Chapter 1

Murdelicious Pod

The Cases are cold, but the food is hot

Episode 047: Below the Surface, Part One: Sherry

Episode Description:

Welcome to season three! Today we are returning to Minnesota, but instead of the great north woods of season one, we will be venturing to the Twin Cities, not far from where Stacie and Emilia grew up. Stacie has been researching and sitting on this case for almost a year. Six deaths. Three neighboring suburbs northwest of Minneapolis. Over the span of four years and then nothing, the deaths stop as suddenly as they started. Every single case closed. Most were ruled accidental. One man was acquitted.

Emilia is making Ole’s Famous Tater-Tot Hot Dish with today’s episode. She hasn’t made it in years. Her grandmother used to make for every family dinner. Stacie is reading from a file from the investigation of the death of Sherry Lindquist.

We start at the beginning, Sherry Lindquist was a teacher, she had eleven weeks until retirement. She had a list.

Content note: This series discusses murder, institutional failure, deaths of a minor and a young woman, if you are listening with children, this is not for them.

Murdelicious Pod is a true crime podcast hosted by Cold Case Investigator Stacie Coolidge and Michelin Star chef Emilia Hansen-Veneti. New Episodes every Monday. Transcripts are auto generated by podscribe and may contain errors.

[00:00:02] Stacie: Welcome to Season Three of Murdelicious, the podcast that combines cold cases with hot food, I’m Stacie Coolidge.

[00:00:05] Emilia: And I’m Emilia Hansen-Veneti. I want to say a big thank you to our fans for bringing the needed evidence in the Sand Diego Slicer case to our attention, with your help, the suspect is currently being held and properly charged.

[00:00:10] Stacie: I want to echo Emilia’s thanks, and hopefully we can help more families find closure with this case.

[00:00:14] Emilia: Where are we going this season, Stacie?

[00:00:18] Stacie: I’m glad you asked, Emilia, we are heading back to our home state, good ol’ Minnesota. Before we get into the details of why I choose this series of deaths, why don’t you tell our listeners what you’ll be making today.

[00:00:25] Emilia: The land of ten thousand lakes and passive aggression. [Stacie laughs] Today, I am going to introduce our non-Midwest followers to a MN staple, a dish I haven’t made in almost eight years, but as I pull out the worn index card my paternal grandma Lena wrote this recipe on, I’m transported back to her kitchen, meticulously lining a glass 9x13 pan with tater-tots. [Pause] That’s right. I am making tater-tot hot dish!

[00:00:35] Stacie: Oh, that brings back memories.

[00:00:40] Emilia: It really does, my grandma Lena would make this for every occasion, celebrations, breakups, funerals, it was the staple on my dad’s side of my family. And as I get the ground beef browning I can’t help but think about when I told my grandmother I wanted to be a chef, she taught me how to brown the beef, it’s not how they teach it in culinary school, but it was a core memory for me.

[00:00:55] Stacie: Why don’t you explain what a tater-tot hot dish is for our not Midwest listeners.

[00:00:58] Emilia: A tater-tot hot dish is a staple in Minnesotan cuisine, it’s really a shame I don’t have one on the menu at Lake Bistro. [both laugh] It’s ground beef, onions, carrots, corn and peas mixed with cream of mushroom soup, put in a hot-dish pan and then topped with copious amounts of shredded cheese and tater-tots. It is the ultimate comfort food.

[00:01:08] Stacie: And you’re not elevating this dish?

[00:01:10] Emilia: I am not, this dish is comfort, its warm, it doesn’t need the elevation I typically add to a regional dish.

[00:01:14] Stacie: Well, I am excited to dig into it once it’s done. While you are cooking, I am going to introduce our cases.

[00:01:18] Emilia: Let’s hear it.

[00:01:21] Stacie: This season started with a tip from a retired detective, I’ve been sitting on the files for just over six months, and I am hoping we can get the same kind of community response we got with the San Diego Slicer cold case. This case needs to be heard, its victims need to be heard, and as we’ll find out later in this season, a grieving mother really needs to be heard.

[00:01:29] Emilia: [Sizzling beef] You’ve got me hooked, let’s hear the details.

[00:01:34] Stacie: On the surface we have six unrelated deaths between 2000 and 2004 in Crystal, Robbinsdale, New Hope and Golden Valley, Minnesota. All neighboring suburbs northwest of Minneapolis, around five square miles between the deaths. Not far from where you grew up in Edina, right?

[00:01:42] Emilia: You’re right, go Hornets! [Pause] I would have been eight in 2000, so these cases don’t ring a bell.

[00:01:48] Stacie: [Laughs] Now I feel old, I would’ve been twenty-two, down in Iowa City working for Johnson Couty Sheriff’s department forensics. I digress, [papers shuffling] back to the case. Each was handled by a different detective, no connection was made and each was closed. Now this is what got my forensics alarm going off. In four of the six official reports, the cause of death ruling uses a specific phrase that I want our listeners to know, this is the phrase that makes me pay attention. Six deaths in four years, most with this phase.

[00:02:02} Emilia: And what is that phrase?

[00:02:05] Stacie: “No evidence inconsistent with accident or self-inflicted cause.”

[00:02:42] Emilia: That’s a double negative.

[00:02:45] Stacie: That’s a double negative. It’s not evidence of an accident, it’s no evidence against an accident. It’s the language of a system that’s stopped looking.

[00:02:55] Emilia: Was there any other connection between these cases that was missed back then?

[00:03:01] Stacie: Yes, but I want you and our listeners to figure that out as we go.

[00:03:04] Emilia: Fine, I am using some of the grease from the beef to sauté the onions, the carrots, peas and corn will be going in soon.

[00:03:10] Stacie: It’s starting to smell really good in here.

[00:03:13] Emilia: So, what is our first case, what’s the starting point for these loosely connected deaths? [sound of stirring]

[00:03:16] Stacie: Sherry Grace Lindquist. English and Creative writing teacher for thirty-one years and seven months. She was eleven weeks from retirement, she died on March 21^st, 2000, found at the bottom of the east stairwell of the school where she had worked for more than half of her life.

[00:03:30] Emilia: What was the official cause of death? [Sounds of cream of mushroom soup being poured into pan] Did she have any enemies?

[00:03:38] Stacie: Good questions, the official ruling was accidental fall. Maintenance reports shoddy lighting in the stairwell, the marble was wet from a rain/snowstorm that day, bifocals were found at the scene and there was a damaged stair lip that maintenance had yet to fix. The official investigation lasted eleven days, closed on April 1^st, 2000.

[00:03:50] Emilia: Eleven days… [pause and stirring] She taught there for thirty-one years, and they only gave her eleven days.

[00:03:59] Stacie: The case seemed cut and dry, open and shut [papers shuffling] but here’s what I think.

[00:04:03] Emilia: What do you think?

[00:04:06] Stacie: I think she had something in her coat, I think someone killed her for whatever was in her coat.

[00:04:14] Emilia: That’s a bold claim for the first episode, you must have some strong forensic evidence, I can’t wait to hear it.

[00:04:19] Stacie: It is, and I will tell you why. When I looked at the photographs from the scene her coat is open, unzipped, if you are leaving work at the end of the day and it’s a messy mix of rain or snow, your coat will most likely be zipped, you’re going to be prepared. And two, this is the biggest piece for me, she had a puffy purple Columbia coat, these coats have a hidden breast pocket inside the zipper. It was open and it was empty. [pause]

[00:04:45] Emilia: Was it investigated? What was in it?

[00:04:50] Stacie: It was noted and never investigated, just a line in the evidence log. And there were two nonfunctional security cameras because of a student prank earlier that week. Administrators say the cameras do their job being functional or not. The only other evidence was a motion detector at the east entrance that was never cross-reference with the timeline, just filed in a supplementary report.

[00:04:55] Emilia: Wow. Before you keep going, I just want to let our listeners know something about the tater-tots, they are an incredibly versatile ingredient, but you have to put them on in the same direction. There is a proper way and that is the long way down the pan, there is procedure to this, and it’s one that should always be followed. [Pause] Another procedural note, this I first learned from Grandma Lena, and then was reinforced in culinary school is that you should always use shredded cheese from a block, the stuff in a bag sweats and gives off the wrong texture.

[00:05:10] Stacie: That’s actually perfect timing, Sherry Lindquist was very procedural, she followed the rules, dotted every I and crossed every T. I talked to her husband, I talked to her sister and even a few past students. They all said the same thing, Sherry Lindquist always wanted to do the right thing, she was a born teacher, the one who’s room students would hang out in until practice started, she stored student papers in an overflowing filing cabinet in her class and swapped out glowing samples to put on her classroom wall between student art. She wrote personal notes on the bottom of every paper, not just grades. A former student still has an essay that Sherry Lindquist graded and looks at that note whenever they need a boost, they told me “Mrs. Lindquist saw something in me I didn’t know was there, that’s a rare thing, a really rare thing.” [Oven beeps]

[00:05:25] Emilia: Great teachers leave their mark.

[00:05:29] Stacie: Great teachers leave their mark, and from who I talked to, Sherry Lindquist was a great teacher. Her husband and sister said Sherry had a bucket list, fix up their cabin in Duluth, finally drive up to World’s Best Donuts in Grand Marais, she wanted to visit Norway and see the majestic fjords. She and her husband had a tentative plan to go in August.

[00:05:41] Emilia: Did she tell her husband anything before her death?

[00:05:43] Stacie: You know how Minnesotans are, she told him it was end of the year fatigue, fear of retirement not having structure when the summer ends. And he believed her.

[00:05:50] Emilia: Woah…

[00:05:55] Stacie: One of the common threads we’ll be seeing is almost telling someone, putting it off just a day too long.

[00:05:59] Emilia: Very well put, the hot-dish is in the oven and we’ve got about forty minutes, what else do you have to share about this case.

[00:06:15] Stacie: Before we dig more into Sherry’s past and her life, what do you, as a Michelin Star Chef and owner of Lake Bistro in the North Loop make of this tater-tot hot dish?

[00:06:25] Emilia: So, like I said earlier, some food is meant to be comfort food, this is one of those dishes, it doesn’t need elevation or fancy top-notch ingredients. It’s one of those dishes you bring to the winter potluck, or the church get together or the grieving neighbor. The one that you tape your name to the bottom of your Pyrex pan so you get it back when someone else is done with it. This is the dish your neighbor brings you when they don’t know what to do.

[00:06:40] Stacie: Or, when they do.

[00:06:42] Emilia: Yeah, or when they do…

Transcript continues…

Full transcript and episode available on all podcast platforms and Murdelicious.com

Listener Comments (Pinned)

@murderinMN: grew up in crystal and went to cooper HS, had no idea, this one hits different.

@sandrathesleuth: the COAT is the KEY

@truecrimeandcoffee: Emilia, talking about your grandma’s kitchen had me in literal tears before the case even got started!!!

@murdelicious4life: Stacie, pls be safe, I mean that for real.

^{Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/Murdelicious. Ad-free episodes, extended cuts, and Emilia’s full recipes with technique notes and videos.}

Chapter 1

February 9^th, 2026

I hate when I get stuck at the light on 36^th and France Avenue, I shiver as the cold February air fights with the cars heating system. I sink deeper into my seat, I’m exhausted from my shifts, it’s my fault really, I wanted higher pay and my weekdays off, so I picked the “weekend warrior” shift at North Memorial Hospital, three consecutive twelve-hour shifts, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, 7pm to 7am. My feet ache despite paying top dollar for a pair of Hoka Clifton 9’s and custom inserts, I’m in baggy sweats and a maroon UMD hoodie that hasn’t been washed ins several days and smells like hospital food and old coffee. I don’t have the energy to think about what food I have in my apartment.

 I have to turn my brain off and listen to something that will keep me awake on the twenty minute drive home to my apartment in St. Louis Park and I’m all caught up on my current podcast rotation, My Favorite Murder, Buried Bones, Medical Mysteries, that one is full of inaccuracies and I listen to it out of spite, and Secrets Lives of Roman Wives, I started listening to that one ironically and now I’m obsessed. That doesn’t help me when I go on dates and know more than the guy, I’m meeting, they don’t typically like that. I scroll through podcasts on Apple Podcasts while the light is red. Yes, I know I should be paying attention to the road, and yes, as a medical professional working at a level one trauma center I have seen all the possible consequences of what I’m doing, but, if I don’t find something I will fall asleep on Highway 100, which in my professional opinion is much worse than looking at my podcast options at a red light.

I see Murdelicious has a new episode, the start of season three. I listened to the first two seasons, the fans helped solve the cold case from season two, a serial killer in southwest California, and the recipes Emilia made were amazing. I tell Siri to play the description for the newest episode, I vaguely remember hearing something about this season on TikTok, but I’m far too tired to remember what exactly. The car behind me honks and I shift my Pearl Blue Subaru WRX into first gear and turn left onto 36^th street, dad always said you need a Subaru, especially in the Minnesota winters, and with six inches of wet snow over the weekend and a drop in temp to single digits he was right. So, when my old Camry finally died, I splurged. I pass Cub Foods, which sits across the street from the old Robbinsdale Spanish Immersion elementary and middle school. Some girls on my hockey and soccer team went there, mom said she applied for the lottery, but my siblings and I weren’t selected.

“We’re returning to the Twin Cities, not far from where Stacie and Emilia grew up.”

I’m tempted to pull over and listen to the episode in the Cub parking lot. A local cold case!

I interrupt Siri, “Play episode,” I am feeling very awake now, a cold case from this area, wow. I thought the west coast was where most serial killers hunted, something about the sun and heat unlocking the more sinister side of humanity. This season is close to home, it’s going to be good.   

Emilia, the head chef and owner of Lake Bistro in the North Loop opens the podcast, her voice is warm and welcoming. “Welcome to Episode 47 of Murdelicious, today, in honor of returning to the Twin Cities the place that Stacie and I call home, we will be making Ole’s Famous Tater-Tot Hot Dish,” I merge onto Highway 100 South while Emilia talks about cooking in her grandmother’s kitchen. She gives the ingredients and the overview of the episode. Robbinsdale Cooper High School, the name makes my heart beats faster and activates my fear response, the hairs on my arm stand on end, that’s where mom went to school, that’s where I went to school, I played hockey there, I turn the volume up and focus on the podcast.

Stacie is a stark contrast from Emilia, her voice resonates with the acceptance of death, she knows the darkness of human nature and speaks in a way that shows she’s come to terms with it. She has been a cold case investigator for more than twenty years, spending the majority of her tenure with Jefferson County, Iowa Sheriff’s department in Iowa City. They describe the area, the New Hope Ice arena where I played and dad coached my house hockey team before I convinced my parents to let me try out for travel. They mention the rivalry between Cooper and Armstrong, the two high schools in Robbinsdale District 281. I sit in the car, heat blasting and the podcast playing as these two famous women describe the area where I grew up. Describe the building I spent four years in, the restaurants around the cities that I’ve eaten at. I sit in my designated parking space for nearly twenty minutes, just absorbing the closeness I have to this case.

Robbinsdale Cooper High School.

There it is again, in Stacie’s colder more disconnected tone. I pause the podcast and decide it’s time to go up to my apartment. People with normal jobs push out of the elevator on their way to their cars and the busy mooring commute. No way I’m taking the stairs today, my feet already feel like cement blocks, and I can get back to the podcast faster by taking the elevator.

The first thing I do when I get into my fourth floor one bedroom is get food to Lucky, my three-year-old tortoiseshell, she’s meowing loudly at me and trying to trip me as I dance my exhausted feet towards her food bowl. Next, I take out my phone, hit play and head to the fridge, I see the leftovers from Nong’s Thai cuisine, Panang Curry, I always get zero spice, I cannot handle anything more than that. I dig around for a fork and then slide to the floor with my back against the dishwasher, I don’t even heat up the leftovers. I also don’t care that it’s barely eight in the morning, food is food, after all.

The tater tot hot dish that Emilia’s cooking makes me think back to family dinners, I should make it tomorrow when I have more energy, after I go grocery shopping. I pause the podcast and dig through my takeout menu drawer, its mostly Asian and Indian cuisine, a few menus from Green Mill and Old Chicago, at the bottom, below the endless pile of menus, is a yellow legal pad, I am supposed to be using it to make grocery lists and write things I need to get, I haven’t used it in a while. I rip off a list from 2024 and on the top of the fresh page, I write down the ingredients I’m going to need, pretty much everything. I hit play and relax back against the dishwasher. On the second page I start jotting down notes and details that the pair discusses as they eat the unofficial hot dish of the state of Minnesota. By the end of the episode I am hooked, like a walleye on a Lindy Rig on an August morning, as dad used to say. A melancholy smile crosses my lips at the thought of dad, he would always say that when I had a good story.

 I’ve filled out two pages of the legal pad with details, I put a big box around the COAT in all capital letters, why didn’t they follow up on that? Stacie mentioned a list of teachers that used to work at Cooper around the time Sherry Lindquist did, I remember my mom talking about some of them, I wonder what she knows about this. Thomas Anderson, Linda Hall, Dorris Nelson, Derrick Olesen. I had some of these teachers when I was at Cooper. The one that sticks out, and for no reason other than he was my house hockey coach, is Andrew “Coach Andy” Thorsen. The episode ends and I write one final sentence on the legal pad, the main question of this case if it turns out to be more than an accidental fall. Who was on the stairs?!

I yawn and stretch, put the dirty spoon in the sink, the legal pad on the kitchen island and toss out the takeout container. The excitement of the podcast has worn off and the weight of my shifts has caught up to me. I head to the bedroom and throw my clothes in the laundry basket and pull on a worn University of Minnesota Duluth Hockey T-shirt and flannel pajama pants. Despite the cloudless blue sky of the February morning my bedroom is dark, I invested in hotel level black out curtains when I switched to weekend over nights, it’s the only way I can sleep now. I climb under the goose down comforter and stare at the ceiling. I really hate when I get into bed and my mind starts racing, I hear the morning commute and can feel the cold permeate my windows and blinds. February, one of the only positives is there isn’t road construction. There’s an ache in my left knee that draws my attention away from the street noise, it aches in the same way it’s ached every cold day for nine years, ever since the Frozen Four semifinals against UMass. I reflexively massage around my knee, it doesn’t help the pain, just a reflex at this point, more placebo than anything.

Ole’s Famous Tater-Tot Hot Dish
Ingredients: ·       1 lb. 80/20 ground beef ·       2 cans cream of mushroom soup ·       Can or frozen corn ·       Can of peas ·       1 onion ·       Block of cheddar cheese ·       Bag of frozen Tater tots ·       Salt ·       Pepper	Directions: 1.       Preheat oven to 375 2.      Brown the beef 3.      Dice the onion 4.      Cook the onion, corn and peas with the beef. 5.      Add the cream of mushroom soup. 6.      Season with salt and pepper. 7.      Pour mixture into a 9x13 dish 8.      Top with shredded cheese 9.      Layer tots in same direction over cheese, top with more cheese. 10.    Bake for 45 minutes
Emilia’s notes: No elevation of ingredients here, it’s comfort food for a reason.