Interlude – Dewane Lamm

Two friends Dewey and Kevin travel along highway 55 to Down in the Valley record store in November of 1974. Kevin wanted to replace some cassette tapes that were stolen from his vehicle a week prior and Dewey went along to shop for some records.

As Dewey and Kevin look through the store, an individual about 17 years old wearing a blue parka with the hood portion pulled around his head tightly to obscure his face, enters the store. He browsed through the record selection for about five minutes before leaving. 

He returned two minutes later carrying a rifle in one hand and a white towel in the other hand. Carrying the towel as if he’d been swimming. He approached the young woman working at the counter and stated, 

“Give me all your money.”

Dewey and Kevin start laughing as they believe the man is only pulling a prank. 

The man turns towards Dewey and Kevin, points his rifle and starts to shoot, ending the laughter. 

Before the topic of the next few episodes of this series changes from Timothy Crosby to Donald Blom – I want to pause and reflect on my journey to creating this podcast and website. 

In 2012 I was 17 years old and didn’t leave the house much. 

To socialize my parents would bring me to events within their friend group sometimes. 

One night we went to dinner for my dads friend Kevin Finneman who was visiting for the Summer. 

Kevin was part of “the gang” of best buddies my dad has. Their group is dedicated to their loyalty and have been included in each other’s lives for pretty much their entire existence 

Kevin’s physical being was harmed when he was 19 years old in 1974 by a gunman who had robbed a store he and his friend Dewey Lamm were shopping in. 

Dewey died at the scene, the clerk survived with wounds and Kevin left paralyzed from the waist down.  

To this day, the case has never been officially solved or closed.

I was familiar with this case as the Lamm family are very close with my family. 

At about 13 years old I remember holding Dewey’s glasses in my hands and looking through his billfold. Dewey’s brother Johnny was always open to sharing the items Dewey died with. 

My mom gave it to psychics to see if we could find any sort of a clue or tip on the case. 

Nothing really came out of it. 

My mom was always interested in local true crime and would help with searches if they were near. 

Throughout dinner I get to know this group of friends better. 

One of the women at the table abruptly told me – 

“I’m sorry that I keep looking at you but you remind me of my sister Belinda.”

My mom turns to tell me that she’s speaking about Belinda Vanlith – the girl who had gone missing in Monticello in the 1970’s.

This is when I first met the oldest sister of Belinda. I was 17 years old – the same age Belinda was when she had gone missing. 

She has been extremely gracious with me throughout the years and has offered a lot of insight into Belinda personally and the case. 

It has been 12 years since then and my research still continues into what may have happened to Belinda and the countless others I’ve then stumbled across investigating. 

Dewey’s brother Johnny dated Belinda for a time and they all would hang out on the Lamm farm and party at times. 

These two tragedies were only 4 months apart and were immensely painful to this young friend group. 

But their bond was never disconnected by the tragedies. 

This podcast and website is centered around girls and women cold cases in Minnesota. A common thread I spoke about in episode six with the case of Yvonne Bye is the year 1974 – the year of fear. 

But the year of fear extended beyond women as the target victims in Minnesota. Men were no exception to the violence and harm in that time. 

I want to create the same space that I have started to build here for the cold cases of the men of Minnesota who need the same help. 

Starting with the murder of Dewey Lamm, a deep dive into his case files, the suspects of the case, and personal accounts to understand what was going on with the violence against young men in Golden Valley in 1974. 

Within the next few weeks a new podcast channel and website will be launched and my research will turn into figuring out what happened that night in Down in the Valley.

Today marks exactly 50 years since this horrible incident and his family feels no closer to answers than they did the night it happened. 

Kevin has since passed away and was always bothered that they never found the man responsible for killing his friend and wounding him. 

Dewey Lamm was a very special person and I know so many people have fun stories and theories surrounding his tragic demise. 

I want to open a space for people to finally share what they know and get Dewey’s case circulating again within departments and give him some digital presence to hopefully move his case further. 

I hope you will join me. 

Rest in Peace Dewey and Kevin.