Tilmer Eugene "Cotton" Thompson (August 7, 1927 – August 7, 2015) was an attorney from

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

who hired a hit man to kill his wife. In December 1963 he was sentenced to life in prison. He was paroled in 1983 and died on his 88th birthday, August 7, 2015. Some Minnesotans suspected that the murder inspired the film '' Fargo'', made by Minnesotans

Joel and Ethan Coen Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, together known as the Coen brothers (), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are '' Blood Simple'' (198 ...

in 1996, but Joel Coen denied this in an interview at the time of Thompson's death, saying the film's story was completely made up. Season 4 Episode 3 of

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

's series ''

A Crime to Remember ''A Crime to Remember'' is an American documentary television series that airs on Investigation Discovery and premiered on November 12, 2013. It tells the stories of notorious crimes that captivated attention of the media and the public when th ...

'' revisited the case in 2016.

References

1927 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American criminals Criminals from Minnesota Lawyers from Saint Paul, Minnesota {{US-crime-bio-stub