Posted: 4/12/05
Stolen gun recovered after 24 years
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Itís a ìCold Caseî file, Spring Grove style.
One of nine long guns that were stolen from Bjerke Hardware in July of 1980 has been recovered.
Then-police chief Warren Johnson and Houston County Sheriffís Department investigator Brian Wetterlin pursued the case those 25 years ago. They entered the serial numbers of the guns into the National Crime Information Centerís (NCIC) data base.
In January of this year, a person who had one of the stolen guns took it to a pawn shop in Ramsey County and pawned it.
Pawn shops are routinely checked for stolen items. Minneapolis Police Department entered the serial number of the gun into the NCIC database and got a hit that it had been stolen from Spring Grove. On February 4 they forwarded the information to the Houston County Sheriffís Office, who in turn notified Paul Folz, Spring Grove Police Chief.
Folz called the Minneapolis Police Department, and had them send him the gun, an Ithaca Model 37 .12 gauge shotgun. It arrived in March, and is now at the police station. Folz hasnít tested the weapon, and he isnít sure what the department will do with it.
Folz said on April 6 that he hadnít been able to make contact with the person who pawned the gun.
ìI would anticipate at this point that there are probably not going to be any charges,î he said. ìIt appears that at least one person was held accountable by the judicial system for the crime based on what Iíve found out through the records.î
That person was Gynther Allen Benson Jr., Caledonia, who was 30 at the time. Benson was convicted of the burglary and off another one at the James Barnes residence in Spring Grove, on July 15, 1980. He pled guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to commit felony theft on October 6, 1980. Benson was sentenced to 22-1/2 months in prison. His attorney at the time was James Fabian, who is now the Third District Court judge.
According to the case file, which was retrieved from the basement of the Houston County Courthouse by trusty court administration lead worker Joanne Schuldt, Benson sold the guns in a parking lot in St. Paul the morning of the burglary.
ìItís actually been kind of fun just to go back,î Folz said. ìKind of a cold case, so to speak.î
It just took 24 years to put all the components together,î Folz said.
The insurance company paid the claim for the stolen merchandise to Harold Bjerke after the burglary took place, Folz said. That meant that the insurance company owned the guns. But the insurance company has since been sold a couple times. ìIt was difficult locating any records,î Folz said.
Folz said the case offers a good reminder for citizens to record serial numbers and model numbers for their property in case it is stolen. It can lead to faster recovery, in fact much faster than 24 years.
ìWeíre going to ask for that anytime we respond,î Folz said.
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