Wisconsin man murdered on way back from Oregon - Dexter Stefonek

[TosaTillie]

Hi - this is a repeat of a thread I wrote earlier tonight because I didn't know how to start a new thread....

Does anyone know what happened to the older man from Wisconsin who was murdered and his car was found burning in a rest stop somewhere between Wisconsin and Washington? His body was later found in a garbage dumping area. There was a pick up truck with a creepy guy in it that was spotted by a rest stop worker before the Wisc man disappeared and his car was found burning.

Any info would be helpful....Thanks

[LooksLikeCRicci]

I live in Montana (where the man's body was found) and my boyfriend is from Glendive, which is near where the man's body was found. I asked him about this case a few weeks ago, and to the best of his (and my) knowledge, there have been no updates on this case.

[TosaTillie]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

I live in Montana (where the man's body was found) and my boyfriend is from Glendive, which is near where the man's body was found. I asked him about this case a few weeks ago, and to the best of his (and my) knowledge, there have been no updates on this case.

Thanks Ricci - If you hear anything, keep us posted.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by TosaTillie

Does anyone know what happened to the older man from Wisconsin who was murdered and his car was found burning in a rest stop somewhere between Wisconsin and Washington? His body was later found in a garbage dumping area.

You got the title of your thread wrong. He was driving from Oregon to Wisconsin.

By the way, the murder victim's name was Dexter Stefonek.

[kadrmas15]

Just watched this one again. I am convinced that the man that killed Dexter is a serial killer. I think the authorities should have searched for the truck. They should have checked the registration database in Arizona. I am surprised that didnt happen. Or maybe it did and they just didnt say it. I am originally from Dickinson, North Dakota before I moved to Minnesota so Dawson County and Glendive isnt an extremely long way away from Dickinson. I would say Dickinson is probably two and a half to three hours away from Glendive. Dexter I think pulled into the rest stop. This was before the caretaker arrived so sometime before 8 in the morning. The guy was probably there when Dexter got there. I dont know if the guy was out of gas or just looking for someone to kill or what. I am thinking the guy might have been a traveling salesman or had to travel for his job. What is really bizarre is how he not only killed Dexter and burned the car but also how he didnt dump Dexters other possessions until months later and how he took them to the same location the body was to dump them. That also tells me he was familiar with the area to dump them there. Also how he taunted the cops with the message in the rest stop. Clearly he wanted all this stuff to be found. He enjoyed taunting the cops and he was basically saying catch me if you can. I am convinced the guy that killed Dexter is a serial killer. I am trying to think of who it might be. I just think the guy was familiar with rural Montana because of his knowledge of the very remote dump site. I dont know if maybe he worked in the oil fields out there or what. Because of the Arizona plates that is what makes me think that he maybe was a traveling salesman or obviously had some kind of required travel for his job. It does tell me he goes to Montana or through Montana several times a year if he came back to dump Dexter's stuff.

[mozartpc27]

I just watched this case on crystaldawn's DVDs volume 2. There's something "off" about this one, and I can't quite put my finger on it. kadrmas15's suggestion that it was a serial killer certainly seems to be the conclusion that would make the most sense, but there is a lot that is unusual about this one.

For those who haven't seen it in awhile, a brief summary: a depressed old man named Dexter Stefonek is out in Oregon basically living with his son, but as the first anniversary of his wife's death approaches, he longs to return home to Wisconsin. One day, in the middle of winter, he begins the 2,000 mile journey. The next evidence found of the man is his car, burning at a rest stop. He is not inside. Witnesses at the rest stop include its caretaker and a highway maintenance worker. When the caretaker arrived, a white truck with green trim and Arizona plates was parked in the rest stop area. There was no one around. This was around 8 AM. Next, a highway worker stopped into the rest stop, and he too saw the truck, but now Dexter Stefonek's car is present. Again, there is no sign of the old man, but there is a younger man carrying what appear to be two milk jugs of gasoline. He explains to the highway worker that he ran out of gas. The next thing eyewitnesses report is Dexter's car ablaze, with the white truck nowhere to be found.

Three months later, at a remote dump site some distance away from the rest stop, some of Dexter's belgonings are found scattered about, including his driver's license and a suitcase with money in it. Eventually, underneath an old mattress, Dexter himself is found. Dexter is thought to have been dead and in the location for the previous three months (based on the level of decomposition, no doubt), but his belongings, according to the people who regularly looked after the dump site, were not there until the week they were discovered.

This leads to the important question: where were Dexter Stefonek's belongings during the three "missing" months? And why had the killer come back to dump them so long after the murder, but without having taken money that was in the suitcase, despite having held on to the suitcase for three months?

These are the questions Stack rhetorically asks, of course, but I think there are simpler answers than the segment makes out. What makes the most sense is that everything (the body and Dexter's belongings) were dumped at the same time, buried under a pile of other junk. Someone came along and began to pick through the dump, pulling out and finding the various items, before finally coming across Dexter's body. This person got scared and left without notifying authorities (probably because he was illegally at the dump site), scattering some of the stuff he had picked through in the process. Perhaps it was further scattered by stiff plains winds.

What does not make sense to me, however, is what the killer was doing precisely. Why would he evidently wait in a rest stop for somebody, commandeer his car, drive it off somewhere, murder its original occupant and dump his body and belongings, then come back and switch back to his original car, burning the hijacked car in the process? Robbery was not a motive, because the suit case had not been picked through enough to discover the money that was inside it. If the killer truly was out of gas (quite possible), what would drive him to kill somebody just to get control of his vehicle long enough to go get gas?

What bothers me is the motive seems so trivial, and the resulting cover-up of the crime so necessarily elaborate, and all for what? It almost makes me wonder if Dexter was followed from some location for some reason, until he pulled over into the rest stop. Perhaps road rage, an incident out on the highway? It just doesn't make much sense to kill the first guy wo comes along, then go to all that trouble to dump the body and burn the car, over MAYBE getting a little gasoline. There was no sex crime here, from what the segment gave to us as details, so the motive is truly obscure.

[phillipscurve]

There is a guy who is trying to spend 1 night at that same rest stop as part of a bet, and who is a poster of this forum, or am I dreaming?, but I´m sure someone mentioned that. In any case, Do you think Stefonek´s murder was somehow related to the Blind River Rest Stop murders? Just a thought.

[mozartpc27]

Originally Posted by phillipscurve

There is a guy who is trying to spend 1 night at that same rest stop as part of a bet, and who is a poster of this forum, or am I dreaming?, but I´m sure someone mentioned that. In any case, Do you think Stefonek´s murder was somehow related to the Blind River Rest Stop murders? Just a thought.

Anything's possible, of course, but absent any physical evidence positively linking them, I'd have to say the chances that the two murders are related aren't very good.

[kadrmas15]

Hey Mozart and Phillipscurve, interesting theories from both of you. This case is so very sad indeed. I actually found Phillipscurve theory that Dexter Stefonek's murder may be related to the blind river rest stop murder to be interesting.

It certainly is possible, since Stefonek's murder occured in 1985 the guy that did it wasnt caught and could have done the blind river one. But of course the weapons were different in the two cases and in my opinion the motive in the blind river rest stop murder appeared to be a combination of robbery and a guy that liked to kill.

I agree with Mozart that Stefonek's murder is just bizarre. You have a small, elderly man driving alone and in my opinion from what they said on UM, it seemed his murder was a killing of anger and rage and hate. If I remember right, Dexter was not only shot twice in the head but was beaten before he died.

Mozart, you raised a very interesting point that I had never considered before or even thought of but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. As far as we know, no one actually saw Dexter Stefonek at the rest stop right? The killer pulled up there in his car presumebly after he had beaten and murdered Dexter. Your theory Mozart, raises the interesting possibility that Dexter did not just suddenly meet up at the rest area and have his fatal rendevous with the killer.

As you said it is entirely possible that Dexter perhaps had got into a road rage incident where he ticked another driver that being his murderer off and that the killer either followed Dexter until he stopped at the rest stop and either intentionally planning the whole time to kill Dexter or when they got to the rest stop him and Dexter got into an argument or he felt like Dexter was blowing off when trying to get his attention so he first took him hostage, took him presumably to the dump site or some other area and beat and killed him.

In my opinion it is possible that Dexter first had an interaction with the killer on the roadway, after going through Billings, Montana. Interstate 90 connects in Billings and if you were driving up from Arizona you would likely go that way until 90 connects with Interstate 94 in Billings if the killer was going to Eastern Montana, which in my opinion he was, this route would make sense. AT some point he crossed paths with Stefonek either on the Interstate 94 between Billings and the rest stop or he met him at the rest stop.

In my opinion, Dexter was not abducted until he reached the rest stop but the killer could have been following him all the way from Billings. In my opinion, it is possible that the killer was a rancher or worked at a ranch and was living in Arizona but was originally from eastern Montana. The reason I think of the possibility of the killer being a rancher is that cow catcher on the front of his car. It is just still my opinion that the man who murdered Dexter had murdered before or at least had assaulted people before. He probably has murdered and assaulted people since then.

I follow what UM said that the car being burned was done for two purposes, one to destroy evidence and two to distract the police so that he could make a clean get away. The truck was rather unique looking so he wanted to get out of there like a bat out of you know where I am sure.

In my opinion the killer was from that area or had lived in that area at one time, or at least traveled through it a lot because he was familiar with the area and the remote dumpsite. I dont know what to think of Dexter's things thrown around. I think it is possible someone doing some illegal dumping there found the stuff and was taking the opportunity to steal some things but when they found the body they freaked and ran off and they didnt call the cops because as Mozart said they didnt want to get in trouble for illegal dumping but also probably they were afraid they might be viewed as the murderer. I also believe it is possible that the killer returned to the dump site when he made another trip to Montana and decided to check to see if Dexter was still there and maybe he wanted the body to be found even and also take some things as souvieners of his killing

I am going to contact the Dawson County Sheriff's Department to see what if anything has gone on with the investigation since 1985 and see what results I get.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

Interesting observations. I totally missed the cow catcher on his car...

What's REALLY interesting about your theory is that I could totally see the killer being someone from that area as well. Glendive is a pretty small close-knit community. I could totally see people "forgetting" what happened to Dexter in an effort to protect one of their own. Of course, I'm not alleging ANY sort of misconduct by the Dawson County Police Department, but stranger things have happened.

I also tend to think that Dexter's killer could have been a trucker and perhaps dumped Dexter's body at the time of the killing, but then kept his things with him for a period of time before he felt it safe to dump them. Perhaps he assumed Dexter's body would have been found by then and no one would have made a connection to the luggage/wallets. Just a thought.

[SP4CE INV4DERZ]

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

What bothers me is the motive seems so trivial, and the resulting cover-up of the crime so necessarily elaborate, and all for what? It almost makes me wonder if Dexter was followed from some location for some reason, until he pulled over into the rest stop. Perhaps road rage, an incident out on the highway? It just doesn't make much sense to kill the first guy wo comes along, then go to all that trouble to dump the body and burn the car, over MAYBE getting a little gasoline. There was no sex crime here, from what the segment gave to us as details, so the motive is truly obscure.

This bothers me too. I might have mentioned it in one of Dexter's other threads in the past but what was the real reason for killing Dexter? My answer would be there is no real reason to actually kill him so most likely this falls into the serial killer or mentally insane bracket. Bit sad coz this makes for a great UM case at the expense of a defenceless old man.

[microeconomia]

Originally Posted by phillipscurve

There is a guy who is trying to spend 1 night at that same rest stop as part of a bet, and who is a poster of this forum, or am I dreaming?

[LooksLikeCRicci]

LOL. Microeconomia... you ain't fooling anyone. We all know it's YOU that wants to camp out at the Bad Route Rest Area...

[ididn'tdoit]

This is one of my all-time favorite segments, I would like to now if it ever made it to Lifetime?

To CRicci; since you have connections with that area, did you ever contact the Dawson County Police Dept to find out if there were any leads or if was in fact solved?

I guess I'm kinda hoping there's a "Bonnie Wilder twist" to this story; that it was solved, but that we just weren't told about it

[crochetbuff]

What year did this happen?

Maybe Dexter was D.B. Cooper. Whoever stole the $$$ didn't keep it 'cause it could be traced.

There's my expert opinion!

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

Three months later, at a remote dump site some distance away from the rest stop, some of Dexter's belgonings are found scattered about, including his driver's license and a suitcase with money in it. Eventually, underneath an old mattress, Dexter himself is found. Dexter is thought to have been dead and in the location for the previous three months (based on the level of decomposition, no doubt), but his belongings, according to the people who regularly looked after the dump site, were not there until the week they were discovered.

This leads to the important question: where were Dexter Stefonek's belongings during the three "missing" months? And why had the killer come back to dump them so long after the murder, but without having taken money that was in the suitcase, despite having held on to the suitcase for three months?