Earl Thelander was born May 9, 1927, in Arcadia, Nebraska. He married his first wife Berniece in February 1950. The couple would have six children. They lived and farmed in the Osceola area until he began working for Mamco Manufacturing Company in Stromsburg. Later, he started working for Honeggars Manufacturing Company in Onawa, Iowa. When Honeggars closed, he went to work for Onawa Propane. In 1967, he started his own business, Thelander’s Plumbing and Heating in Onawa.
In December, 1982, he married Hope Ewing. Earl enjoyed doing yard work, gardening, watching the birds and squirrels on his back deck and his coffee breaks. The couple owned and operated Thelander’s Softener Service and Thelander’s Rentals. They had many rental properties over the years. The couple was well known within the community. According to Earl’s step daughter and founder of Iowa Cold Cases website, Earl and Hope were known for their willingness to work hard, to buy and fix up older homes and apartment buildings and , “work with down-on-their-luck tenants so families still had a place to call home.”
On August 28, 2007, Earl left his home at 8:30 a.m. to head to a property the Thelander’s bought from Hope’s mom. They were getting the home ready to rent out. Something they took pride in doing. Earl and Hope had been at the house just the night before to cut the grass and do some work inside. Some time between the time they left the night before and Earl arrived early the next morning, someone had broken into the home, entered the basement, cut and stole copper propane and water lines and let the house fill with propane gas.
So when Earl started to enter the home, he noticed the glass on the kitchen door was shattered and could smell propane gas drifting out the door. He immediately went to turn the propane tank off. He called his wife, who was at their residence two miles away, asking her to notify the Monona County Sheriff’s Office. At approximately 10 a.m, the Monona County Sheriff Department arrived at the farm. Everyone started searching the home and opening windows in the home to make sure no individuals were unresponsive somewhere in the home.
Evidence showed tire tracks in the lawn. This suggests the perpetrator drove a small, lightweight pickup. However, officers didn’t take tire casting or fingerprints from the kitchen doorknob. Law enforcement officials said neither the sheriff’s office or police department had officers that were trained or qualified to extract fingerprints.
Around 11:30 a.m, Earl insisted on going back to the farmhouse to check on the investigation’s process. He wanted to get the work done that he was planning on getting done that day. When he arrived there was no law enforcement or yellow tape, which would indicate the fire department had determined the property safe for entry. As Earl entered the home, no smell of propane gas, he felt it was safe to resume his work.
In the basement, Earl set up a squirrel cage blower to help dry up the basement from the water from the cut water lines. Earl was suddenly thrown across the basement when the home suddenly exploded. Earl would survive the explosion. Remarkably, he forced himself to find the basement stairs, crawled out of the basement, and drove himself the two miles to his wife.
Earl walked through the door, still in shock, his body and clothes burned and hanging in shreds, telling his wife “it just blew.” Hope, thinking that he was attacked by the burglars who had returned, “what did?” as she went to him. “The house, it just exploded,” he said.
They rushed Earl to the Burgess Memorial Hospital in Onawa. Shortly after arriving, Earl was sedated and was taken by Life Flight to UNMC Burn Center in Omaha. Earl had sustained second- and third-degree burns over 80% of his body.
Four days later, September 1, 2007, Earl passed away from his injuries. Earl’s life was taken for less than $20 worth of stolen copper. Earl’s death became the first innocent copper theft fatality.
There has been no arrest for the copper theft.
If you have any information regarding the copper theft that led to Earl Thelander’s death please contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 515-725-6010 or the Monona County Sheriff’s Office at 712-433-1414.
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