OLIVIA – The Eugene Elling murder case was closed Saturday afternoon with a bizarre twist.

Elling, 36, of rural Hector had been charged with first degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Harlow Jorgenson, 56, of rural Stewart.

The trial was to have started Tuesday.

REASON for closure of the case is that on Friday Elling made two confessions, according to Assistant Renville County Atty, Tom Simmons.

Elling pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second degree murder of Jorgenson and to a first degree manslaughter charge in the death of a rural Danube girl, Mary Dawn Raddatz, missing since Aug. 10,1974.

The twin confession, Simmons said, was the result of a plea bargain with Ellings attorney, John Carey of Fairfax. Simmons said Elling will receive the maximum sentence on both convictions — 40 years for second degree murder and 15 years for manslaughter-to be served concurrently at Stillwater State Prison.

THE COURT has recommeneded no parole for Elling, he said.

The deal was struck, Simmons said, due to information acknowledged to have come from Elling leading to the discovery of Raddatz’s body in a field eight miles north of Hector under four feet of dirt 11 a.m. Friday.

Digging procedures had begun Wednesday night, he said, after the information was received. The digging had been postponed Thursday due to the blizzard. Raddatz was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Helmuth Raddatz and the niece of Professor Darvin Raddatz of Dr. Martin Luther College of New Ulm. She was discovered missing from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Bratsch of rural Renville, where she had been baby-sitting the night of Aug. 10, 1974.

ELLING had been a suspect from the start, Simmons said, but the state lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute. Cause of Raddatz’s death was attributed to strangulation. The death apparently occurred at the Bratsch home, Simmons observed at a Saturday afternoon press conference at the Renville County Courthouse in Olivia.

Elling told authorities Friday, subsequent to his plea, that he had never seen Raddatz before that night. He was a friend of the Bratsch family, Simmons said.

“He had knowledge that the Bratsches were not home” he said,”but he thought they would be home later.”

When he went to the house later,”he indicated she became frightened,” the assistant county attorney said, and Elling tried to quiet her down.

The field where the body was found had been tiled in August 1974.

Her body was found in the covered ditch.

ELLING had been arrested and charged with first degree murder in May after Jorgenson’s body was found in the ruins of a barn fire near Dassel.

A Hennepin County pathologist had determined Jorgenson had been shot to death. He had been missing from his farm since the weekend of Feb. 8.

Apparent reasons for the shooting, Simmons said, was a dispute between the two men.

IN EARLY June, a Renville County grand jury returned an indictment of first degree murder. Elling’s association with Jorgenson was that he and his wife had once worked for Jorgenson at Jorgenson’s farm.

Elling had separated from his wife prior to the Raddatz disappearance and had been employed as a pole barn construction worker, Simmons said.

Psychological tests have been performed and Elling had been found competent for trial, Simmons said.

New Ulm Daily Journal

Nov. 23, 1975