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Overview
At 3:30 a.m. on April 11, 1933, neighbors and firefighters arrived at the farmhouse of Albin and Alvira Johnson to find a smoldering heap where a seemingly happy home once stood. Beneath the ruins, investigators found the bodies of Alvira and her seven children, but Albin's remains were nowhere to be seen. The authorities determined that Alvira and the children were dead before the fire, and fingers immediately pointed to Albin. Hundreds of searchers, including the illustrious Pinkerton Agency, combed the area and even crossed into Canada in pursuit of Johnson, who was indicted in absentia for murder. But he was never found, dead or alive. What happened to the Johnson family and what part, if any, Albin played in the tragedy remain a mystery. Twin Cities journalist Brian Johnson tells the story that has beguiled the community for generations.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781467142335 |
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Publisher: | Arcadia Publishing SC |
Publication date: | 03/04/2019 |
Series: | True Crime |
Pages: | 128 |
Sales rank: | 1,195,279 |
Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d) |
About the Author

Brian Johnson, a Twin Cities journalist, has more than twenty-five years of experience as a reporter and editor. A longtime staff writer for a Minneapolis-based business publication, Johnson has won a number of awards from the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1989 with a major in journalism and a minor in Swedish. Johnson is a grand-nephew of Alvira Lundeen Johnson, who died with her seven children on April 11, 1933, in Harris, Minnesota. Johnson lives in Richfield, Minnesota, with his wife, Stephanie, and their four children.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 7
Introduction 9
Chapter 1 The Fire, the Search and a Town Divided 15
Chapter 2 The Johnson Clan and the Professional Boxer 20
Chapter 3 Flames in the Night, Smoldering Ruins and a Massive Manhunt 41
Chapter 4 "A Hotel, a Livery and Several Stores" 53
Chapter 5 The Lundeens and Lire Lindstroms 59
Chapter 6 A Town in Mourning and a Posse of Farmers 81
Chapter 7 What Did Mr. Peers Know? 90
Chapter 8 Albin Johnson's Biggest Defender 95
Chapter 9 Gangsters and Hoodlums 101
Chapter 10 Boozer Hank, Ghost Stories and Urban Legends 103
Chapter 11 Did the Brothers Do It? 109
Chapter 12 What Really Happened? 113
Epilogue 119
Bibliography 121
About the Author 128