Earl Thelander — A Nation's First
Copper Thieves Steal Lives
A home where five generations once lived, laughed and loved
Case summary compiled by Jody Ewing
Earl Thelander of Onawa, IA, died from second- and third-degree burns sustained over 80% of his body in an August 2007 explosion after copper thieves stripped propane gas lines from a rural residence he and his wife Hope owned and were readying for a renter.
Located approximately 2 miles north of Onawa at 20877 Gum Ave. in Monona County, the house formerly belonged to Hope's parents, Raymond and Dorothy Archer, but after Raymond passed away and Earl and Hope moved Dorothy into town to live with them, the couple purchased the country home and acreage in efforts to keep it in the family. That August, they'd been working there daily preparing for a new tenant.
On August 27 just before dusk, Earl and Hope — a few months shy of their 25th wedding anniversary and known throughout their
tight-knit community for a willingness to work with underemployed
on down-on-their-luck tenants — returned to the farm where Earl mowed the lawn and Hope worked inside.
Later that night after Earl and Hope returned to town, thieves smashed the kitchen door's glass and broke into the rural home, entered the basement, cut and stole copper water and propane lines and then let the house fill with propane gas.
The following morning at approximately 8:30 a.m. when Earl returned to the farm and discovered the break-in, he immediately went back outside and turned off the propane at the tank, then called his wife and asked her to notify local authorities. Hope called the Monona County Sheriff's Department, and — along with a daughter, a sister and brother-in-law who'd been visiting in town — drove the two miles to the farm.
Between approx. 10-10:15 a.m., Sheriff Jeff Pratt and Officer Joe Farrens arrived to take a statement. At that time, Sheriff Pratt, Officer Farrens, Earl and Hope Thelander, Dave Anderson and Kysa Ewing went through the house opening windows in efforts to ventilate the home. (They later were told the explosion hadn't occurred then because oxygen levels were too low.)
Crime scene evidence including tire tracks in the freshly mown lawn suggested the perpetrator(s) drove a small lightweight pick-up.
With windows and doors still open and statements provided to law enforcement, the Thelanders and their family members returned to the Thelander home in town.
At approx. 11:30 a.m. — insisting it wouldn't take long and he wouldn't be too late for lunch — Earl drove back to the farm to check on things and see about hooking up the
new water pump and tank in the home's basement. When he arrived, law
enforcement officials were gone, and, smelling no propane gas, Earl
felt it was safe to work. In the basement, however, Earl discovered
water had leaked onto the floor from the water heater's cut and stolen
lines. He plugged in a squirrel cage blower to expedite drying the
water, and the home suddenly exploded, throwing him across the room
and into a basement corner.
Back in town, Hope's nephew, Norman Johnson, had just arrived at Hope and Earl's home, hoping to surprise them with a hot pork tenderloin lunch he'd brought for the three of them to enjoy together. Hope, who'd been scheduled to undergo surgery for a breast biopsy the next morning*, stood bent over the kitchen sink, washing her hair. She'd just grabbed a towel to wrap around her head when Earl — who'd survived the explosion and stormed his way through a ball of fire to drive himself home to the woman he loved — walked through the door, still in shock, his clothes burned and hanging in shreds, and said to her as she looked up, "It just blew."
Hope and Norman drove Earl to the Burgess Memorial Hospital in Onawa and then immediately contacted Earl's six children and Hope's five; almost all lived within close proximity and had time to speak with Earl at the hospital before he was taken by Life Flight to the Clarkson Burn Center at the University of Nebraska Hospital in Omaha.
Earl died four days later on September 1, 2007, surrounded by all his grown children, numerous grandchildren, and his wife, Hope, who held her face close to his as he opened his eyes to gaze at her one last time just before passing away.
With Earl Thelander's death came the nation's first — and only known to date — innocent fatality resulting from copper theft.
The estimated value of the copper stolen and exchanged for a good man's life and property: less than $20.
No arrests have been made in the case. The family has offered a $5,000 Reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Earl's death. All information is confidential and the reward may be claimed anonymously.
If you have any information regarding Earl Thelander's death, please call the Monona County Sheriff's Department at 800-859-1414.
Articles, videos and news reports on Earl Thelander's death
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* Note: Six days following Earl's funeral, his wife Hope was diagnosed with Stage III, Grade 3 invasive breast cancer. She underwent a mastectomy the following month and spent close to one year undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. She currently is in remission.
On Thursday, February 14, 2008, the Iowa House Judiciary Committee assigned a Subcommittee to House Study Bill 660 -- An Act relating to scrap metal transactions, prohibiting certain sales and imposing criminal penalties. While supported by organizations such as the IA Assn. of Electric Cooperatives, the IA Utility Assn. and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the bill met with resistance from organizations such as the IA Assn. of Business and Industry and Alter Trading Corporation, and died after failing to make the Iowa House's March 7 first funnel date. See the list of companies/lobbyist names that were for or against Iowa's bill.
A number of other states, however, not only passed in that same session House and Senate resolutions similar to Iowa's failed HSB 660, but expanded the scope of these laws from specifically copper to more general nonferrous metals. See State Copper and Scrap Metal Theft Statutes.
On Saturday, February 16, 2008, the Onawa Volunteer Fire Department conducted a controlled burn of all that remained of the rural home.
