Patient's Shocking Confession Reignites Cold Case Murder Investigation Dating Back 40 Years

A startling revelation unfolded when a patient in a Wisconsin hospital confessed to a nurse that he had committed a murder nearly four decades ago, as documented in the City of Madison police call logs. At 8:01 pm, a nurse at a local hospital contacted police to report that a patient told her he was the suspect in an unsolved murder case from nearly 40 years ago in another county," as detailed in the Madison police blotter. "Officers relayed this information to the appropriate authorities."

The victim in this long-standing mystery is believed to be Terry Dolowy, a 24-year-old finance student at the University of Wisconsin who vanished on Valentine's Day in 1985. WKOW, a local news outlet, interviewed the lead investigator, Scott Bjerkos of the Vernon County Sheriff's Office, who has been dedicated to the case for the past 25 years.

Bjerkos acknowledged the patient's alleged confession but stressed that more corroborative evidence is needed to proceed. "You have to corroborate the information that he or any individual, where I'm able to link him to her death," Bjerkos told WKOW. He mentioned that the patient had connections as a farmer and a friend of the victim's fiancé at the time but did not provide further details or disclose the patient's identity. The specifics of what the hospital patient divulged to the nurse and the motive behind the alleged confession remain undisclosed.

Efforts to obtain additional information from Bjerkos, Madison police, and the Vernon County Sheriff's Office have been met with silence, as the investigation is declared "active."

Terry Dolowy's cold case is marked by its enigmatic and gruesome nature. Four days after her fiancé, Russell "Whitey" Lee, reported her disappearance, investigators from the Vernon County Sheriff's Office discovered her decapitated and charred remains in response to a call regarding a burning body. Her head and her dog were never recovered.

The last known sighting of Dolowy was around 12:30 a.m. on February 14, 1985, at her trailer home near Barre Mills, Wisconsin. She had just returned home from her job as a bar manager at Piggy's restaurant in La Crosse before vanishing. Notably, she left behind her purse and personal items, had no access to her car, and her dog was also missing, as documented in Vernon County Sheriff's summary notes on the case. These notes also mentioned that Dolowy had confided in friends about her decision not to marry Lee, primarily due to his rumored gambling and potential drug issues, which had strained their relationship.

Despite the absence of any direct evidence pointing to her fiancé, DNA found on her remains cleared him as a suspect. The only significant evidence was a paint chip from a vehicle discovered in a sheet wrapped around the victim. Nevertheless, investigators narrowed down the possibilities to a range of vehicle models from various manufacturers. The paint chip was believed to have originated from the trunk of a vehicle used to transport the victim's body, as per the sheriff's office's notes.

The records and reports related to this baffling case were digitized in 2003, and they encompassed every report generated during the investigation, creating a digital repository of the cold case's complex history.
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