Kalee Bruce dead and obituary, Murder of Kalee Bruce traverse city - cause of death

Murder in the Heartland investigates the particularly disturbing slaying of college student Carly Bruce (spelled as Carrie Bruce in some reports) by Kevin Holzer in 1998.

Bruce, an 18-year-old freshman attending Northwestern Michigan College and working as a clerk at a beach apartment, was brutally beaten and stabbed to death by resident Holzer.

On the morning of February 17, 1998, a maintenance supervisor found Bruce’s body in the office where she worked. She suffered 19 stab wounds, blunt force injuries to her torso, chest, abdomen and pelvis, and internal bleeding.

Bruce’s other injuries included a fractured skull and neck, suggesting she had been strangled. The killer also drove a metal rod into her body, possibly with a mallet, causing serious internal injuries.

The police found the scene particularly bloody, but this helped reveal their first clue; bloody footprints throughout the crime scene, clearly showing the type of boots the killer was wearing. Holzer has been known to wear a pair of these boots to work, but he stopped wearing them after February 17.

Investigators also found a tire valve core, a common item found in the tire factory store where Holtzer worked. Spools often get stuck in employees’ shoes.

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A few weeks later, Holzer tried to flee the state. He purchased an Amtrak ticket under a false name in Carbondale, Indiana; however, the FBI stopped and arrested him in Chicago.

Meanwhile, investigators were able to gather more evidence. They found hairs at the crime scene and in Holtzer’s bedroom, and they matched. DNA analysis found the hairs belonged to Holtzer and Bruce.

Holtzer was charged and eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Thomas Black has spoken openly about and wrote in his diary about his desire to kill, so perhaps it’s no surprise that he brutally strangled his girlfriend Christina Ross to death.

David Malinski, a physical therapist in Valparaiso, Indiana, developed an unhealthy obsession with his colleague Lorainne “Lori” Kirkley. Mariinsky kidnapped the nurse from her home, then tortured and murdered her.