Dan Tondevald

[Mastermind]

I don't know if i missed the update.

But did they ever find that Danish fie Dan Tondevald(sp?) who swindled that rich old southern lady of all her money? or is it still official that he committed suicide?

I tried to look him up in the threads but i could not spell his last name.

It was proven for certain that he wasn;t her grandson, correct?

Man, that case boiled my blood because that old lady seemed so sweet and generous, and that sub-human just gutted her!!!

AND probably murdered someone on top of that

[MegtheEgg86]

No update. Fripp Island PD still maintains that it was Tondevold who was found in the swamp. Ellen McClung Berry lived out the rest of her days on an endowment she made to UT. Personally, I do believe Tondevold (who wasn't actually from Denmark, but Las Vegas) managed to fly under the radar and probably continued to fraud under a new identity. I don't believe he was found dead on Fripp Island in the least. Mrs. Berry was actually an art instructor at the University of Tennessee, where I'm a student. There are many scholarships in her name available to art students here.

[TracyLynnS]

The spike episode said that once they found Dan Tondevold's high school year book in Las Vegas, the rumors that he was Ellen Berry's son were put to rest.

I thought this part was interesting. Tondevold was president of his high school thespian club. That right there tells me that the con man was an extremely good actor.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

The spike episode said that once they found Dan Tondevold's high school year book in Las Vegas, the rumors that he was Ellen Berry's son were put to rest.

I thought this part was interesting. Tondevold was president of his high school thespian club. That right there tells me that the con man was an extremely good actor.

In the original segment RS says something to the effect of "many people in the Knoxville area thought Tondevold's accent was an affectation."

On another Tondevold thread on here a poster who said he/she worked in Knoxville in the early '80s claimed that Tondevold was a regular at the store he/she worked at. The individual asked him about his accent and he claimed he was from Denmark. "Oh really?" the clerk asked. "I have a friend from Aarhus."

"Never heard of it," said Tondevold.

Basically, as the poster said, that's like being an American and never having heard of Chicago.

[Drakken]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

The spike episode said that once they found Dan Tondevold's high school year book in Las Vegas, the rumors that he was Ellen Berry's son were put to rest.

I thought this part was interesting. Tondevold was president of his high school thespian club. That right there tells me that the con man was an extremely good actor.

I still maintain that the man we know as Dan Tondevold and the "Dan Tondevold" student in the yearbook are not the same person.

[Drakken]

I have isolated the picture known of the "Dan Tondevold" after meeting Mrs. Berry, and the two pictures from the yearbook. Just look at the ears, the distance between the eyes and the nose breech, the nosepoint, the eyebrows, the lips.

Unless he has had massive plastic surgery in between, they all don't match. I wish I could compare the features of the two pictures via biometrics.

[TracyLynnS]

Thanks for including those pics. That really helps with the comparisons.

I think that even in the two yearbook photos, it almost looks like they're not the same person. Maybe it's because in the first photo (grad cap) the lighting is from the top, and in the 2nd photo, the lighting is from the bottom.

The two different ways those pics are lighted really changes the way I see the shape of the lower part of his face and the area under his eyes.

When I look at the photos, I think the top half of the first pic and the bottom half of the second pic look like him in the older pic. Kinda strange, I know.

One thing that makes me think that the year book pic is him is that even as a teenager, it looks like he shapes his eyebrows. And back in the 50s, guys did not pluck their brows into a shape. There were no 'metrosexuals' and the only homosexuals of his age were way back in the closet.

In the later picture of him as an adult, his eyebrows show the evidence of years of overplucking, imo.

[TracyLynnS]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

In the original segment RS says something to the effect of "many people in the Knoxville area thought Tondevold's accent was an affectation."

On another Tondevold thread on here a poster who said he/she worked in Knoxville in the early '80s claimed that Tondevold was a regular at the store he/she worked at. The individual asked him about his accent and he claimed he was from Denmark. "Oh really?" the clerk asked. "I have a friend from Aarhus."

"Never heard of it," said Tondevold.

Basically, as the poster said, that's like being an American and never having heard of Chicago.

Chicago? Never heard of it... roflol

Ok, seriously, if you were going to perpetuate a fraud of this magnitude, wouldn't you at least study up on your cover story? Lazy, lazy, lazy. I can't believe he got away with it.

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

One thing that makes me think that the year book pic is him is that even as a teenager, it looks like he shapes his eyebrows. And back in the 50s, guys did not pluck their brows into a shape. There were no 'metrosexuals' and the only homosexuals of his age were way back in the closet.

In the later picture of him as an adult, his eyebrows show the evidence of years of overplucking, imo.

That's interesting; I never noticed that before. Indeed it does look as though he plucked his brows. Dan Tondevold, the original metrosexual.

[TracyLynnS]

Something I noticed in the Tondevold/Berry case....

This guy really may be living completely under an alias. He had no social security number, no driver's license, and most likely never had them (at least in the Tondevold name.)

Is there any legitimate reason (besides being in the US illegally) why a guy his age would not have these documents? If he couldn't drive, he should have had the state issued a State ID Card.

But no social security number? Missing those two major IDs makes me think he really, really, didn't ever want to be tracked down.

[TheCars1986]

Has there ever even been a reason given as to why Tondevald would have killed himself? He successfully swindled the money from Ellen, wasn't facing any sort of pressure from law enforcement at that point, and could have easily fled the country. I don't think he killed himself, and IIRC, wasn't there no one available to ID the body other than a guy who saw Tondevald very briefly?

[TracyLynnS]

Just read my post from midnight. Loopy..... and kinda stating the obvious. lol

I think my keyboard should automatically lock me out at 11:00pm.

[TracyLynnS]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Has there ever even been a reason given as to why Tondevald would have killed himself? He successfully swindled the money from Ellen, wasn't facing any sort of pressure from law enforcement at that point, and could have easily fled the country. I don't think he killed himself, and IIRC, wasn't there no one available to ID the body other than a guy who saw Tondevald very briefly?

The only reason I think he would kill himself would be if he ran through all the money he stole and had no prospects of getting any more. He had Mrs. Berry's power of attorney, so I don't think there was an immediate legal issue of him spending her money however he wanted to. I lean toward the Murder of a Body Double theory.

If the ad for the chauffeur shown in the segment is worded like the one Tondevold actually placed in the paper, it really looks like he was trying to find a man of similar appearance who didn't have a family that would be looking for him if he disappeared.

According to UM, he placed the ad in a SC paper, looking for a valet/chauffeur/houseman to come back to TN with them. That alone is suspicious. What good reason could he possibly have for hiring an out of state chauffeur to come back home and move in with them, AND the interviews were to be conducted while he and Mrs. Berry were on vacation.

That doesn't make sense, imo, and reminds me of the recent case where people in OH put up a craigslist ad for ranch hands. It specified for them to bring all their belongings with them because the'd be living on the farm. At least one guy was murdered and one was shot and escaped. Robbery or thrill killing seemed to be the motive. The victims came to OH from other states.

Back on topic. Tondevold's ad specified "male" so no women would be considered for the position, and "single", which makes me think he wanted someone who could be gone for a while before suspicions would be raised.

He even stated what body type he was looking for: non-fat. Odd way to describe "trim". Why would body type be a requirement for a job driving a car and fetching things for a little old lady?

The respondent was asked to include a picture and Tondevold said they'd be in SC for interviews "this weekend". He included a SC post office box number to mail resumes to. He must have been expecting some quick responses to that ad. I wonder how and when he procured a post office box in SC?

I also wonder what the heck was going on with him and Mrs. Berry. UM said that before he showed up at her house in 1978, they'd been corresponding by mail for 15 years.

Side note: this was in 1984. Can you imagine placing such an ad for employment nowadays? No women, married men, smokers, or overweight people would be considered. Lawsuit! lol

[TracyLynnS]

The UM segment says Hugh either died of pneumonia or killed himself in mexico (where he'd sort of been banished to after killing his grandmother) and his body was never returned to the US. He was born in 1932.

Here's his grave marker in TN, so either his body was brought back and he was buried with his family or they just put up a marker for him with his parents that looks just like his their markers.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...894627&df=all&

I just did the math. Hugh, Mrs. Berry's son, died in 1963. Dan Tondevold, with a bad accent and no geographical knowledge of his country of birth, showed up at her house in 1978, after her husband died. She had been corresponding with Tondevold by mail for 15 years.

1963 to 1978 is 15 years, exactly how long Hugh had been dead. hmmm.....

Also interesting - Hugh Berry and Dan Tondevold are about the same age. Hugh was 18 when he killed his grandmother in 1951. IIRC, there is a yearbook picture showing Dan Tondevold in 1951. He would probably have been age 17 or 18.

[1990 UM fan]

I just watch this case today ironically. I think he's still out there somewhere but kind of old now.