in the September 8, 1963 issue (25-31 August early sports edition) of the ''
National Enquirer
The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays Source (journalism), sources for tips (chec ...
'' with the frontpage headline (and a grisly photo) as: "I CUT OUT HER HEART & STOMPED ON IT".
Image:NatEnquirer1963CutOutHerHeart.jpg, 8 Sept. 1963 National Enquirer
See also
*
List of homicides in Nevada
This is a list of homicides in Nevada. It includes notable homicides committed in the U.S. state of Nevada that have a Wikipedia article on the killing, the killer, or the victim.
The list is divided into three sub-lists as follows:
1. Multipl ...
References
External links
British Olympic Association profile of Sonja McCaskie
1939 births
1963 deaths
Scottish female alpine skiers
Alpine skiers at the 1960 Winter Olympics
Scottish expatriates in the United States
British people murdered abroad
Olympic alpine skiers for Great Britain
Scottish murder victims
People murdered in Nevada
Deaths by strangulation in the United States
20th-century Scottish sportswomen
People murdered in 1963
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