WRIGHT COUNTY, Minn. — Twenty five old Victoria Marie Morris was a free woman for just days before her life was taken in 1994 by an assailant who killed her and left her remains in rural Minnesota.
Investigators discovered Morris’ body on Oct 8, 1994 in Wright County, which is just northwest of the Twin Cities, after disappearing months earlier from St. Paul.
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The discovery came one year after the dismembered remains of 32-year-old Martha Bacon were discovered by a dog in a nearby location on Oct. 14, 1993.
The weapon investigators believe was used in her slaying was found alongside her. Investigators have not revealed the nature of the weapon.
A Wright County Sheriff’s Office cold case investigation into Morris’ death revealed unknown male DNA was discovered on the weapon, according to a 2009 St. Paul Pioneer Press article.
Investigators honed in on at least one possible suspect, Timothy Joseph Crosby, who had a family cabin on Eagle Lake in Wright County and a history of abduction and sexual assault.
Crosby was convicted in 1987 for false imprisonment after a woman threw herself out of his apartment window, where she had been held captive and sexually assaulted for 16 hours.
In December of 1974 , he abducted a woman in Minneapolis and violently sexually assaulted her at his cabin in Wright County. The victim escaped. At least one other woman is known to have escaped from Crosby.
In July of 2009, the Wright County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Paul Police Department executed a search warrant at Crosby’s St. Paul home to collect saliva for DNA analysis for the Morris case, Bacon’s case and the investigation related to the 1974 missing persons case of Belinda Van Lith, the subject of a recent investigative series by Forum News Service .
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If Crosby’s DNA had been matched with the unknown male DNA discovered on the murder weapon, the county would have sufficient evidence to file charges. Crosby was not charged with a crime after his saliva was collected.
In a January interview with Forum News Service , Crosby denied being a dangerous person in the 1990s. He did not specifically address Morris’ case.
Crosby did not seem to fall completely off investigators’ radar after his DNA was collected, though.
A 2009 search warrant application — executed after his DNA was collected — Crosby was considered a possible suspect in the 1994 slaying of Morris.
The search warrant affidavit revealed investigators were searching Crosby’s home for any and all items that could relate to the three cases in which Crosby was a suspect at the time: Morris’ death, Van Lith’s disappearance and the slaying and dismemberment of Bacon.
The search warrant gave investigators access to the entirety of Crosby’s home, outdoor buildings and vehicles — including access to all locked boxes and areas.
In addition to any physical material related to the three cases, investigators were searching for “biological evidence, included but not limited to blood, hair and bodily fluids,” according to the search warrant application included in the Van Lith investigative file.
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A number of items were taken into evidence, including sexually violent material discovered on Crosby’s computer and a hacksaw discovered in Crosby’s locked trunk.
The evidence sweep did not lead to charges in the Morris, Bacon or Van Lith investigations.
Evidence collected did contribute to Crosby’s involuntary civil commitment in 2009, which was cemented in 2013 after Crosby unsuccessfully appealed the court’s decision on the grounds that the state had not proven a track record of sexually violent behavior warranting commitment.
The Minnesota State Supreme Court upheld the decision in a 2013 ruling.
Morris’ case remains open and ongoing. It is not clear whether Crosby is still considered a potential suspect.
If you have any information related to this case, contact Lt. Mike Lindquist at the Wright County Sheriff’s Office at 763-682-3900 or 800-362-3667.
The Trust Project
