Darlene A. Nordstrom, the Minnesota Coat Murderess Darlene A. Nordstrom had a very mundane life, a loving husband, 3 kids, and a part time job as a receptionist for the town's only opthamologist. She was a simple woman with simple tastes who did have one prized possession, a Navajo tapestry coat which she had purchased on a scenic tour of America's southwest. Although it was basically a reproduction sold in any gift shop from Arizona to Oklahoma, Darlene felt like a true Navajo warrior when she wore that coat. She was so entranced by Native American culture after her visit, that she decorated her entire home with woven blankets and dream catchers. She even devoted a large part of her sun porch to a small but exemplary indoor cacti garden. She was the envy of every other Minnesota housewife in a 15 mile radius, except of course for Agnes FInch, a woman who after spending 3 days in London England, arrived back in Minnesota with a shag haircut and a new scooter. Darlene was a loving woman, but she had one strict rule in her home. "NO ONE touches the Navajo blanket coat". So, on a Tuesday evening in early fall when she pulled her coat out of storage from the back of the closet and found that someone had left the plastic sleeve protecting her coat unzipped, Darlene was incensed. Upon further inspection she found that her beloved coat had in fact been attacked by moths, a fact that sent Darlene into a murderous rage. Her husband climbed the stairs to their marital bedroom in an attempt to "see what all the hubbub was about". Unfortunately for him that would be his undoing. Darlene Nordstrom's husband was born a true albino, his total lack of pigment and fluttering hand gestures caused Darlene to have a complete psychotic break. She now believed that her pale, pale husband was the alpha moth sent to finish off her precious Navajo blanket coat. She sprang and immediately covered her husband in a handmade quilt. She then beat him to death with her son Todd's aluminum baseball bat. She spent the next 3 days in a tense stand off with police, and when they finally swarmed her home they found her wrapped in her coat surrounded by piles and piles of mothballs. It should also be noted that when they stormed her home, her sun porch and indoor cacti garden were ruined in a cruel twist of fate. |