More than 40 years after Ida Stutzman's death, crime writer and amateur detective Greg Olsen continues to seek justice for her.
“I couldn't get that out of my head,” said the author of the new book “Amish Wife: Uncovering the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Freed a Murderer” (Thomas & Mercer, on sale now). post. “I believe—I know –Ida was killed. ”
In July 1977, Ida, a 26-year-old pregnant Amish woman, was found dead on her family's farm in Dalton, Ohio. Her husband, Eli Stutzman, claimed he collapsed while trying to save her milking equipment from the fire. Ida's death was officially attributed to natural causes, specifically to her weak heart.
Less than two years after Ida's death, Eli fled the Amish community with his young son, Danny. More deaths followed.
Their journey takes them from Ohio to Colorado, where Eli has had numerous relationships with gay men and (as of this writing) has several unresolved relationships, including his ex-girlfriends David Tyler and Dennis Sleater. became the main suspect in the death of
In May 1985, Eli's roommate, Glenn Pritchett, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the eye. Later that year, young Danny was found frozen to death in a field.
Eli was found guilty of Pritchett's murder and abandonment of his son, but the cause of his death was deemed “inconclusive.” (Stutzman claimed his son had a respiratory infection and died in his sleep.) He was sentenced to 40 years in prison and was paroled in 2005. Two years later, he committed suicide.
A new book delves into the case and discovers new evidence that Eli killed Ida.
“Despite the suspicious circumstances, he was not investigated as a suspect,” Olsen wrote.
He points out that Eli was confused as to what Ida had gone into the barn to save and why a pregnant woman would be alone in the fire. There was also the fact that Ida's doctor had never heard of her heart condition.
Despite Eli's death, Olsen, who also wrote about the case in his 2002 book “Abandoned Prayer: An Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets,” remains nervous about the investigation. was.
“Some members of the community wanted to keep these secrets hidden forever,” he says. He said even Ida's older brother Daniel Gingerich was reluctant to talk to her.
“I've always said, all I want to know is the truth,” he told Olsen. “But I'm not need To know that. Most of my family would say, “Oh, Dan, stop it.” Please leave me alone. ”
The Gingerich and Stutzman families belonged to the Schwarzentruber Order, an ultra-conservative Amish sect. They weren't keen on talking to outsiders, and they certainly weren't writers digging in the dirt like Olsen.
“They don't want to be involved in our world, the 'British world' as they call it,” Olsen said. “They prefer to handle problems themselves.”
It also doesn't help that many of the people he first interviewed 30 years ago, from Ida's parents to Wayne County Sheriff Jim Frost to the coroner who performed Ida's autopsy, have passed away. He did not, but he claims he may have been involved in the incident. He covered up Ida's murder to protect his secret sexual relationship with Stutzman. Like Stutzman, Frost took his own life in 1998.
But Mr. Olsen found several people willing to talk, including a potentially key witness, Eli Stutzman's cousin, Eli Stutzman, who happens to have the same name. Young Eli, now 57 years old, was employed on his uncle's farm and was one of the first to discover Ida's body.
During a tense interview with Olsen, he revealed new details about the night Ida died. The kerosene lamps on the main floor of the house had all been lit – suspiciously – at some point after the barn fire was discovered.
“There's a fire burning outside, livestock and equipment to rescue, and Ida or Eli takes the time to light the lamp,” Olsen writes. “I do not understand the meaning.”
Then there was the issue of Aida's clothing. Her body was found in a daytime trench coat, not a nightgown, even though she allegedly jumped out of bed and ran into the burning barn.
“Traditional Amish clothing is very complex,” Olsen told the Post. “You might need 20 to 40 pins. It's not something you can just slip in, especially if you're scared and in a hurry.”
They also discovered that Ida's autopsy report, which the coroner had refused to share with her in 1989, contained corrections. “There was a huge gap where someone whitewashed an entire block of text,” Olsen told the Post. “And there was different handwriting on certain sections, as if more than one person had made the changes. It was all so weird.”
There is also a plan, long whispered among the locals but never spoken of publicly until now, that Ida will speak to the bishop about Stutzman and confess about “either she saw it or found it.” Olsen writes that there were also rumors that he had set up an office. “Maybe she witnessed him having sex with another man.”
That would explain why Sheriff Frost, who had an affair with Stutzman, was so quick to accept her grieving husband's version of events. Frost “knew Eli was a liar and a fabricator,” Olsen said. “And yet he turned a blind eye. He basically said, 'Oh, sure, this seems like an accident.' Let's call it a natural cause and move on. ”
Olsen left Ohio State last April without definitive answers. However, he writes: “There is no doubt that Ida was murdered. This is a strong case, but due to the passage of time, it is mostly circumstantial. There is no forensic science to speak of.”
All he wants now is accountability for the county to admit that a mistake was made and that the potential killer was never given a proper investigation.
“This is a story about a conspiracy to cover up a crime and release a serial killer. It's clear to me. I hope this book will give others the courage to come forward with information,” he said. said. “Whenever, or even if, it happens, the dominoes will start falling.”
