We had talks like real good friends at dinners. What followed was far worse: On Dec. 28, 1993, his wife, Suzanne Olds, was found bludgeoned to death at their home in Wilmette. The Olds family--daughters Kristin Glavin and Courtney Olds, and a son, Stephen Dean Olds--have found some solace amid the tragedy of losing their mother, and in effect, their father too. Nevertheless, Olds still was a man whose career was in tatters, whose fortune was largely dissipated, and whose existence was still shadowed by the murder of his wife of more than 30 years. The judgment, awarded to Suzanne Olds' estate by Cook County Circuit Judge Calvin Hall, falls short of the sum Suzanne Olds' lawyers believe Dean and Hofer spent, although it comes on top of the $2 million in remaining marital assets that Olds forfeited because of his role in the murder. . It is assumed that the pregnancy occurred close to Rory's 22nd birthday. Keep scrolling to see more of this historic Palm Springs property. Under questioning by Hofer's attorney, Richard Kling, Stephen Olds said he didn't remember telling Wilmette police after the slaying that his father was "so intelligent and arrogant that he thought he could get away with murder.". But in 1990, he won the biggest case of his career representing the little guy in a battle against Quaker Oats and its sports drink Gatorade. He sold his company in 1984 but remained a spokesman for it until 2003. Soft-spoken and charming, he had been living on little but his looks and his wits for years. Ms. Olds avoided her fathers gaze Wednesday as she told a judge that her mother repeatedly asked her grown daughters how to keep safe. The high-top boots were traced to a Chicago shoe store with the help of someone who was with Hofer when he bought them, Goebel said. Dean Olds and Carsten Hofer were questioned shortly after the murder, and both retained lawyers. Sue Olds had gone to work out at the Evanston Athletic Club, stopped for groceries at the Treasure Island, and now was at home, about to take her golden retriever, Murphy, out for a walk. Dean Olds bought him a round-trip ticket to Munich with a May 12th departure date and an open return. Hofer denied the two were lovers, but photographs accidentally discovered by one of the Olds daughters show them in intimate situations. He chatted about his travel plans and reminisced a little wistfully about his life with Hofer. Minutes earlier, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Malak had rejected a motion by lawyers for Suzanne Olds' estate that Dean Olds be barred from testifying about events over which he consistently pleaded the . Then on December 28, 1993, Suzanne was found beaten to death in the driveway of her home. She was program chair of the Forty Acres Bird and Garden Club one year, president another. Insurance didnt cover the loss, according to court records, because Hofer did not have the proper type of license. . The vote wasnt anywhere near unanimous, Pavlak said. It was a crime of hatred, not a crime of burglary or robbery, Goebel said. A court-appointed receiver, attorney John Kneafsey, was retained to set up an account that would take in Oldss salary from the law firm and disburse the funds, including $9,000 a month in maintenance for Sue Olds and living expenses for Dean Olds. [23][24], Murders of Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman, Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 01:51, "Case of girls missing since 1999 gets new look", "Man Arrested in Nearly 20-Year-Old Cold Case Killing of Teens, Couple", "Murder Charges Filed in 18-Year-Old Oklahoma Abduction Case", "Disappearance of two Okla. girls stumped police for 18 years. His affair with the American actor ended suddenly, he says, and he moved into the apartment that Olds had recently rented on East Ohio Street after moving out of the house in Wilmette. Like many women of her generation, Sue Olds, who was 56 when she was killed, led a sheltered life. By now, they were deeply concerned. [8] Initially, no other remains were located, leading local law enforcement to extrapolate that Ashley's father, Danny Freeman, had slain his wife and fled with both girls. Ergo, once you have a skunk, you know who killed my wife. It had been founded in 1917 by two specialists in what today is called intellectual property law, a practice involving patents, trade secrets, trademarks, and copyrights. Even before the murder, Olds had been on a terrible slide for a year treated for alcoholism, forced to resign from his law firm, deep in debt, and with his savings apparently gone. Glavin found the body of his mother-in-law on the floor of the garage. Olds says the last Rolls-Royce was sold in February 1993 to pay off some of the companys debts. Police say her attacker was so intent on killing that the blows to her head continued long after the 56-year-old woman died. A lifelong fan of classical music, Suzanne had ignored her son's advice and was found, slumped over a stoop in the garage, wearing her stereo headphones. SARAH NORDGREN December 7, 1995 CHICAGO (AP) _ Dean Olds had it all. Dean Olds and his wife Suzanne appeared to have it all -- a nice home, a 30-year marriage, and three grown children. But the two insist the business was real, if unsuccessful. Revisiting a Made-for-Netflix Scandal on the North Shore, 2020 Chicago magazine / A Chicago Tribune Media Group website. [19], On October 6, 2017, this case was covered on the podcast 'Unfound'. But matters just got worse. What Happened Dean Hopper? Hofers friend Douglas R. Kragness, an assistant Cook County public defender, accompanied Hofer to the police station when he was questioned, and later stated that Hofer was at his West Cornelia Avenue apartment at the time of the murder. In a week that saw a multimillion-dollar civil judgment against O.J. Mrs. Olds died anyway in a frenzy of violence in her garage. But Olds, who still officially lived at the house in Wilmette, ignored the order, according to Marcyan, and continued to send money to Hofer thousands of dollars at a time almost biweekly, totaling about $115,000 in 1992. In the spring of 1993, having sold everything in his apartment which also served as the office of the limo business Hofer packed up his two schnauzers, a giant and a miniature, and moved to Chicago. On December 29, 1999, high school friends Lauria Bible and Ashley Freeman spent the evening together celebrating Freeman's sixteenth birthday. ". "Most of the people I've known are too embarrassed to admit they've known me," Olds said, "too embarrassed to even have lunch with me because of the notoriety that I'm a killer. " "[16], In a public address, the Bible family issued a statement in which they stated they had been aware of the alleged photographs "for years," and that "At this time all focus is on finding Lauria and Ashley. In the late '60s, Dean stepped into the entrepreneurial ring by launching the Jimmy Dean Meat Company. Then on December 28, 1993, Suzanne was found beaten to death in the driveway of her home. Almost a year has gone by since Dean Olds made that trip out of Chicago, and even though the case has long since faded from the news, it is not over in the eyes of his estranged children. LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. Dean Olds wants his family back in Chicago to believe that he's destitute, sleeping on the floor of a "shack" he rents in a "top-secret" Laguna Beach location, maintaining his strength for much of the past year on a diet of sweet rolls. First, there was a bitter divorce proceeding and a freeze on his assets. I have a half-dozen good German fiends. [7] Earlier that day, the girls had spent time at a local pizzeria with Freeman's mother, Kathy. Over the next three years, Dean's double life would be exposed, and he would end up penniless and alone "Because of the O.J. If lack of money is indeed a concern, Olds, who is working as a paralegal under California's expansive notion of what law practitioners can do, disguises his poverty well. In January, David Biro was ordered to pay $41 million to the family of Nancy and Richard Langert of Winnetka for the 1990 murder of the newlyweds. ``They were the only two people in the world who didnt love her, Courtney Olds said as her eyes filled with tears. After a trial in the spring of 1990, the stunning decision came down from U.S. District Court judge Prentice H. Marshall in December: Quaker was ordered to pay $42.6 million to the Vermont company. Hofer stopped returning Hadys calls. Hofer said the idea was his, hatched when he was working as the assistant to the owner of an incentive travel business in Munich. News reports after the search wrapped up indicated it had been yet another dead end. Dropping out of school at the same time, he says he drifted through a series of short-term jobs from security guard to house cleaner in Hamburg and Munich. On September 30, 1955, actor James Dean was killed in a two-vehicle accident near Paso Robles, CA. Swimming pools, racquetball courts, weight room and fitness center, all the things a 67-year-old who walks stooped over would need to get back into top form. Hes a fine fellow, Olds said in an interview near the end of March. With Dean Olds. Suzanne and Dean Olds' son-in-law, Matthew Glavin, an attorney who discovered his mother-in-law's battered body in the garage of her home, has been hired by her estate to pursue the money trail, but it won't be easy. During his 21 years in that position, Donovan headed investigations into about 4,000 unexplained deaths and homicides, including some of the most notorious crimes in Buffalo over the past century.. His days at Willian Brinks Olds Hofer Gilson & Lione (there is no connection between Carsten Hofer and Roy E. Hofer, a name partner in the firm) were spent in a well-appointed office with a sweeping view of Chicago and Lake Michigan from the top of the NBC tower. 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