Eileen Biernat - Stalking Mary: One Mans Fifteen-Year Obsession with His High-School Teacher

STALKING MARY copyright 2010 by Eileen Bridgeman Biernat. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form whatsoever, by photography or xerography or by any other means, by broadcast or transmission, by translation into any kind of language, nor by recording electronically or otherwise, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in critical articles or reviews.

eBook ISBN: 978-1-59298-511-1

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2010921934

Cover by Emsster Design Company.
Interior design and typesetting by James Monroe Design, LLC.

Beavers Pond Press, Inc.
7108 Ohms Lane, Suite 101
Edina, MN 554392129
(952) 829-8818
www.BeaversPondPress.com

For my husband Joe
from whom I have always heard an encouraging word

In the spring of 1980, I was two years into a thirty-two year career as an investigative reporter and anchor for WCCO-TV in Minneapolis and St. Paul. I had cut my teeth as a crime reporter. In the previous fifteen years, I had worked in Washington, DC, Charleston, South Carolina, and Houston, Texas. I had seen my share of crime, much of it up very close, and always very personal.

When I first moved from Texas to Minnesota, I was sent to cover what was being billed as Minnesotas most bizarre murder case. It involved the murder of wealthy Duluth heiress Elisabeth Congdon, whose adopted daughter Marjorie Congdon was accused of inducing her husband Roger Caldwell to commit the murder to accelerate Marjories large inheritance. The sole motive was money. There was nothing bizarre about the crime, but for Minnesota, it was highly irregular.

Then on May 16, 1980, came a police radio dispatch that a child was missing from a playground. WCCO sent reporters to cover the disappearance as we had covered so many other missing children. This one was different. Police sources told me that the missing child had been thrown into the trunk of a car. That kind of criminal behavior doesnt happen very often, and the sense in the newsroom and the cop shop was not very sanguine. This was probably going to turn out ugly.

Within days of the abduction, we learned that a missionary and her daughter were also missing. At first, no one connected the two crimes. But, when it became clear the two were, in fact, connected, the word bizarre began to creep into our private conversations.

I was the Cop Guy. It fell to me to follow the investigations. Six-year-old Jason Wilkman was gone. Elizabeth and Mary Stauffer were gone. Police investigated every angle, but a month passed with no word at all about the whereabouts of any of them. The press worked overtime. A story about the kidnappings ran every day for the next month as the search continued. I reported many of them. I had, with permission, appropriated a desk and phone in the office of the Ramsey County Sheriffs office. I went there every day. I came to know the men and women investigating the case and went easy in reporting their growing desperation. They were all good officers, but you could have put Sherlock Holmes on this case, and he wouldnt have found a clue that would lead to a suspect. Thats because this crime had actually started a very long time before the abductions.

When I read Eileen Biernats account of the search for Mary Stauffer, her daughter Elizabeth, and six-year-old Jason Wilkman, I was drawn back to that time nearly thirty years ago. As I read the book, I felt my stomach knot in the same way it had as police chased leads that led nowhere. Eileens account of the anguish of the Wilkman family and that of the Stauffers clawed back into the memories that news reporters are certain theyve disposed of forever. This book opened the compartments I hoped Id sealed away permanently.

The abduction drama lasted fifty-two days. Through solid work by Ramsey County Sheriffs investigators and, eventually, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, plus Mary Stauffers incredible will to live, her faith and ceaseless sense of motherhood in caring for her own child while undergoing the worst treatment imaginable, the culprit was arrested, and Mary and Elizabeth were restored to their families. Jasons story had a different ending.

Who was the man who abducted these innocent people? His name was Ming Sen Shiue, a brilliant and tortured former student of Mary Stauffer. At the heart of this book is the revelation of what it was, exactly, that tortured the man, and how long that torture had worked its evil inside of him.

Eileen Biernats account of this disturbing story is laced with a clear understanding of the role of mother in all its guises. Jasons mothers anguish, Marys fierce protection of her daughter, and Mings own mothers steadfast support of her son could not have been told as clearly by a mere cop reporter.

This cop reporter has been waiting for this story to be told for a very long time. Take it from me, as one who lived this story from the first abduction to the final sentencing, this is Minnesotas most bizarre crime, and Eileen Biernats gentle handling of the brutal facts of this case will wrench back memories for those who lived through it, read about it every day, or watched it unfold on television.

For those too young to remember the events of that spring, when you read this book, you will be glad you missed living the agony.

Don Shelby
News Anchor, WCCO Television
CBS Affiliate
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota

Thanks to my children and their spousesDr. Joseph Biernat, DC and his wife Michelle, and Bridget Biernat Earl and her husband Davidfor their enthusiasm, support and good humor. Most of all, thanks for always believing My mom can do that!

Thanks to my grandchildren, Madelyn Michelle Biernat (6) and Logan Arthur Earl (4), for making Bomma Eileen laff! You are my sunshine.

My cousin, Roberta Bridgman Mlekodaja true wordsmith-who performed editing magic on this book. Her dedication to this project was incredibleher talentpriceless. She has been pushing me to the top ever since we were children.

My publisher Beavers Pond Press; Milt Adams and Amy Cutler, who enthusiastically endorsed this project and introduced me to very talented and creative individuals who guided me in this process; my copyeditor, Jennifer Manion; cover designer Emily Yost, designer Jay Monroe; and website gurus Ashley and Jason Bird.

My good friends and willing proofreaders, Karen Kellington and Gwen Leifeld, for their ideas, curiosity, and enthusiasm.

Retired Ramsey County Sheriffs, Jim Daly, Don Johnson, Marie Ballard and Bruce Jerome, for granting me interviews that provided insight, perspective and understanding of all the families whose lives were changed forever in May 1980.

A special note of appreciation to my son Joe for introducing me to one of his chiropractic patients, Ramsey County Sheriffs Lieutenant (Retired) Jim Daly who took a personal interest in my project. Jim, vouching for my qualifications to write the story, arranged for me to interview Don Johnson, Ramsey County Chief Deputy (Retired) and Deputy Sheriff (Retired) Bruce Jerome. Most beneficial to the story was my interview with Deputy Sheriff (Retired) Marie Ballard who offered incredible insight into the first moments after Mary and Beth escaped. Marie hurried the mother and daughter, still chained together, into the squad car and drove them away from the dark captivity of Shiues house into the bright sunshine of freedom. I was touched by the compassion Marie still felt for Mary and Beth all these years later.