On December 15, 1993 at approximately 4:00 AM, our only son, Michael Wolfe, 25 years old, and Bruce Madsen, 32 years old, were found dead, burned beyond recognition, in a white 1991 Dodge Spirit car. The car was found parked on a remote stretch of ND Highway 68 just 1.25 miles inside the ND border.
Bruce Madsen was driving his mother's car that evening. He was found in the driver s seat. Michael Wolfe was found in the right front passenger seat. Madsen's seat was upright while Wolfe's seat latch was found to be broken and the seat was reclined.
The car had not been in an accident but was completely consumed by fire, including most of the metal. According to ND investigative reports, the temperature may have reached 1700 degrees.
Sidney, MT Coroner and Fireman Mike McCollum felt the position of the bodies was suspicious. Neither man was in the boxer position typical of fire victims He also observed a small hole in the left side of Madsen's head and another larger one on the right side of his head. He took a photo of the left side and we have had that photo enlarged. ND stated at first they saw no such hole and then later stated that it was caused by the fire. Mike McCollum also observed what appeared to be pieces of broken ribs laying on the floor behind Madsen s seat which had evidently fallen through the springs when the seat burned up. Fire may burn ribs but it would not break them. He took a photo of that but it turned out too dark to distinguish.
McCollum observed that some of the broken class was burned and sooty and some of it wasn't. Possibly the back window was broken before the fire. In March 1994, we picked up glass from the side of the road at the scene and we also found some glass was burned and some not. My daughter and I also picked up other items by the road and sent them to Billings with the bodies where a second autopsy was done by Dr. Kenneth Mueller. Dr. Mueller determined that the objects that we picked up by the road that had laid there for 3 months were, in fact, human bones and tissue. According to ND officials, the car doors were never opened out at the scene. We looked for holes in the floor where the bones may have fallen through and we found none. We can only wonder how the bones and tissue came to be lying there by the road. No parent should have to pick up parts of their child by the side of the road. One would assume that would have been done by law enforcement.
There were two shell casings and one unrifled bullet found in the car. We inquired about the caliber of bullets for many months. ND then went to Bruce Madsen's home and compared them to his SKS rifle shells and said the numbers matched. The Madsen family had taken the SKS rifle out of the house the day of the deaths. It was taken to Mr. Elver Madsen s residence in Helena, MT. The rifle was never checked for recent firing.
The keys to the ignition had melted but two other sets of keys were found that were still usable. They were returned to the Madsen family. All the metal in the car melted, but those two sets of keys survived the fire.
On Marc h 11, 1994, less than three months after the deaths, ND authorities closed the case. Dr. Smith determined the deaths to be the result of thermal injury and not smoke inhalation. The ND Fire Marshall Donald Temple concluded that the fire was accidental and it started in the engine/firewall area, on the left side of the vehicle. According to his report and I quote, "It is the determination of this office that the incident was undetermined."
ND investigators, Sheriff Reyburn Johnston of Watford City and BCI Dallas Carlson of Williston determined the men were sleeping or passed out at the time of the fire. When we viewed the autopsy video and photos of the bodies, we observed that Madsen's right arm was behind his back and that his head was so far back into the back seat that it was upside down This is not a normal sleeping position, or for that matter, a passed out position. Both men's heads were so far back as to raise suspicions of strangulation or throat-cutting by one or more back seat assailants, which might explain Wolfe's broken seat latch. ND investigators reported that from the position of the window channel the left front driver's window was completely down and the right back seat window was partially down. The drivers seat was missing when we obtained the car from the authorities. We asked where it was and were told by ND they didn't know.
The car was taped with the men's bodies still in it and taken to Fulkerson's Funeral Home in Sidney, MT where a dispute arose as to whether ND or MT would do the autopsy. There was concern about jurisdiction. ND States Attorney Dennis Johnson from Watford City, ND, decided to call Dr. John Smith from MT, not ND, to do the autopsy. Dr. Smith arrived about 9:00 PM that evening, about 15 or more hours after discovery of the bodies. The bodies remained in the car in the Sidney Fire Hall during that time.
When Dr. Smith arrived, a 4x8 sheet of plywood was used to make a table and he proceeded to do his field autopsy. He spent about 30 minutes on each body. Despite MT Coroner Mike McCollum's insistence that body x-ray be done and the head of Madsen preserved for evidence, Dr. Smith refused and continued with the autopsy. A saw was found in the fire hall and with it, Madsen's head was removed and destroyed with the constant banging on the table while sawing. A piece of crucial evidence may have been destroyed at that time. The autopsies were done on the same sheet of plywood and the area wasn't cleaned in between each autopsy. Body parts of both men were mixed and thrown in a garbage can. Some body parts were kept for testing, such as liver, lung, urine and blood samples.
Fire Marshall Donald Temple wanted to do a grid on the car interior and the position of the bodies. Dr. Smith refused and proceeded with his autopsy. Dr. Smith was going to leave the garbage sack of body parts with Fulkerson's Funeral Home but Coroner Mike McCollum insisted that they be taken to Minot and x-rayed.
The blood alcohol in Wolfe was .33 and .30 in Madsen. The first tests done for carbon monoxide showed 10% for Wolfe and 1% for Madsen. When we kept insisting that was not high enough to cause death, ND did another test on liver blood on July 8,1994; and the results were then shown to be 18.9% for Madsen and 16.8% for Wolfe. ND was cooperative in sending the reports to us, but we still have not received the fuel comparison tests that show what fuel was on Madsen's foot, shoe and sock. When we asked, we were told the fuel had evaporated. This was a critical bit of evidence that may well have answered the question of homicide or accident.
ND officials made statements in the news papers that the fire may have started with Madsen's lighter or from the catalytic converter. The Madsen family found Bruce's lighter in one of his other vehicles. We checked the catalytic converter on the car and took photos. The catalytic converter was not touched by fire. None of the underside of the car was burned, including the grass under the car at the scene.
Mike Wolfe had told us that he was afraid for his life months before his death. He went so far as to give us the names of two law officers that he felt were going to have him killed. He also made such statements to others who came forward to tell us about it after his death The names he gave them were the same. Both Wolfe and Madsen had a history of alcoholism and drug use. There is the possibility the deaths may have been drug-related.
Bruce Madsen had also been distraught before his death and had made statements to his fiancee that concerned her. Bruce's house was arsoned on September 5, 1993, about 3 months before his death. There was a suspect but no one was ever arrested.
We began to get telephone hang-up calls about two weeks after the deaths. They have continued for three years. If the purpose was to intimidate the families, they have not succeeded. Both families continue to look for answers.
All of our findings were in direct conflict with the ND findings. While doing the autopsy on Madsen, Dr. Mueller observed that the inside of Madsen s mouth was more severely burned than the outside. When we asked him about this, he stated that it would appear that something had been poured in Madsen s mouth to cause it to burn more severely inside than outside. Dr. Mueller stated in his autopsy report and I quote, "The scene and circumstances and these post mortem findings in combination make it seem reasonable to me that we assign the cause of death as homicidal violence of undetermined nature." In February 1994, the Safeco Insurance hired CFl investigator, David Harrington. His 23 page report stated in part, "The fire was set in the front of the passenger compartment. A flammable liquid accelerant was used. The liquid was most probably gasoline. The driver was dead before the fire. The occupant was either dead or dying at the time the fire was set." The May 1995, Chrysler Corporation investigation, done by R D. Banta, stated "This fire was a deliberate act caused by the introduction of a large quantity of a liquid accelerant (likely gasoline) to both the exterior and interior areas of the vehicle."
A petition requesting further investigation into the deaths was circulated around Sidney and other areas. 2753 signatures were obtained in a very short time. These petitions, our investigations from private investigators, reports, statements, Chrysler Report, Safeco Insurance Report, and Dr. Mueller's autopsy findings were sent to the following offices: MT FBI Scott Cruise, MT Governor Marc Raciot, MT Attorney General Joe Mazurek, ND FBI Jane Turner, ND Governor Ed Schafer and ND Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp. We waited in anticipation for their replies but were deeply disappointed when they came. Each had reasons for not pursuing the case. We needed help badly, and were hopeful that one of these offices would be concerned enough to seek justice in this matter.
MT FBI Agent Scott Cruise stated in a meeting with us that if we could find some evidence that the men were transported across state lines, they could help us. With no further official investigation, that has been hard to prove
Many people in our community and the surrounding area have came to us with information which has accumulated to hundreds of pages in the past three years. They are deeply concerned about the lack of investigation into the deaths of these two men. They and we are very concerned over the fact that there is no one in the criminal justice system that we citizens can go to for help in cases such as this. The biggest problem we have run into in this investigation has been state jurisdiction. We need legislation to alleviate this problem for future cases so that no other family has to go through what we have for the past three years. We desperately need an outside investigative committee which would be made available for citizens such as ourselves when we have exhausted all other avenues of assistance.
It is a terrible tragedy to lose a child, let alone by violence. It is even more tragic when no one cares.
Virginia Wolfe
Route 1- Box 2067
Sidney, MT 59270
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