On a cold December day in 1987, the small town of Algona, Iowa, was rocked by a horrific tragedy that befell the well-regarded Dreesman family. Agnes Dreesman, a 74-year-old White female, was known throughout the community for her exceptional cooking and flower arranging, often contributing her talents to church and garden club events. On December 30th, she was preparing her home for a festive holiday meal, a reunion with her daughter, Marilyn, and her three grandchildren who had flown in from
Honolulu.
The family, including Agnes's husband John, a 79-year-old prominent farmer and former city councilman, gathered in the dining room for a midday meal. Noticeably absent from the table was their 40-year-old son, Robert. Agnes had set a plate for him, keeping it warm in the kitchen, awaiting his arrival. The family had just begun to pass around the serving dishes when Robert appeared in the doorway.
Without warning, Robert opened fire on his family with a semiautomatic rifle. In a matter of seconds, the joyous holiday gathering turned into a scene of unimaginable carnage. He systematically shot his parents, his sister, and his three young nieces and nephews, none of whom had time to react. The violence was swift and brutal, leaving no survivors at the dining table.
After murdering his entire immediate family, Robert Dreesman stepped back into the hallway, where he had left a shotgun. He then turned the weapon on himself, ending his own life. The devastating murder-suicide was discovered a couple of hours later when police, alerted by a concerned family friend, entered the Dreesman home to find the bullet-riddled bodies of the family still seated around the dining table. The motive behind Robert's actions was never fully understood, though friends and acquaintances described him as a quiet and withdrawn individual who may have harbored feelings of neglect. Several weeks prior to the killings, he had revised his will, leaving only one dollar to each of his family members. The tragic event left the community of Algona in a state of shock and profound grief, forever changing the lives of those who knew the Dreesman family.
