But at the arraignment, the U.S. Attorney's office dropped the charges against Minch, citing insufficient evidence. Thus, he had clearly not confessed, or he would not have been released. However, the decision not to charge him did not clear him. The detectives, who claimed Minch had admitted to the crime, believed they just had to work harder to get evidence against him. Minch remained their chief suspect

Seven detectives were assigned to continue the investigation, and Minch was

He was a remorseless, vicious killer, a child rapist, a man with no soul. Born in rural Minnesota in 1891, he began a life-long odyssey of crime and murder at the age of eight. By the time he was eleven, his family sent him off to a reform school as part of a plea bargain on a burglary charge. Repeatedly sodomized and physically tortured during his two years at the juvenile home, his emotional problems grew progressively worse. As a teenager, he enjoyed setting fires so he could