CARVER COUNTY, Minn. — It was a surprising conclusion to a rural Minnesota murder mystery.
Law enforcement discovered 90-year-old Earl Olander dead in his Carver County farmstead home on April 11, 2015. With his hands tied behind his back and obvious signs of blunt force trauma to the head, the case was deemed a homicide.
Yet it wasn’t clear who would want the elderly farmer dead.
For one month, investigators attempted to put the pieces of the case together. Olander had no known enemies, and his life seemed to model the classic mold of Midwestern simplicity.
“You’re always looking for that one nugget, that one thing that comes in that allows you to solve the case,” Retired Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said in a 2022 episode of “20/20” dedicated to Olander’s case, now available on Hulu.
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And then, they got a major break in the case.
Roughly one month after investigators found Olander’s body, they received a call from a house cleaner who reported a miraculous discovery, according to 20/20.
While cleaning an apartment, the cleaner discovered a Norwegian-language Bible. Inside the pages of the Bible were savings bonds belonging to Olander.
Investigators hopped on the lead and tracked down the owner of the apartment, Edson Benitez.
Benitez didn’t come clean at first, but eventually told investigators that his friend, Reinol Vergara, was hired to paint Olander’s home – and during that job, he realized the elderly man was worth a lot of money.
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Cell phone records obtained by investigators proved both men were at the scene of the crime on the day it occurred. Benitez confessed to investigators that he drove the getaway vehicle, while Vergara went in to take the money.
Benitez told investigators he witnessed Olander tied up, with his hands behind his back, while he struggled on the floor – and that’s when Vergara began beating the 90-year-old man.
In 2016, Benetiz and Vergara pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and were each sentenced to 37 years in prison.
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The full 20/20 episode related to the murder of the Minnesota farmer, “Divine Intervention,” is available to stream on Hulu. It can also be seen here .
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By Trisha Taurinskas
Trisha Taurinskas is an enterprise crime reporter for Forum Communications Co., specializing in stories related to missing persons, unsolved crime and general intrigue. Her work is primarily featured on The Vault.
Trisha is also the host of The Vault podcast.
Trisha began her journalism career at Wisconsin Public Radio. She transitioned to print journalism in 2008, and has since covered local, national and international issues related to crime, politics, education and the environment.
Trisha can be reached at ttaurinskas@forumcomm.com.
