Murder in Wisconsin: The Clara Olson Case

by Larry Scheckel

A true story of romance and courtship, intrigue, and murder, this book is set among the hills of southwestern Wisconsin in 1926. Clara Olson, a pretty, devout Norwegian Lutheran farm girl meets Erdman Olson, a handsome, suave, smooth-talking college lad at a church picnic. They date for 18 months. When she finds herself in a family way and dreams of marriage, he promises her a wedding, and they plan a secret elopement. However, when Clara instead disappears, a search ensues and is resolved by the chance discovery of her hidden grave. The whole country is ultimately horrified by the shocking details of the tragic betrayal and murder. Laid out in suspenseful detail are the inquest, the funeral, and the subsequent search for her killer. This is a mesmerizing account of true crime at its worst.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime, Mystery

234 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 2018

About the author

Larry Scheckel grew up on a family farm in the hill country of southwestern Wisconsin, one of nine children. He attended eight years of a one room country school, four years of high school, off to the military for a spell, trained in electronics as a TV broadcast engineer, married, college, and started a teaching career. That career stretched over thirty-eight years teaching physics and aerospace science to over four thousand high school students at Tomah, Wisconsin.

Larry has been named Tomah Teacher of the Year three times, and Presidential Awardee at the state level for six years. He is the recipient of the Tandy Award, Kohl Award, Wisconsin Physics Teacher Award, Health Physics Society Award, Ron Gibbs Award, and Excellence in Science Teaching Award. He has authored articles for The Science Teacher magazine and The Physics Teacher magazine. He has been a Science Olympiad coach, robotics mentor, organized field trip and star gazing sessions, and gave orientation flights to students.

Larry has shared his expertise with teachers at National Science Teacher Association conventions, Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers, and summer workshops. He has given presentations to thousands of adults and students in such venues as Children's Museums, Boys and Girls Clubs, Rotary, and conventions.

Larry likes to bicycle in the Driftless area of south central Wisconsin, jog on the back roads, fly a Cessna 150 over the verdant countryside, work crossword puzzles, read newspapers, historical books, and trade magazines, and fly radio controlled planes. He and wife, Ann, retired teachers, have written nine books and live in Tomah, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Karen Bartosh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this only because I'm a relative of Clara Olson via my great-great grandfather. My family home farm known in years past as "Stony Point Farm" is adjacent to the home farm of the Chris Olson family and I do have childhood memories of the brothers Adolf and Benny, and 2 sisters as well. I'm also a member of the Utica Lutheran Church and have often seen the family's gravestones. I just never heard about Clara's murder before.
It was interesting to read about the history of the place I grew up and the mystery of this murder.
That being said..... had I not grown up there and been a distant relative, I would not have read this book. There was no professional editing. Typos and grammatical errors were rampant throughout and this made the reading tedious and distracting. Sorry, but this was very poorly written.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story is intriguing and sad but, unfortunately, the book is poorly written and edited.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books. I have read it ten times. Yes, this book is that good. You so need to check this book out if you like murder mystery books. This author is such a hands down great writer.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book about a long-unsolved mystery in Crawford County, very near Soldiers Grove, where my grandparents lived at the time of the murder as young adults themselves. The only disappointment I encountered throughout reading the book was finding numerous editing errors that should have been caught prior to printing, such as “angerly” for the word “angrily,”“New Your Times” instead of New York Times, along with several others. These were not first-person actual statements that may have been misspelled when they were printed originally, they were captions under photos, and also were included in the body of the work, which was slightly distracting. Again, greatly appreciated the book with those sole exceptions. It gave a very true and accurate picture of rural Crawford County life then, and to a large degree, now as well.

[Sarah Klar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The documentary on this murder story was very interesting for me to read, especially as I'm from southwest Wisconsin. I appreciate that the author took the time to record this piece of Wisconsin history, however, as other reviews have mentioned, it's poorly written and edited. Lots of grammar and spelling errors, and I feel like the chapters could have been organized better. The story line is hard to follow as there is alot of repeating and back tracking.

[Kimberly Eitland · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a native of the same area where this story is based along with familial ties to the same region of Norway as the book’s central figures, I recognize that my perspective is inherently biased. However, this connection also allowed me to deeply appreciate the setting and historical context portrayed in the book. The depiction of rural Wisconsin during this time period is vivid and authentic—I could easily visualize the locations described, having traveled those very roads myself.

That said, I found that without my prior knowledge of the people and places referenced, I might have struggled to remain engaged with the narrative. The book presents a compelling, evidence-based account, which aligns with what I would expect from an author with a background in science education. The writing adheres to a methodical, fact-driven approach—stating what happened and substantiating it with supporting evidence—which I found particularly fitting for this case.

However, I believe the book would have benefited from another round of editing. There are several spelling and grammatical errors, as well as instances of redundancy. The epilogue, in particular, contains notable inconsistencies with character names, which could be quite frustrating for readers unfamiliar with the subject matter.

Despite these editorial shortcomings, I would still recommend this book to anyone with a personal connection to the region or its people. The historical accuracy and detailed research make it a valuable read for those interested in this particular chapter of Southwest Wisconsin’s past.

[Ellenh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd meant to read this when the author, Larry Scheckle, spoke at Old Main in town about his book, and am finally getting to it.
I did like the book, it captured my interest, was well researched, and I was familiar with the areas he was describing, but not the people. I would recommend it to anyone interested in local history and mystery. Leaves you wondering what on earth happened to Erdman Olson (the accused)?

[Violeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely documented account of a 1926 murder that has you thinking about the case long after you finish the book. Contains old photos from the era, and gives some helpful description of the differences in how crimes were investigated and reported compared to modern times. This book is a real historical murder mystery that is worth a read!

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is totally amazing to me that I have never heard of this cold case murder mystery from ninety-five years ago, despite the fact that I lived 20 years in the Driftless area of Southwest Wisconsin just south of the Coulee area in which this murder took place. The author's meticulous presentation of this murder mystery will not leave you asking for more details -- he has covered all the bases!

[Ripley Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow this book sucked. I mean that’s really all I have to say. I am not one to normally be as harsh with a book, but I’d never heard of this case and I was very intrigued based on the synopsis on the back....and wow....did it disappoint. Honestly save your time and read a Wikipedia article about the case and don’t bother with this book.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was loaned to me as a must read. True murder in Wisconsin 1926. I had never heard the story before. Poor naive Clara meets suave Erdman at a church picnic. She falls madly in love and gives herself to him, while he is dating other women and selling bootleg liquor at college. Recommend reading this first and then read 'Face Down In Rising Sun.'

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has what you need for a True Crime. Romance, mystery, emotion. Sadly this case was never solved to bring Clara Olsen justice and her killer convicted. Newspaper reports, anecdotal reports, interviews, court proceedings, etc comprise Scheckel's case for Olsen. Few typos but nice writing keep you riveted even though the outcome of the story is laid out before you.

[Tracey Swanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m from the area where the murder took place and never heard about this before reading the book. Since the area, the names and places are familiar to me it was intriguing to read. The story was a bit repetitive with the facts of the case.

[Thea · Rating 2 out of 5]

When its close to home, this was a quick read and a trip back in time. It was a bit weird to know some of the places in here. However as a true crime junkie this one wasn't well written as I hoped it would have been. Still a super sad story.

[Kira Spoehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone interested in Wisconsin history and lore. It was a quick read but was riddled with grammar issues. It also became very repetitive with certain phrases and quotes. Overall an interesting read, but hard to concentrate with the all of the errors.

[Katie Shelton · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

[Vicki Bejma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice start, needs work

This work is seriously marred by a lack of editing and organization. Sometimes we go over the same ground as before.

[Valerie Biel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a chilling look at a true-crime story from Crawford County in 1926. Scheckel's painstaking research gives us not only the facts of the case, but he also is careful to construct a sense of what it was like to live in 1926 Wisconsin. We feel the sense of community and their horror at what one resident did to another.

[Sheila Kautman]

Very good. Lots of familiar names as I live near where this occurred, although it happened in early 20's. Never located the killer!