More than 80 years after the killing of a Council Bluffs railroad worker, the murder of Henry Christensen remains one of Iowa’s unsolved homicide cases.
According to research by author Nancy Bowers for Iowa Unsolved Murders: Historic Cases, 58-year-old Henry Christensen was shot and killed during the early morning hours of June 21, 1941, at his home located at 1735 Grand Avenue in Council Bluffs.
Christensen, a longtime car inspector for the North Western Railroad, returned home around 1:30 a.m. and pulled his vehicle into the garage on his rural property. Investigators believe someone was waiting for him. Moments later, gunshots rang out.
His brother, Alexander Christensen, who shared the residence, heard the shots and discovered Henry’s body behind the garage. Authorities reported that Christensen had been shot twice in the torso from behind and once in the temple. No weapon was found at the scene.
Investigators quickly focused their attention on Christensen’s former wife, Catherine Johnson, whom he had married in December 1939. The marriage ended in divorce less than a year later after both parties filed cruelty allegations against one another.
Just days after the murder, Johnson was arrested and charged in connection with the killing. Authorities alleged she had taken a taxi to Christensen’s home, waited for his arrival, and then shot him before disposing of the weapon in a remote area near the property.
Johnson admitted traveling to the residence that night but maintained she never saw Christensen and instead walked back into town.
During grand jury proceedings, testimony was presented by Alexander Christensen, a taxi driver who reportedly transported Johnson to the area, and a restaurant employee who claimed Johnson appeared at his business shortly after the shooting. The grand jury later indicted her on a charge of first-degree murder.
However, after the prosecution rested its case during a December 1941 trial, District Judge Andrew V. Thornell ruled that the evidence presented amounted to little more than suspicion. He directed the jury to return a verdict of acquittal, effectively ending the case against Johnson.
Just two days after the acquittal, the attack on Pearl Harbor thrust the nation into World War II, and public attention quickly shifted away from the Christensen murder. No other suspects were ever charged, and the case remains unsolved.
Henry Christensen was born July 1, 1882, in Council Bluffs to Danish immigrant parents James Jorgen Christensen and Ellen Peterson Christensen. He was the father of three children and spent many years working for the railroad industry. Following his death, he was laid to rest beside his first wife, Pearl Ivy Christensen, at Walnut Hill Cemetery in Council Bluffs.
Today, the identity of the person responsible for Christensen’s murder remains unknown.
Source: “Inside the Garage: Murder of Henry Christensen 1941” by Nancy Bowers, Iowa Unsolved Murders: Historic Cases.
