UNSOLVED HOMICIDE: ROSE BURKERT & ROGER ATKISON

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When a young couple sets off for a weekend away, disappointment awaits at their destination, where a morticians’ convention has the hotel fully booked. A last-minute vacancy proves to be more deadly than lucky, resulting in a double ax murder with an incredible array of possible suspects in this episode of Last Seen Alive.

Rose Burkert was 22-years-old when she was murdered in September of 1980. She was the mother of a 2-year-old daughter, and a nursing student. Image source: family photo.
Roger Atkinson was 32-years-old when he was murdered in September of 1980. He was a father, husband and professional telephone line installer / repairman. Image source: family photo.
Pictured: the Iowa motel room in which Rose and Roger’s lives were ended by (an) ax-wielding assailant(s). Image source: police photo.
A sketch depicts the hotel room crime scene, with two bodies lying face-down in the bed.
This diagram of the crime scene illustrates the positions that Rose and Roger’s bodies were found in, as well as other details noted by investigators. Image source: Greg Good / Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Charles Ray Hatcher was a serial killer to whom Roger Atkinson was related (through marriage). He has been considered as a person of interest in Roger and Rose’s case, but their murders do not align with Hatcher’s usual MO. Image source: police booking photo.
An unusual clue was found at the scene of Rose and Roger’s double-murder in the form of a tube of toothpaste that had been emptied into the bathtub. This unusual act possibly links the murders to another that had happened weeks before, in different hotel. Image source: police photo / Iowa County Sheriff’s Office.

Sources used to research this episode:

Amana Slayings Still Puzzle Authorities (Cedar Rapids Gazette via Iowa Cold Cases)

Rose Z. Burkert and Roger E. Atkinson: Double Homicide (Iowa Cold Cases)

FBI ViCAP Alert: Seeking Information on Murder of Rose Burkert & Roger Atkinson

Years Later, Deaths of Hitchhiker, Hotel Guests Remain a Mystery (Brian Rathjen / The Pioneer-Republican of Iowa County)

Motel ‘Fling’ Deadly (Rick Smith and Jeff Burnham / The Gazette)

Salesman Slain in Motel (Quad-City Times)

Police Seek to Quiz Man About Slaying (George Whittington / Clarion Ledger)

GPD Captain Retires After 30 Years (Robert Connelly / The Register-Mail)

Murders Linked? (Quad-City Times via newspapers.com)

Drifter, Amana Killings Tied? (The Gazette via newspapers.com)

Murders Baffle Iowa Police (The Dispatch via newspapers.com)

Rumors Surround 1980 Killings (St. Joe News-Press / R.J. Cooper)

Charles Ray Hatcher (Radford University Dept. of Psychology / Serial Killer Database)

Cold Case: 32 Year Old Murder Still Leaves Questions (The Register-Mail)

Criminal Territories: The Murders of Rose Burkert and Roger Atkinson (onenie.com)

If you know anything about the deaths of Rose Burkert and Roger Atkinson, please contact the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office at 319-642-7307.

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