You can listen to episode six of “Aren’t You the Girl?” podcast here:
Posted is the transcript for the episode for those who would like to read the story instead.
Sources, music and audio used in this episode are listed at the end of this post.
In August of 1974, a former classmate of Timothy Crosby’s was found stabbed to death. Yvonne Bye was only 18 years old when she became friends with two people who would plot to take her life brutally.
In December of 1974, Timothy spoke of her murder to his current abducted victim.
In this episode of “Aren’t You the Girl?” I’ll be covering the homicide of Yvonne Bye and closing my search into Tim Crosby’s supposed victims.
The young woman who was abducted by Tim Crosby while hitchhiking in December of 1974 holds a lot of importance when it comes to understanding him in the early stages of his crimes.
She is one of the few to have survived Timothy in my opinion.
I’m not going to share a lot about the details of what happened between the two during the offense. The survivor deserves to not have her trauma displayed across the internet and media.
My only hope is to share some insight into what Timothy spoke about during the 12 hours together.
And Timothy did quite a bit of talking.
He treated what he was doing almost as a date to me while reading his case files. Seeming to want companionship with the victim. But he also made it very clear he would kill her and knew how to do it.
He would talk about girls he went out with and possibly about an old girlfriend whose name may have begun with the letter “A”. He made it sound like this girlfriend had been at the very same cabin.
Timothy blamed a square dancing incident in high school for the reason he kidnapped Jane Doe. He said that she was going to pay for this.
Even going as far as saying he has raped and killed someone before.
Again this is December 1974.
Belinda Vanlith disappeared in June of 1974, however she was still considered a runaway to investigators at the time of this offense. It’s often theorized publicly that he was referring to Belinda.
However he did give a name:
Bonnie Bye.
Timothy stated Bonnie was a classmate and she had been injured with a knife.
This is taken from Jane Doe’s first statement with police in 1975:
A. We were sitting at the park by the river he mentioned that a couple of months ago, [redacted] was cut up and murdered and raped. Well, he was talking about her.”
Q. Did he ever indicate that he has ever done any other crimes?
A. Somewhat. He goes, “Why should I start caring now, you’re no different.”
The survivor didn’t originally know who that was but it was the only victim’s name he gave.
Investigators at first also didn’t know who that was. Until several detectives decades later discovered Bonnie Bye was actually Yvonne Claire Bye.
She was a former student at Murray High School with Timothy; graduating in 1973. The survivor of this assault also was a former student of Murray High School. All being in school at the same timeframe.
Yvonne was murdered in August of 1974.
It’s not known why Tim said her name.
While I was going through Murray High School yearbooks ranging from 1969 – 1974, I found Timothy had a personal connection to Yvonne Bye:
Her sister Roxanne.
Tim and Roxanne were in the same graduating class and in the Murray High School yearbook they are only one row apart from one another.
Tim called Yvonne “Bonnie” because anyone close enough to her knew that that was actually her preferred name.
Jane Doe wouldn’t have known that.
It took the police a while to figure it out as well. St. Paul police originally looked through their records under the name “Bonnie Bye” and told Wright County they have no records of an incident under that name during that time frame.
Because legally and publicly, she is known as Yvonne C. Bye.
Eventually, detectives figured out who he was referring to and St. Paul located those reports.
Now, Tim stated Bonnie “was cut up and murdered and raped.”
Which Bonnie was not – two had plotted to kill her but she was not cut up nor raped.
The area Timothy and Jane Doe were in while he was talking about Bonnie was very near the locations where Martha Bacon’s remains would be found almost 20 years later, cut up into pieces.
Why was he talking about a woman cut up?
Was the disappearance of his neighbor and the murder of his classmate the catalyst for his escalation in crime?
Or did he use Bonnie as an example to scare the victim assuming she knew who Bonnie was and the fate that came to her?
Through my research I found most offenders start with victims closest to them. Long time family friends, neighbors, ect.
1974 is notoriously known as “the year of fear” and is no exception when it comes to Timothy Crosby’s life.
In 1974, three young girls he knew either disappeared, were murdered, or abducted and assaulted by him.
Who was Bonnie?
August 23rd, 1974 the body of Yvonne Claire Bye was found in tall grass near a golf course in Eden Prairie. Her case has been solved and closed for decades. I’m only going to share a short summary of her case.
Her sister Roxanne called police after a newscast about a discovery of a body prompted her to locate her missing sister.
Bonnie had been missing since August 15th, 1974.
Bonnie seemed to be going through a difficult time at this point in her life. Her mother was in the hospital and she has just began to start sex work for her boyfriend.
She meets Andrew Johnson, a.k.a Andre Brown, who is also her sister Roxanne’s boyfriend’s brother in November of 1973 and they begin dating. He is 24 years old and Bonnie is 17 years old.
Andre Brown lives with Roxanne and his brother and works as a pimp. Roxanne was not a sex worker but eventually Bonnie began to work for him. She worked two nights in total and absolutely hated being a sex worker.
Bonnie also disliked giving all of her money to Andre plus he stole a check that belonged to her which upset her.
On August 14th, Andre introduces 17 year old Faith Daehlin to Bonnie while beginning a relationship with Faith in addition to Bonnie.
He was favoring Bonnie and this seemed to start to irritate Faith. They argue over who is Andre’s main girl.
Bonnie refused to move to Omaha, Nebraska where the two would work as sex workers for Andre.
Andre and Faith came up with a plan to stab Bonnie Bye to death which was followed through on the night of August 15th, 1974.
Faith Daehlin was released to the public only a few years after murdering Bonnie and Andre Brown still resides in prison today.
In 2021, I spoke with Sergeant Thomas Bergren who was one of the people responsible for putting Tim away in 2009 representing St. Paul PD’s side of things regarding all things Tim Crosby. He also made sure Tim was committed civilly as a sexually dangerous predator keeping him off the streets longer.
It’s his belief that Timothy is a serial killer and said his crimes are some of the worst he’s had to investigate saying you don’t want that man in your head.
Thomas Bergren is now retired but worked with Timothy’s father Glenn at the St. Paul Police Department. He had been with the department from 1979 to the 2010s and in 2009 was working as Sergeant in the Special Investigative Unit of the St. Paul police department and also as a Task Force Officer with the FBI.
Bergren offered insight into how Tim’s father behaved which helped me paint a picture of Timothy’s personal life in episode four.
As we speak with one another on the phone he tells me about a friend and old roommate of Tim’s he made at St. Peters in either late 1970’s or the early 1980s:
A man named Donald Blom.
Timothy and Donald were locked up together and they were let out at times on leave during the early 1980s.
Donald Blom would eventually become one of the most notorious murderers in Minnesota history.
Thomas Bergren and other detectives think there may be a possible link between the two men’s crimes. Donald actually stated he watched someone kill victim Wilma Johnson in 1983.
Was he talking about Timothy?
Donald was sentenced to life after he abducted and murdered Katie Poirer in 1999. Blom is one of the most hated men in Minnesota history and crimes mirror those of Timothy Crosby.
When Dennis Fier of the Minnesota BCA was asked if he believed Blom will go to his grave a serial killer, Dennis responded,
“I believe he will. I believe he will.”
Dennis Fier was sadly correct. Donald actually died while I was researching him for this series on January 10th, 2023. Taking away any hope for closure for any families of his supposed victims.
He held the key to several unsolved murders in Minnesota.
The rest of this season will be about the victims and supposed victims of Donald Blom. I will always continue to advocate for the victims I’ve dedicated each episode to so far but publicly for now my research into Timothy is done.
My hope is for detectives to speak with Timothy Crosby again. Go over his supposed victims files one more time. Speak with his survivors again. Talk with his siblings. Talk with the victims’ families.
Open up another investigation on him without his father’s presence and police backing. Use today’s technology and knowledge.
Because I don’t want Timothy Crosby to also take several unsolved murders across Minnesota to his grave.
Thank you to Thomas Bergren for his needed contribution to this story and for his long time hard work and dedication in the criminal justice system.
Please tune into episode seven about victim Katie Poirier and the official deep dive into Minnesota’s most infamous murderer – Donald Blom.
Sources:
- Wright County Police Reports and St. Paul Police Reports, Court Reports.
- Thomas Bergren interview
- Cold Case: Is Donald Blom a Serial Killer? by Caroline Lowe
Rest in Peace to Yvonne Bye
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