REOPENED: The Slide

Summary

Cold Case Files Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title: REOPENED: The Slide
Release Date: May 29, 2025

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1. Introduction to the Case

The podcast "Cold Case Files," hosted by Paula Barros and produced by A&E and PodcastOne, delves into one of the most challenging unsolved murders in Minneapolis from the year 1984. The episode titled "Reopened: The Slide" explores the tragic case of Agnes Wifrovich, a 69-year-old widow whose life was brutally taken during a home invasion intended for robbery and sexual assault.

Notable Quote:

• Brooke Giddings [00:00]: “In 1984, 69-year-old Agnes Wifrovich lived alone. She'd gotten divorced 15 years earlier. She had two children, a daughter and a son. They were grown and had moved away to start their own families.”

2. The Initial Crime and Investigation

Agnes Wifrovich was attacked in her Minneapolis home in the early hours of the morning. Though the intruder's intent was to rape and rob her, the assault led to Agnes suffering a fatal heart attack. When Sergeant Jim Heimerl arrived at the crime scene, he noted the disarray and signs of forced entry, indicative of a possible sexual assault.

Notable Quotes:

• Bill Curtis [01:07]: “Lay down on the ground. It's just past 5 am in the city of Minneapolis and Lt. Jim Heimerl is in pursuit of a drive-by shooter.”
• Jim Heimerl [01:22]: “They've got two weapons in a car recently fired. They hit him in a car. They tried to walk away from the vehicle.”
• Jim Heimerl [02:11]: “The victim's underwear had been pulled down around her ankles and her shoes off. I mean that's not a natural position and automatically that just tells you right then and there, more than likely a sexual assault of some kind.”

Sergeant Bob Nelson took the lead on the case, meticulously examining the ransacked home. Evidence such as smoking-related items and Agnes's missing checkbook became pivotal in understanding the motive and tracking down the perpetrator.

Notable Quotes:

• Bob Nelson [03:04]: “Her purse was dumped out and there was contents of her purse in the bathroom and that wasn't right. Doors were open and drawers were open in the kitchen like somebody was looking for something that wasn't normal.”
• Bill Curtis [05:36]: “The size of this A compared to this A. There's a different size, there's a different angle. And this letter R does not match with this letter R.”

3. Arrest and Wrongful Conviction

The critical breakthrough came when a forged check from Agnes’s account was traced to a local liquor store. The handwriting analysis revealed discrepancies, indicating that the check was not written by Agnes but was a simulated signature. This evidence led Nelson and his team to Bill Volmar Bailey, an ex-convict with a dubious alibi.

Bailey was apprehended and interrogated, but inconsistencies in his statements and his inability to provide a credible alibi raised suspicions. Despite the mounting evidence, Bailey was initially convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, due to a Miranda rights violation during the interrogation, his conviction was overturned two years later.

Notable Quotes:

• Bob Nelson [06:09]: “This was not written by Agnes. This is a simulated signature of Agnes by the person doing it."
• Bob Nelson [10:04]: “Everything he told us just was wrong... he did not want to give us a written statement.”
• Bob Nelson [20:33]: “I feel he's a psychotic personality. He's a very violent person.”

4. The Case Goes Cold

After Bailey's release from jail, the case slipped into obscurity for over fifteen years. During this period, Agnes’s granddaughter, Barb Koob, remained determined to seek justice for her grandmother. The case’s cold status was further solidified when key pieces of evidence, including the rape kit and victim's clothing, were inadvertently destroyed in 1992 during an evidence storage purge.

Notable Quotes:

• Barb Moe [12:37]: “This was a woman that was in her home living alone and a total innocent victim. So it's a case that you would like to see something come of somebody held accountable for it.”
• Barb Koob [16:59]: “I knew from looking at his criminal history that he was a very dangerous person that deserved a lengthy sentence.”

5. Reopening the Case

In May 2000, driven by a call from Virginia Golden—Agnes’s daughter seeking closure—Sergeant Barb Moe decided to reopen the case. Upon revisiting the evidence storage records, Barb Moe discovered that the physical evidence had been destroyed, presenting a significant hurdle in re-establishing the murder charges.

Notable Quotes:

• Barb Moe [12:04]: “She was still emotional about it and is still bothered enough to make a phone call, you know, to ask for help.”
• Barb Moe [13:05]: “It was upsetting because this was a woman that was in her home living alone and a total innocent victim.”

6. Breakthrough Evidence: The DNA Slide

Undeterred by the loss of physical evidence, Barb Moe hypothesized that the Medical Examiner might have retained separate DNA samples. This led to a meticulous search in the underground storage facilities of a downtown Minneapolis hospital. In a stroke of luck, DNA analyst Kathy Knudsen discovered two slides from the original autopsy.

Using advanced forensic techniques, Knudsen successfully extracted a partial DNA profile from the slides. This DNA matched Bill Bailey with a high degree of certainty, confirming his involvement in Agnes's murder.

Notable Quotes:

• Mike Furnstahl [15:09]: “It's like sandwiched in between two pieces of glass with some sticky glue in between.”
• Kathy Knudsen [16:14]: “I guess that's what DNA does.”
• Mike Furnstahl [16:14]: “You wouldn't expect to see this particular 5 locus DNA type more than once in 15 million individuals.”

7. Trial and Conviction

Armed with the DNA evidence, Nelson re-arrested Bailey in December 2000. The prosecution built a strong case combining DNA evidence, handwriting analysis, possession of a stolen check, and Bailey’s inconsistent statements. The first trial in February 2002 resulted in a guilty verdict. However, the conviction was overturned due to the aforementioned Miranda rights violation.

A second trial was held on September 21, 2005, where Bailey was found guilty once again. The reinforced case, now compliant with legal standards, solidified Bailey's conviction, ensuring he would serve a life sentence.

Notable Quotes:

• Barb Koob [16:59]: “We had, obviously the DNA evidence was very important to us, the handwriting evidence was important. We had Bailey being in possession of a stolen check and we had him giving a story that we could prove was not true.”
• Bob Nelson [20:46]: “He's the type of person that should be in prison the rest of his life and I think now he will be.”
• Kathy Knudsen [20:51]: “I don't think he's got emotion. I don't think he's got a conscience.”

8. Reflections and Closure

The resolution of Agnes Wifrovich's case brought immense relief and a sense of justice to her family and the investigators involved. Barb Koob expressed profound gratitude and emphasized the personal loss her family endured. The case underscores the significance of forensic advancements and relentless investigative efforts in solving crimes that once seemed insurmountable.

Notable Quotes:

• Barb Koob [21:08]: “Throughout the trial. I think everybody thinks of her as the victim and forgets she was a person. So I can't express what she was to our family, that she had a lot of friends.”
• Kathy Knudsen [19:35]: “All the cousins were holding hands and we all just yes. So yeah, crying and yeah, we were. It was done, it was over and he was going to get punished for it. Yeah. So it was a relief.”

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Conclusion

"Reopened: The Slide" serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring quest for justice and the critical role of forensic science in solving cold cases. Through dedication and the emergence of new technologies, Agnes Wifrovich's murder was finally brought to light, providing closure to her family and reinforcing the importance of never giving up on seeking truth.

Transcript

[Brooke Giddings]

This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Use your best judgment. In 1984, 69 year old Agnes Wifrovich lived alone. She'd gotten divorced 15 years earlier. She had two children, a daughter and a son. They were grown and had moved away to start their own families. That spring a the man broke into Agnes home intending to rape and rob her. Regardless of the man's intentions, Agnes died during the attack. She literally had a broken heart. From A and E this is Cold Case Files. I'm Brooke and here's the lauded Bill Curtis with a classic case. The slide.

[Bill Curtis]

Lay down on the ground. It's just past 5am in the city of Minneapolis and Lt. Jim Heimerl is in pursuit of a drive by shooter.

[Kathy Knudsen]

Get out of the car.

[Jim Heimerl]

They've got two weapons in a car recently fired. They hit him in a car. They tried to walk away from the vehicle. He just came around a corner in front of us, almost hit us. The majority of the killings they had a curry in Minneapolis, a curry in north Minneapolis right here. So these guys deal with it on a daily basis.

[Bill Curtis]

Jim Heimerl deals with violence every day. Today it's a drive by. 22 years ago, something very different.

[Jim Heimerl]

The phone rang and I assumed by the way the urgency of the call came in was that it was a homicide.

[Bill Curtis]

Dispatch sends Heimerl to a small house on the northeast side of Minneapolis. Inside the sergeant finds 69 year old Agnes Pfeifferowitz face down and dead.

[Jim Heimerl]

One of the things you look at when you walk in obviously is the room and the positioning of the body. The victim's underwear had been pulled down around her ankles and her shoes off. I mean that's not a natural position and automatically that just tells you right then and there, more than likely a sexual assault of some kind.

[Bill Curtis]

Highmerl works his way through the house and isolates the killer's point of entry.

[Jim Heimerl]

The first bedroom I actually walked into was his bedroom. And this is what I see right here. I see an open window. The screen had been removed. You can see where the glass had been removed. Broken out, the window's up.

[Bob Nelson]

Basically it was a whodunit. But there were some leads.

[Bill Curtis]

Sergeant Bob Nelson takes the lead on the case and examines the ransacked house.

[Bob Nelson]

Her purse was dumped out and there was contents of her purse in the bathroom and that wasn't right. Doors were open and drawers were open in the kitchen like somebody was looking for something that wasn't normal.

[Bill Curtis]

In the kitchen detectives find several cigarette butts. The evidence is bagged. The next Day, Nelson gets word that the victim's checkbook is missing. He puts a call out to the bank and waits for the killer to make a false step.

[Bob Nelson]

Well, I was. Yeah, hopeful. Generally, the suspects aren't that stupid that they go out and cash a check, but it was a shot.

[Bill Curtis]

Meanwhile, over at the morgue, doctors receive the body and begin the search for evidence. The cause of death was not as evident as it is in many cases. On May 21, Dr. Gary Peterson supervises the autopsy of Agnes Pfefrowitz. With no obvious signs of trauma, the cause of death is a mystery to police. That is, until the ME Opens up Agnes chest. The assault caused stress on the heart, extra demands on circulation, increased the heart rate, blood pressure. The heart, because of the underlying disease, was not able to withstand that. Agnes had a heart attack while she was being raped. The ME Collects semen and releases the body for burial. Meanwhile, Sergeant Nelson's phone is ringing. It's the break he's been waiting for.

[Bob Nelson]

Nelson. Hey, what's up?

[Bill Curtis]

On a Tuesday morning, Nelson takes a call from a manager at the bank.

[Bob Nelson]

They had just taken in these two checks. One appeared to be a forgery to her in that it didn't match Agnes Wofrovich's writing. The check was made out to Bill Volmar Bailey.

[Bill Curtis]

The check, in the amount of $230, was cashed at a local liquor store on Friday the 18th.

[Bob Nelson]

We believe that Agnes Rafovich was probably killed Wednesday night into Thursday morning of the 16th into the 17th. So she was already dead when this check was made out and cashed. You look at the starting stroke, you look at the height of the letters, you look at the baseline, you.

[Bill Curtis]

Nelson calls in a handwriting expert to compare the checks.

[Bob Nelson]

The size of this A compared to this A. There's a different size, there's a different angle. And this letter R does not match with this letter R. And plus, you have different slants. You have a slant here, and this slant is going straight up and the ending stroke and everything else is different. This was not written by Agnes. This is a simulated signature of Agnes by the person doing it. So we definitely wanted to find this person.

[Bill Curtis]

Nelson jumps in his car and heads to the liquor store looking for the man who cashed a check from a dead woman.

[Nancy Rowan]

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[Brooke Giddings]

Agnes Lefrovich died of a heart attack when a man broke into her home intending to rob and rape her. The man had stolen Agnes's checkbook and the police discovered that a check from her account was written out and cashed at a local liquor store. The investigators headed to the store to determine the name of their number one suspect.

[Bill Curtis]

His name, Bill Volmar Bailey.

[Bob Nelson]

So we went to the liquor store and we talked to Mr. Giddio, whose wife had taken in that check on Friday the 18th.

[Bill Curtis]

The store owner says Bailey is an ex con who moved to the area a month earlier.

[Bob Nelson]

We're talking to Mr. Giddio and he's giving us a description of this guy, a white male, about five nine. And, and I see this white male subject walking by right in front of the liquor store. And I said to Mr. Giddio, his back was to the window. I said, is that him? And he turned around and says, yeah, that's him. And so he walks right into his apartment here.

[Bill Curtis]

Minutes later, Bailey leaves the apartment. Nelson is right on his heels.

[Bob Nelson]

And he was walking across the lot here. My partner and I got in the unmarked squad car, the homicide squad, and we pull up on the wrong side of the street here where Mr. Bailey was. And approximately about right here, we got out of the car. He was smoking Camel cigarettes with the gold band underneath the filter, which were similar to cigarette butts that were found in the ashtray of the house.

[Bill Curtis]

Nelson puts Bailey in the squad car and turns up the heat.

[Bob Nelson]

I asked him why she had given him a check for $230. And he said, yeah, I. She wrote that to me. Why? Well, I did some work for her. What kind of work do you do for her? Well, I cut her grass. Yeah, I cut her grass. Cut her grass twice. How long ago? A couple days ago. Well, we already knew the grass was 7, 8 inches tall and it hadn't been cut in weeks. I asked him what else he did. He said he did a brake job for her car. He said he'd clean up the battery posts. We knew that was a lie because both battery posts were caked heavily with an acid crusted. So we felt very strongly that he was lying about everything he told us.

[Bill Curtis]

The investigators bring Bailey into the station, read him his rights and continue the questions.

[Bob Nelson]

Everything he told us just was wrong. And Snowbeck, my partner asked him about the check again. And Ron asked him if she was already dead when the check was written, how could that be? And. And he said, quote, that's a good question. That was about the last thing he had said to us pertaining to this case. And he didn't want to give us a written statement.

[Bill Curtis]

Bailey is arrested and charged with the murder of Agnes Fefrewitz.

[Bob Nelson]

Several months later, we found out from a burglary detective that he'd gotten Bailey in another set of three burglaries. Two of them were occupied dwellings where he'd assaulted the older women. And we were like, what's he doing out of prison or out of jail? And we found out that the county attorney had dismissed the case, dismissed the case against Bailey because the lab work came back and we didn't have DNA in them days. We were pretty mad. We were pretty mad.

[Bill Curtis]

After six months in jail, Bailey is back on the streets and the case slips into the cold files where it will stay for more than 15 years until a key piece of evidence turns up in the unlikeliest of places.

[Kathy Knudsen]

There was no other evidence to be found anywhere. As far as I know, this was definitely the last shot.

[Barb Moe]

We're in the basement of Minneapolis City hall and this is the evidence storage unit. I had come here looking for evidence on a 1984 murder case of Agnes Vafirewitz. She was a 69 year old female that had a heart attack during a rape.

[Bill Curtis]

Barb Moe is a sergeant in the Minneapolis Homicide Squad. In May of 2000, she takes a call about a murder some 15 years cold.

[Barb Moe]

I received a phone call one day and it was a woman, Virginia Golden. Her mother had been murdered in 1984 and she had called me. It was right around the anniversary of her mother's death. You can imagine, you know, without any kind of closure to this. She was still emotional about it and is still bothered enough to make a phone call, you know, to ask for help.

[Bill Curtis]

Mo agrees to take the case and heads to the property room. There she is, dealt a blow.

[Barb Moe]

In this case, all the physical evidence on record had been destroyed in 1992, and it was inadvertently destroyed because at the time they were trying to make space in the evidence unit and clear it out of unnecessary evidence. And I think the property sheets from this murder case had just inadvertently been placed in amongst the others and they were signed off as to be destroyed.

[Bill Curtis]

Among the items destroyed, the rape kit, cigarette butts and victims clothing. All items with potential for DNA. It's a mistake that could cost Moe her case.

[Barb Moe]

It was upsetting because this was a woman that was in her home living alone and a total innocent victim. So it's a case that you would like to see something come of somebody held accountable for it.

[Bill Curtis]

Over the next several weeks, Mo works the case, searching for a way to tie the murder to her suspect, Bill Bailey.

[Barb Moe]

I knew that there had been an autopsy done, so naturally there would have been a sexual assault exam done, which would have meant that they had obtained some samples from her.

[Bill Curtis]

Mo wonders if perhaps the medical examiner kept his own samples in a separate storage area. The sergeant figures it's worth a shot.

[Barb Moe]

Extremely hopeful. That's all we had to go on. So yeah, everything was riding on that.

[Kathy Knudsen]

This is the underground storage facility of our hospital. We keep old records, old slides, equipment, anything that doesn't actually have to be accessed on a regular basis.

[Bill Curtis]

In the basement of a hospital in downtown Minneapolis, Nancy Rowan searches through row after row of evidence, hoping to find the one slide that could crack a cold case.

[Kathy Knudsen]

It was just a regular cardboard box and it was dated SA slides 1984. The boxes look like this and they will have the year and then the number of the assault.

[Bill Curtis]

Inside the box, Rowan finds two slides collected at autopsy.

[Kathy Knudsen]

Well, I was glad that I had found it because then we at least had a chance. So I just pulled the slide and proceeded upstairs with it.

[Mike Furnstahl]

We just were really unsure as to what to expect.

[Bill Curtis]

Kathy Knudsen is a DNA analyst.

[Mike Furnstahl]

Essentially it was a one shot deal. You're working with limited sample, you're Working with sub quality, substandard quality DNA and essentially you need to use it all. When you do your one amplification.

[Bill Curtis]

On August 14th, Knudsen examines the slide.

[Mike Furnstahl]

I need to get to it. It's like sandwiched in between two pieces of glass with some sticky glue in between. And I wasn't going to be able. There's no way that I could get these cells off without removing all of that.

[Bill Curtis]

Knudsen uses heat to melt the glue and get to the DNA now, basically.

[Mike Furnstahl]

Just by waving it over the heat. What this is doing is it's softening that mounting medium and you'll see bubbles and you'll see it start to pull apart.

[Bill Curtis]

Knudsen is able to extract a partial profile from the slide. When compared to Bill Bailey, it's a match.

[Mike Furnstahl]

You wouldn't expect to see this particular 5 locus DNA type more than once in 15 million individuals.

[Kathy Knudsen]

I guess that's what DNA does.

[Bill Curtis]

Barb Koob is Agnes Vafrowicz's granddaughter. She has been waiting 16 years for a phone call from police.

[Kathy Knudsen]

I once heard something like DNA is the finger of God pointing down saying, you did it. And that's kind of how I felt about finally, you know, they're going to get him.

[Bill Curtis]

In December of 2000, Barb's prayers are answered as Bill Bailey is charged with the murder of Agnes Ferwitz.

[Barb Koob]

I knew from looking at his criminal history that he was a very dangerous person that deserved a lengthy sentence. So that was our mindset.

[Bill Curtis]

Mike Furnstahl prosecutes the case against Bailey.

[Barb Koob]

We felt fairly confident. We had, obviously the DNA evidence was very important to us, the handwriting evidence was important. We had Bailey being in possession of a stolen check and we had him giving a story that we could prove was not true. So we felt fairly confident.

[Nancy Rowan]

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[Bill Curtis]

The trial opens in February of 2002. After nearly three weeks, the jury returns a verdict. Barb Kub is there as the guilty verdict is ready.

[Kathy Knudsen]

All the cousins were holding hands and we all just yes. So yeah, crying and yeah, we were. It was done, it was over and he was going to get punished for it. Yeah. So it was a relief.

[Bill Curtis]

The relief, however, is short lived as the conviction is overturned two years later on a Miranda rights violation.

[Barb Koob]

After he was advised and he waived his rights, his story didn't change, so it was disappointing for them to rule that the statements were taken involuntarily. I knew he was a very dangerous person and so we were going to go back and start over again and retry him with every intention of convicting them again.

[Bill Curtis]

More than one year later, Bailey is back in court. On September 21, 2005, a second jury finds Bailey guilty of murder.

[Bob Nelson]

I feel he's a psychotic personality. He's a very violent person.

[Bill Curtis]

Sergeant Bob Nelson has waited more than two decades to see Bailey punished for his crimes.

[Bob Nelson]

He's the type of person that should be in prison the rest of his life and I think now he will be.

[Kathy Knudsen]

I don't think he's got emotion. I don't think he's got a conscience. He can't to do what he did to her and other women. He can't have a conscience.

[Bill Curtis]

At sentencing, Barb Koob has a chance to tell the court about the grandmother she has lost.

[Kathy Knudsen]

Throughout the trial. I think everybody thinks of her as the victim and forgets she was a person. So I can't express what she was to our family, that she had a lot of friends. She's a God fearing woman. She was a member of our family. We all missed.

[Brooke Giddings]

Billy bailey is currently 65 years old and continuing to serve a life sentence in Minnesota Cold Case Files the podcast is hosted by Brooke giddings, produced by McCamey, Lynn and Steve Delamater. Our associate producer is Julie McGruder. Our executive producer is Ted Butler. Our music was created by Blake Maples. This podcast is distributed by Podcast one. The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and is hosted by Bill Curtis. You can find me brookeginnings on Twitter and brookthepodcaster on Instagram. I'm also active in the Facebook group Podcasts for Justice. Check out more Cold case [e-mail] or learn more about cases like this one by visiting the AE Real Crime blog at AET pluto tv.com realcrime Pluto TV.

[Bill Curtis]

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[Barb Moe]

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