Fifty-two years ago

Fifty-two years ago. August 3/4, 1973, a Friday and Saturday. Weather history indicates it was warm, with a high around 88 degrees. The evenings were cool, the lows in the 60’s.

Tess Hilt helped Ed Happel paint his apartment that Friday afternoon. It’s easy to imagine that they had fun together while they worked, laughing and joking. Tess loved to laugh. They were just kids. Tess was so tiny and Ed….. one tipster describes Ed as, “A little guy”. An investigator described Ed as, “A quiet, reserved individual who expresses little emotion”.

Later, that evening, Ed and Tess went together to a house (a trailer really) party near 7th and Walnut, across the street from the (then) AKL house. Although one party goer said, “Tess didn’t have but one drink – if that!”, according to Ed, Tess, “Had about 4 drinks of rum”, in the approximately two hours they were there. They left the party around 11:00 pm and went back to Ed’s apartment to, “Watch TV and listen to the stereo”. While they were there two of Ed’s friends, Terry and Gary, came to visit. Terry left around 12:15 am and Gary around 1:15. Ed stated that Tess left his apartment around 2:00 am. Ed said that, while they were alone they were, “Amorous, but did not have intercourse”. He said that when Tess left it was the last time he saw her until he went to wake her up the next afternoon. He also said that Tess had fallen, “Cracked a rib”, about a week ago and was, “Taking medicine for it”.

Ed made it to his early shift at the HyVee store that morning, August 4. He said that throughout the day he had tried to call Tess, to confirm their ‘date’ Saturday evening. He said there was no answer. Later in the investigation another young man (Jack S.) stated that he had tried to call Tess and had gotten only a busy signal. Jack said he had come by Tess’ apartment around 11:30 am, knocked on the door but there was no answer. He then went to check the laundry room, then back to the apartment and knocked again. No answer, so he wrote a message on a note pad Tess kept on the door, “I want your body, call me!”, he wrote, and left the area.

After his shift ended at 4:30 pm Ed said, returning home, he walked over to Tess’ apartment, knocked and received no answer. He then tried the door knob which, he said, was ‘unusually’ not locked, walked into her bedroom and found her lying there with a pillow over her head and the bedspread entirely covering her. When she did not arouse from his shaking he pulled back the bedspread, removed the pillow from over her head — and then called the police at 5:04 pm to report a, “DOA”… as stated in the public report.

Shortly thereafter three Maryville Police officers met Ed Happel at Tess’ apartment. Officers reported finding Tess, “Lying face down on the bed without any clothes on. A bed cover was laying over her body. The victims [sic] left arm was at her side, palm up and the wrist had been slashed. The victims right arm was twisted behind her back and a small paring knife was hanging loose in her fingers with blood on the blade. A ladies nylon stocking had been tied around the victims neck.”.

The Nodaway County Sheriff and County Prosecutor were called to the scene. The possibility of suicide was ruled out. Sgt. Jim Rhodes, Missouri State Highway Patrol, was contacted. Sgt. Rhodes arrived on the scene at 7:09 pm, assumed control of the investigation and the remains of poor Teresa Sue “Tess” Hilt.