Rebecca Jean (McKeever) CHRISTENSEN PAULSEN

MCKEEVER, PAULSEN, CHRISTENSEN, YANNEY, BONJOUR, MENNENGA, WANNER, JOHNSON, PRALLE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:41

March 30, 1956 ---- September 29, 1999

Becky Paulsen, age 43, died at her home in Coulter, Iowa. She was born March 20, 1956 in Hampton to Mitchell & Donna McKeever. She married Tim Christensen November 1, 1975. They had two sons, Jason and Joshua. Survivors include her two sons, her mother, Donna, of Clarion; sisters Christine Yanney and husband Paul of Watkinsville, Georgia, and Karyl Bonjour and husband Chuck of West Branch, Iowa; brother Danny McKeever and wife Maria of Norfolk, Virginia; and former husband, Tim Christensen. Burial was in Coulter Cemetery.

Dows Advocate -- Dows, Iowa
October 7, 1999

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Mayor of Coulter killed in murder/suicide

SEPTEMBER 30, 1999 Authorities believe it was a murder/suicide last night at a home in the north central Iowa town of Coulter. Officials believe Becky Paulsen, the town’s mayor, was shot to death by her estranged husband, Delbert Paulsen, who then turned the gun on himself. Both Paulsens were 43-years-old.

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October 1, 1999
Mason City Globe Gazette -- Iowa

Byline: PEGGY SENZARINO

Murder-suicide stuns Coulter

COULTER, Iowa - Family and friends are expressing shock and disbelief over the deaths of Coulter Mayor Rebecca Paulsen and her estranged husband Delbert. The couple was found shot to death in her Coulter home Wednesday night.

According to a news release from the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, Delbert Paulsen shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself. Law-enforcement officers were on the scene Wednesday night and Thursday morning in the small Franklin County town of 250. Franklin County Sheriff Duane Payne was not sure if there had ever been a murder in Coulter but added that there have been none in the 27 years he has been with the department.

Police tape circles the house of Rebecca Paulsen, Mayor of Coulter, and her estranged husband Delbert. Police said Delbert Paulson killed his wife and then himself. Neighbors and friends say Paulsen may have been distraught over the couple's impending divorce. Married three years ago, the Paulsens separated about six months ago. Delbert Paulsen had apparently moved out of the house within the past three to four weeks.

Jerry Mennenga and his girlfriend Gay Wanner, close friends and neighbors of Rebecca Paulsen, were the first to sense that something was terribly wrong at Paulsen's home Wednesday night. Wanner had gone to see Rebecca Paulsen and after not getting any response at the front door, peeked in a window and made the grisly discovery. Rebecca Paulsen's body was sprawled on the kitchen table. Wanner ran home and got her boyfriend.

"I knocked on the door and then I went to the window. You could see her head laying right there on the kitchen table. I rapped on the window but there was no movement," Mennenga said.

There was no sign of Delbert Paulsen's body, which was later recovered inside the home, according to Mennenga. Mennenga then went home and called Godfather's Pizza in Hampton, where Paulsen's son Josh Christensen was working to tell him to come home immediately. Christensen, a 17-year-old senior at CAL High School in Latimer, found the bodies about 9:30 p.m. Mennenga described the couple as a "happy-go-lucky" pair that liked to go to karaoke bars together. However, he said Paulsen's behavior deteriorated when he didn't take his depression medication. "He was not helping her with the bills. He was not helping her around the house. He got the divorce papers and didn't like what was on the papers," Mennenga said. Delbert Paulsen was apparently served with divorce papers Wednesday.

Mennenga remembered a statement made by Delbert Paulsen several months ago that would prove to be quite prophetic. "When the divorce is final, you will pay for it," Paulsen reportedly told his wife, according to Mennenga. "She paid for it," Mennenga said.

Besides music, Rebecca Paulsen also liked to collect bears. Mennenga said she had about 2,000 bears of all shapes and sizes displayed around the house.

Neighbors Carl and Avis Johnson were awakened Wednesday night by the lights from half a dozen squad cars surrounding the Paulsen home. "We never guessed that such a thing could happen," he said. "I never would have thought it of Delbert. He was such a likeable young man." Avis Johnson said that Rebecca Paulsen was "very friendly and outgoing. You could talk to her very easily. She liked people."

Rebecca Paulsen worked for the Iowa Department of Transportation in Ames while Delbert Paulsen worked for a Hampton construction firm. Triple K Construction owner Rod Pralle said Delbert Paulsen was a reliable employee and a good worker.