Kosters, Marie (Mrs. Lane) died 1952

KOSTERS, VANDERMEY

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg - volunteer (email)
Date: 1/13/2014 at 17:39:11

Sioux Center News Dec 11, 1952
California Police Discover Homicide In Kosters Deaths California police were still searching this week for the writer of anonymous letters which tipped Santa Monica crime investigators off on the possibility of murder in connection with the deaths of Lane Kosters his wife, and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Minnie Van Der Mey, who were found dead in their fire-gutted home in Santa Monica Nov. 29.

Police said they received anonymous letters which suggested a further look into the case. An autopsy report stated that Mrs. Marie Kosters and her mother had been "manually strangled with terrific force."

Three possible causes for the death of Lane Kosters, 51, were listed. There was a quantity of soot in the bronchial passage, approximately 65 per cent carbon dioxide in the blood stream, and grayish granulated substance in the stomach which “may have been a barbiturate poison."
The anonymous letters reported Kosters had told Beverly Hills police of threats against his life. Police confirmed that statement. Police said Kosters had suffered recent financial setbacks and was in ill health.

Arson investigators said charred pieces of rug found to the Kosters home had been saturated with some inflammables (?)

Sioux County Capital of Dec 18. 1952
Deaths of Sioux Countians Termed Murder, Suicide Orange City Woman, Sioux Center Couple Perished Nov. 29th The deaths of three members of the Lane Kosters family in Santa Monica, Calif., have finally been classified as double murder and suicide, according to Associated Press reports of west-coast law enforcement officers statements.
All three of the dead were former Sioux countians. Film Distributor Lane Kosters, 51, his wife Marie, 53, and her mother, Mrs. Minnie Vender Mey, were found dead in their beds November 29 after fire destroyed their home. At first they were believed to have died in the fire. Then an anonymous letter suggested the three were murdered by an outsider. That brought investigation. "There is no evidence tojustify any other conclusion than that Kosters brought about the deaths of his wife and his mother-in-law and himself," said George H. Johnson,' deputy district attorney.

He added that evidence showed Mrs. Kosters 'had been struck down. Mrs. Vander Mey strangled in bed. and that Kosters took sleeping tablets. Johnson said it was significant that Kosters- mailed his brother in-law a life insurance policy the day before the fire. The writer of the anonymous letter has not been identified.
Mr. and Mrs. Kosters formerly lived at Sioux Center and Mrs. Vander Mey was from Orange City.