Our card this week is Myrtle Cole, the Queen of Spades for Minnesota.

In the early morning hours of December 12, 1981, 81-year-old Myrtle Cole was fast asleep

in her securely locked, small-town Minnesota home when someone broke in and brutally murdered

her.

For more than 40 years, the Sterns County Sheriff's Office has dedicated countless man hours

to finding out who killed her.

And the answer may no longer be far out of reach.

I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Deck.

When 71-year-old Myrtle Cole awoke on a freezing December morning to fresh-fallen snow

outside his rural Minnesota home, he decided to give his aunt Myrtle a ring, just to check

in on her.

Myrtle, who was just 10 years older than Myrtle, lived just two miles down the road in

Fairhaven.

And because she was a widow and didn't have any children, Myrtle had kind of taken it

upon himself to look after her.

Myrtle was known to check on her almost every day, and he would be the person that typically

took her to most of her appointments or shopping with her or for her.

So Myrtle called her up at about 8.30, but on this morning there was no answer.

He decided to wait 30 minutes before trying her again, but same thing.

Another 20 minutes, and another call later, Myrtle still wasn't picking up.

This was definitely unusual and a bit concerning, so Myrtle decided to just drive by, pay

her a visit, and make sure she didn't need anything.

...