View source for Murders of Lee Rotatori and Thomas Freeman

{{Short description|Murders in 1982}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title            = Murder of Lee Rotatori
| image            = Lee_Rotatori.jpeg
| caption          = Murder victim Lee Rotatori
| location         = [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]], U.S.
| date             = {{start date and age|1982|6|25}}
| type             = [[Murder]] by [[stabbing]], [[sexual assault]]
| weapon           = [[Knife]]
| victim           = Lee Gunsalus Rotatori, aged 32
| perpetrator      = Thomas Oscar Freeman
| motive           = Unclear
{{Infobox event
| title = <br>
| child = yes
| arrests           = None; perpetrator died before being identified
}}
| inquiries        = Investigation concluded in February 2022 after identification of perpetrator
| accused          =
| verdict          =
| convictions      =
| charges          =
}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title            = Murder of Thomas Freeman
| image            = Thomas_Oscar_Freeman.jpeg
| caption          = Murder victim Thomas Freeman
| location         = [[Cobden, Illinois]], U.S.
| date             = {{circa}} July 1982 <small>(murder)</small><br>October 30, 1982 <small>(discovery of body)</small>
| type             = [[Murder]] by [[Gun violence in the United States|shooting]]
| weapon           =
| victim           = Thomas Oscar Freeman, aged 35
| perpetrator      = Unknown
| inquiries        =
| accused          =
| verdict          =
| convictions      =
| charges          =
| motive           = Unknown
{{Infobox event
| title = <br>
| child = yes
| outcome = [[Cold case]]
}}
}}
On June 25, 1982, Lee Gunsalus Rotatori, a 32-year old American woman, was sexually assaulted and murdered in her hotel room by Thomas Oscar Freeman in [[Council Bluffs, Iowa]]. The murder went unsolved for nearly 40 years, until it was announced by authorities in 2022 that the perpetrator had been identified as Freeman using [[investigative genetic genealogy]].
Around July 1982, Freeman himself was murdered by an unidentified perpetrator in [[Cobden, Illinois]]. His [[Corpse decomposition|decomposing]] body was found in a shallow grave around three months after his murder. As of 2022, the murder remains unsolved and the case remains open, and investigators believe the two murders were connected.
== Murder of Lee Rotatori ==
Lee Rotatori was a 32-year-old American woman from Nunica, Michigan who had recently relocated to Council Bluffs to work at the nearby Jennie Edmundson Hospital in June 1982. She was new to the area and did not have permanent housing, so she stayed at the Best Western Frontier Motor Lodge hotel for several nights.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-02-25 |title=Council Bluffs Police Department solves cold case of Lee Rotatori, murdered in 1982 |url=https://www.3newsnow.com/news/local-news/council-bluffs-police-department-solves-cold-case-of-lee-rotatori-murdered-in-1982 |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=KMTV |language=en}}</ref>
On the morning of June 25, 1982, Rotatori's boss called the hotel because she had not appeared for her first formal day of work. When employees went to check on her room, they found her murdered and turned over the scene to investigators. They found that she had been murdered by a single [[stab wound]] to the heart, and that she had been [[Sexual assault|sexually assaulted]]. There were no formal suspects for decades.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Madeline |title="We've officially closed our case:" Detectives give insight to cold case with Illinois ties |url=https://www.wsiltv.com/news/weve-officially-closed-our-case-detectives-give-insight-to-cold-case-with-illinois-ties/article_4b1faa26-99ce-11ec-b8d9-eb7e3f7a5959.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=WSIL-TV |language=en}}</ref>
== Investigation ==
An ''[[Omaha World-Herald]]'' article dated July 4, 1982, published 10 days after Rotatori's body was discovered, reported then-Sergeant Larry Williams as saying, "the killer could have been five feet away or a thousand miles away." In an attempt to find answers, her employer and other local organizations put up rewards for thousands of dollars, but with no success. As a result, a [[cold case]] with no suspects or answers began and no suspects were revealed for decades.<ref name=":0" />
In 2019, authorities submitted DNA evidence to [[Parabon NanoLabs]] in an attempt to identify a suspect. They additionally were assisted by volunteer genealogist and [[Elizabethtown College]] student, Eric Schubert. In February 2021, Thomas Oscar Freeman was found to be the apparent owner of DNA found at the crime scene. Freeman's daughter agreed to give a DNA sample, which confirmed him as the perpetrator of the murder.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2022-02-25 |title=Cold Case Murder of Woman Sexually Assaulted and Stabbed Inside Iowa Hotel Room Solved After Nearly 40 Years: Police |url=https://lawandcrime.com/crime/cold-case-murder-of-woman-sexually-assaulted-and-stabbed-inside-iowa-hotel-room-solved-after-nearly-40-years-police/ |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=Law & Crime |language=en}}</ref>
In 2022, it was announced by authorities that the perpetrator had been identified as Freeman. It was also revealed that Freeman himself was the victim of a murder around July 1982. His decomposing body was discovered on October 30, 1982. It was determined that his body had sustained multiple [[gunshot wound]]s before being thrown into a shallow grave. Investigators believe the two murders were connected.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=DNA identifies who killed woman in Council Bluffs in 1982 |url=https://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/dna-identifies-who-killed-lee-rotatori-in-council-bluffs-in-1982/ |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=www.thegazette.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-26 |title='We'll never know why,' Council Bluffs cold case cracked, leads to suspect's murder mystery |url=https://www.ketv.com/article/council-bluffs-police-clear-1982-cold-case-murder-of-michigan-woman/39223826 |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=KETV |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Richards |first=Zoe |date=2022-02-25 |title=Cops Crack Hospital Worker's 40-Year-Old Murder. But Who Killed Her Killer? |language=en |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/cops-crack-hospital-worker-lee-ratatoris-40-year-old-michigan-murder-but-who-killed-her-killer |access-date=2022-04-29}}</ref>
===Rotatori's husband===
Lee Rotatori's husband, Gerald "Jerry" Stanley Nemke, was initially looked at as a [[person of interest]] in Rotatori's murder, but was quickly ruled out as authorities determined he had a solid [[alibi]].
Jerry Nemke had a past criminal record. On April 29, 1960 in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], at the age of 17, he [[Blunt trauma|bludgeoned]] a 16-year old waitress, Marilyn Duncan, to death with a [[brick]]. He was tried and convicted of [[Murder (United States law)|murder]] and was  [[Capital punishment in Illinois|sentenced to death]]. His conviction was later overturned on appeal, with the [[Supreme Court of Illinois]] ruling that Nemke's [[preliminary hearing]] was not conducted fairly. He was convicted once again on [[retrial]], and was instead sentenced to 75 years in prison. He was released early on [[parole]] at some point during his sentence.<ref>{{cite web|title=The PEOPLE v. Nemke|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/illinois/supreme-court/1962/36203-5.html}}</ref>
After the identification of Thomas Freeman as Rotatori's murderer, Nemke was named as a person of interest in Freeman's murder. Authorities said Nemke's college was around 15 miles from where Freeman's body was discovered, and that Nemke and Freeman were previous acquaintances. Nemke died in March 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=DNA ties Illinois man killed in 1982 to fatal stabbing of Iowa woman months earlier|url=https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/trending/dna-ties-iowa-man-killed-1982-fatal-stabbing-woman-months-earlier/OC6UB7WH4FAALCDN7FDEFOVDBA/}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[List of unsolved murders (1980–1999)|List of unsolved murders]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotatori, Lee and Thomas Freeman}}
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:1982 in Iowa]]
[[Category:1982 in Illinois]]
[[Category:1982 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Illinois]]
[[Category:June 1982 events in the United States]]
[[Category:July 1982 events in the United States]]
[[Category:Murder in Illinois]]
[[Category:Female murder victims]]
[[Category:Council Bluffs, Iowa]]
[[Category:Incidents of violence against men]]
[[Category:Incidents of violence against women]]
[[Category:People murdered in Illinois]]
[[Category:People murdered in Iowa]]