Roland Sundahl
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Roland Dean Sundahl (June 20, 1930 – April 30, 1952) was an American murderer, electrocuted in Nebraska's electric chair for the attempted rape and murder of 16-year-old Bonnie Lou Merrill.[1]
Roland Sundahl was married with two young children.[2] Described as a laborer, he was also said to be a calm man, not easily angered, and kind to people and animals. Still, his family was not prosperous; Sundahl's meager wages were just enough to afford the family of four a derelict cottage behind his parents' home.[3] His family reported that in the year or so before the crime, his health had changed for the worse. Suffering from headaches, he became moody and depressed.[1]
Crime
Bonnie Lou Merrill disappeared from the Y-Knot Cafe in Columbus, Nebraska, over Labor Day weekend in 1950. She had only been working there for two days before she went missing, and had not collected her paycheck since her shift on August 27, 1950.
The police, upon investigating the crime, found that Merrill had had a date with a boy named Ronald Kasper, who was being driven by Roland Sundahl. They met with Merrill at the Y-Knot Cafe, and the trio began to drive around. When the night ended and Kasper left, he requested that Merrill be driven home. Instead of driving her home, however, Sundahl drove Merrill to Lake Babcock, north of Columbus, and made romantic advances towards her. When she resisted, he choked her, beat her with a hatchet, and hid her body in the weeds by Lake Babcock.[3] After his arrest, Sundahl told police that after hiding the body, he went to a nearby filling station and slept in his car after downing a cup of coffee.
Subsequent to the disappearance of Merrill, her boss, Jim Cumming, drove all of his employees home after their shifts ended.[1]
Investigation and arrest
At first, there were three main suspects: Herman Fried, a boy who was reported to have pestered Merrill for her affections; Kasper, Bonnie's date that night; and Sundahl. However, the police didn't have concrete evidence against any one of them, because none had the telltale scratch marks of having engaged in a struggle with the victim. The police chief thought Sundahl was the main suspect, so he was quickly brought into the station and washed off. It was discovered that he had covered the scars of his struggle with Bonnie by using her makeup. Minutes after being discovered with the scars, he broke down and confessed to the crime.[3]