Christine LARSON

Notes:

Shown as 28 years and 4 months old in the 1905 state census which suggests that she was born in February of 1877.

Christine married Martinus Olssen STANGVIK about 1900. Martinus (son of Ole Olsson STANGVIK and Marit Martinusdatter TORVIK) was born on 16 Apr 1877 in Stangvik, Møre og Romsdal, Norway; died on 7 Mar 1949 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota; was buried in Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In the 1930 census she was living in St. Paul as a boarder with the Christian and Inga Sandvig family. Olga was a stenographer for a chemical manufacturing company.

Buried:
buried with her aunt Anna

Notes:

She was recorded as age 1 in the 1905 Minnesota state census.

Died:
last residence

Family/Spouse: Oscar OLSON. Oscar was buried in Standing Rock Cemetery, Fort Ransom, Ransom County, North Dakota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Or Marvel Clerry.

Living at home with his parents in the 1930 census. He was a laborer for a contractor.

He was still living with his parents in the 1935/36 Fergus Falls city directory but he was then a laborer for Otter Tail Power Co. Same in the 1937/38 Fergus Falls city directory.

In the 1941/42 Fergus Falls city directory, he and Mabel lived at 407 Bancroft Avenue West. He was a fireman for Otter Tail Power Co.

Marvil C. Stangvik, 95, Fergus Falls, died Friday, April 9, 2004, in Broen Memorial Home, Fergus Falls.

Mr. Stangvik was born June 9, 1908, in Dalton, Minn., where he grew up. On April 10, 1937, he married Mabel Amanda Olson in South Dakota. They lived in Fergus Falls, where he worked for Otter Tail Power Co. and became superintendent of the Hoot Lake plant, retiring in 1970. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.

He is survived by two sons, Steven (Clydene), Fergus Falls, Philip, Faribault, Minn.; a daughter, Karen Peterson, Battle Lake, Minn.; four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

Died:
died at Broen Memorial Home in Fergus Falls

Marvil married Mabel Amanda OLSON on 10 Apr 1937 in Sisseton, Roberts County, South Dakota. Mabel was born on 3 Mar 1909 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota; died on 20 Feb 2002 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota; was buried in Knollwood Memorial Gardens, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joyce. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2015-MN-028957
• Baptism: 30 Jan 1938, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Notes:

Or Philip Clerry.

According to a newspaper account dated Saturday, July 6, 1963:

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. (AP) - A mental patient, on temporary leave from a state hospital, was sought for questioning today after his wife and two little children were found dead, their throats cut. Philip Stangvik, 25, was released from Fergus Falls State Hospital Wednesday for a nine day visit with his parents here, and his wife and babies.

--
Another newspaper account dated the next day:

Admits Slayings

A young husband and father, on leave from the state mental hospital in Fergus Falls, Minn., signed a statement yesterday, Sheriff Russell Brooberg said, admitting he cut the throats of his wife and their two children Thursday night. Philip Stangvik, 25, was found and arrested without incident Saturday in the hayloft of a barn. The sheriff said Stangvik gave no reason for the slayings but said he had been planning them. A babysitter, appearing at Mrs. Stangvik’s home Friday, found the bodies of the 21 year-old woman and the children, Rebecca Lynn, 2, and Scott Philip, 11 months old.

--
From court proceedings in September of 1968 in which Philip Stangvik (”relator”) argued that he had been coerced to plead guilty to the three murders:

In resolving this issue, it is necessary to recite in some detail the chronology of events which resulted in these convictions. In November 1961, relator was taken from the Hennepin County jail to the psychiatric ward of Glenwood Hills Hospital for observation after being charged with assaulting his wife and threatening to kill their children. The probate court thereupon committed him to the St. Peter State Security Hospital where he remained until May 17, 1962, when he was restored to capacity. About a year later, on April 22, 1963, he was committed to the Fergus Falls State Hospital by the probate court of Otter Tail County. The hospital record, prepared at the time of his admission in 1963, disclosed the following:

"The patient has had delusional thinking in that he has been convinced that his wife has been unfaithful to him, and that she has put things in his food that would be harmful to him. * * *

"* * * In Sept. 1961 he tried to smother his daughter with a pillow. Eventually, in Oct. 1961, he was angry at his wife because she did not hurry to iron a shirt as soon as she got home from work. He held her arm behind her back and twisted it until he broke it. He had previously held a knife to her back and threatened to kill her."

Relator's wife joined in petitioning for his discharge in May 1962. However, the hospital report goes on to say:

"* * * He has recently been hitting the children and getting angry for nothing, and then, on the other hand, he would be extremely indulgent toward them when he should be firm. * * * All of the above behavior made the informant and his parents think perhaps he should be observed in a mental hospital."

By the end of May 1963, defendant was permitted to visit his parents for periods of 3 days at 10-day intervals. It was during one of such visits on July 4, 1963, that he stabbed to death his wife and two children.

Relator was apprehended on July 6, 1963, and indicted for murder on July 22, 1963. He was first arraigned on September 23, 1963, at which time counsel was appointed to represent him. Thereupon, the matter was continued without a plea until October 8, when counsel entered a plea of not guilty.

On November 12, 1963, relator petitioned the court for an order holding him incapable of conducting his own defense by virtue of insanity as provided by ? 611.026. Accordingly, the court appointed a commission consisting of a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and a probate judge to inquire into the matter. On January 13, 1964, the commission filed a detailed report which concluded with a finding that relator was not in a state of idiocy, imbecility, lunacy, or insanity so as to be incapable of understanding the criminal proceedings pending against him or making a defense thereto.

Relator readily admitted to the commission that he had killed his wife. Among other things, he indicated a desire to accept punishment, adding, "I am tired of institutions." However, in the same interview he stated he did not mind being in the hospital. Thereafter, he told the commission, "If I was in a mental institution, I would be there the rest of my life. * * * In prison I will have a chance to obtain a parole."

The trial court adopted the commission's findings and ordered relator to stand trial. Concurrently, the court denied a motion made on November 12, 1963, "for an Order finding that said defendant, Philip C. Stangvik, at the time of committing the alleged criminal acts was laboring under such a defect of reason as not to know the nature of his acts or that they were wrong." The motion was denied with a memo attached by the Honorable Rol E. Barron as follows:

"There is no showing in the slightest that on the date of the crime, to-wit: July 4, 1963, Philip C. Stangvik was in a state of insanity as not to know the nature of his acts or that they were wrong."

Thereafter, venue was changed to Clay County. On April 27, 1964, Judge Barron summoned relator, his counsel, and the prosecutor, and read them a letter which he had just received from relator, as follows:

"When I committed this crime last year, July 4, 1963 about 11:00 p.m. I knew what I was doing all the time, and I still know it, and that's why I can't see that people think there is something wrong with me. I know myself better than anyone, and there is definitely nothing wrong with me. I am no different now than when I was 20 years old. I am very sorry I have committed this crime, but it's too late now to go back and look in the past."

The court further stated that it was his understanding from counsel that defendant wished to plead guilty to three indictments for murder and that the state would reduce the charges involving the death of relator's children from first-degree murder to second-degree if relator pled guilty to first-degree murder with respect to the death of his wife. Counsel acquiesced. Thereupon, relator was interrogated by the court and stated that he was presently sane and was sane at the time he committed the murders; that he knew what he was doing and knew that it was wrong; that no one had used any threats or coercion or promises of any kind to change his plea to guilty; and that he was entering a plea of guilty of his own free will. Counsel then asked relator for the record whether he had advised relator to plead guilty, to which relator answered in the negative. Counsel stated he wished the record to show that the plea of guilty was relator's own idea. Before imposing sentence, the court asked relator whether he realized that a life sentence for first-degree murder was mandatory, to which relator answered in the affirmative. Thereupon, he was sentenced to life imprisonment on the indictment for murder in the first degree and 40 years on each of the other two indictments for murder in the second degree, all of the sentences to run concurrently.

The petition for a writ, executed in July 1966, resulted in an evidentiary hearing in the District Court of Washington County. There relator testified that he had written to Judge Barron to avoid being sent to St. Peter. His counsel had advised him that if he pled not guilty by reason of insanity he "would probably go to St. Peter for about 15 years." On cross-examination, relator was interrogated with respect to a confession he had given the sheriff shortly after he was first apprehended. He admitted that his confession was correct in relating that he had stabbed and killed his wife and children and in the recitation that he had planned the crimes for some time. However, notwithstanding his confession and his letter to Judge Barron, in the hearing he denied that he knew what he was doing the night of the crime. He conceded, however, that he made a contrary statement to his counsel.

At the hearing, the attorney who represented relator in the trial court testified by deposition. He recited the unsuccessful attempts he had made to have relator examined by a qualified expert in anticipation of the defense of insanity, and how, at the hearing called by Judge Barron, he had advised relator not to enter a plea of guilty but to stand trial, and in any event to complete the examinations scheduled for that week. Defendant refused the advice. According to his counsel defendant said he would rather spend his time in Stillwater than in St. Peter. Relator was apprised of the consequences of pleading guilty, and his right to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, which, if successful, would result in his being sent to an institution without the stigma of having committed murder. "I tried to hammer home that point but he would not listen to me." Counsel told relator that even without expert testimony a jury might find him not guilty if he didn't know the difference between right and wrong. Counsel concluded by testifying that relator appeared rational at the time of arraignment and seemed to understand what was told him. In fact, counsel was of the opinion that relator should not take the witness stand because his rational appearance would convict him.

The Washington County District Court found:

"That each plea was entered by Philip C. Stangvik, petitioner herein, knowingly, willingly and voluntarily and at his own insistence during the time at which he was represented by competent counsel and that said petitioner was at all times during the critical stages of the proceedings surrounding his conviction well and ably represented by competent counsel."

The court concluded that relator was entitled to no relief. In an accompanying memorandum, the court noted that qualified medical authority had declared relator to be legally sane, both at the time of trial and at the time the crimes were committed.

We agree there is nothing in the record on which the court could base a finding that relator's plea of guilty was coerced or was not voluntarily or intelligently entered. All of the evidence is to the contrary. Three experts found relator capable of standing trial. The court concurred. Relator's own attorney fully advised him of his rights and the consequences of his plea, and attempted to dissuade him from pleading guilty. He too was of the opinion that relator was mentally competent to make his own decision. Even relator does not claim that he did not understand his rights. He relies on the contention, first advanced at the hearing, that he was induced to plead guilty by his own subjective aversion to being returned to a mental hospital. He does not suggest that there was any coercion or inducement imposed by anyone else. The thrust of the argument here is that his prior history of mental illness imposed on the court a duty to refuse a plea of guilty to permit a defense of insanity to be litigated. In that respect the case is unlike State v. Jensen, 278 Minn. 212, 153 N.W.2d 339, where we held that prior insanity of a permanent type is presumed to continue and imposes on the court an obligation to conduct a hearing with respect to the capacity of the accused to defend himself. Whether relator was criminally responsible within the meaning of ¶ 611.026 when he killed his wife and children is not the critical issue. All that we have before us is whether relator was competent to enter a plea of guilty and thereby waive the defense of insanity. State v. Seebold, 280 Minn. 241, 158 N.W.2d 854.

In view of the facts which we have recited, we hold as a matter of law that the conclusions of the court were fully supported by the record. Consequently, neither the trial court nor the court was obliged to set aside relator's plea of guilty.

--

As of 1994, he was an inmate in the Linden Ward at the Faribault State Prison.

He was not mentioned in his sister’s obituary.

He died at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul.

Philip married Velda Beryl HAMES on 20 Feb 1960 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Velda was born on 20 Mar 1942 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota; died on 4 Jul 1963 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota; was buried in Knollwood Memorial Gardens, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 2010-MN-017251
• Baptism: 26 Dec 1940, Fergus Falls, Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Notes:

Her obit:

Karen Marie Peterson was born on July 4, 1940 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota the daughter of Marvel and Mabel (Olson) Stangvik. Karen passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 12, 2010 at the age of 69, at the Lakeland Hospice House.  She was baptized and confirmed at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls and graduated from the Fergus Falls High School in 1958.  

Karen and Arthur S. Peterson were married on March 10, 1962 at the First Lutheran Church in Battle Lake, Minnesota where she remained a member.   After their marriage they lived in Moorhead. In 1969 they moved to their farm in Clitherall Township in rural Battle Lake.   Art and Karen dairy farmed, grain farmed, and raised beef cattle.   She enjoyed every aspect of farming with Art.  Karen liked the outdoors, doing yard work and took great pride in her home.   She loved baking, cooking and was also an avid reader. She also enjoyed doodling, puzzles, and playing games with her grandchildren. Karen also very much enjoyed shopping with her daughter and granddaughter. Karen also took great pride in watching her granddaughters Deidre, Crystal, and Samantha grow up to be such wonderful young women that they are today. She also enjoyed the time that she got to spend getting to know and love her great-granddaughter Danica. They have and will always enjoy the great memories that they had with their Gram. 

She is survived by one daughter, Kari (Mark) Miller of Battle Lake; three granddaughters, Deidre Miller of Battle Lake, Crystal Peterson of Wheaton and Samantha Peterson of Fargo; one great-granddaughter, Danica Peterson of Wheaton; one brother, Steven (Clydene) Stangvik of Fergus Falls; three sisters-in-law, Lucille Eckhardt of Fergus Falls, Marge (Virgil) Smith of Dent and Arlene Carlson of Plymouth and by numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

Karen was preceded in death by her husband, Art on February 18, 2002; son, Todd on June 19, 1988; parents, Marvel and Mabel Stangvik; father and mother-in-law, Sankey and Alma Peterson; two sisters-in-law and their husbands, Corinne and Art Wentzel and Frances and Armond Grage; one brother-in-law and his wife, Milton and Marcie Peterson.

A special thanks to Lakeland Hospice of Fergus Falls for the warm and loving care that Karen received over the past several months. All the staff were so kind and compassionate to Karen and were very special to Karen. They will always have a place in the hearts of her family.

Baptism:
Bethlehem Lutheran

Died:
Lakeland Hospice

Karen married Arthur Stanley PETERSON on 10 Mar 1962 in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Arthur was born on 9 Apr 1929 in Vining, Otter Tail County, Minnesota; died on 18 Feb 2002 in Battle Lake, Otter Tail County, Minnesota; was buried in First Lutheran Cemetery, Battle Lake, Otter Tail County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1963-MN-014722

Notes:

Murdered by her father.

Not mentioned in her grandmother Mabel’s obituary.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Minnesota Death Certificate: 1963-MN-014723

Notes:

Murdered by his father.

Not mentioned in his grandmother Mabel’s obituary.

Notes:

He graduated from Battle Lake High School in 1980, attended Alexandria Technical Institute. He had been a diesel mechanic in Billings before moving to the St. Cloud area in 1985. At the time of his death, he was employed by St. Cloud Trucking and Sales. He lived in Sauk Rapids, his wife and daughters in Brandon, Minnesota.

An article in the Star Tribune said that he was of Sauk Rapids and was fatally injured late Saturday night or early Sunday when his motorcycle went into a ditch along County Road 38 outside Urbank, Minnesota.

Died:
Saturday

Todd married L.M. WAGNER [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]