In 1982, a quiet town in Kansas was rocked by the murder of a young banker named David Harmon who was bludgeoned to death in his bed. His wife told authorities that it was a home invasion. Investigators suspected that she was having an affair with a family friend and that the two were involved in David’s murder. But the case went cold until nearly 20 years later, armed with new forensic technology, police zeroed in on the couple. “48 Hours" Correspondent Hannah Storm reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 7/7/2007. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What was the initial reaction to David Harmon's murder?
When David Harmon got murdered, I was on call that weekend.
According to police, sometime during Sunday nights here on Sheridan Drive in Olathe,
My name is Paul Morrison. In 1982, I was an assistant district attorney here in Johnson County. That was the first murder scene that I'd ever seen. One of the most brutal murder scenes that I've ever seen in my career. Very, very bloody. He was disfigured so badly that the initial officers thought he'd been shot in the face with a shotgun.
It traumatized a lot of people because what came out publicly was that there was this horrible home invasion. These people beat this poor guy to death in bed. It was one of those cases where you're going, you know, we don't believe this. There's more to this story than meets the eye.
This was a place where people felt that they could get away from the city, raise a family, and live a peaceful life. I think when this happened, it hit home. The people involved in this murder are members of the Nazarene Church and go to the college there. So this kind of rocked their community a lot. I'm Bill Wall. I'm a detective with the Olathe, Kansas Police Department.
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Chapter 2: How did the community of Olathe, Kansas respond to the murder?
There are a lot of murders, but this is intriguing. It's got a bit of a sex appeal to it. We got religion. We got a lover's triangle. We got money. And we felt that it was a case that could be solved. It was 19 years old when we opened it up. When I'm reading through this case file, I think that we got a shot. I mean, eventually, you got to go knock on the door.
And that was the turning point, obviously, in this case.
A knock on the door.
Today, Olathe, Kansas is a major crossroads, a fast-growing suburb of Kansas City, home to a large conservative Christian community. But back in 1982, it was just a dot on the map.
In 1982, this was a community where you didn't have to lock your doors, basically. I know that's a cliche, but there was not a lot of danger. Andy Hoffman was a reporter for Olathe's Daily News. The people that lived here were God-fearing. They believed in the Bible, and when this horrendous murder happened, it changed the landscape of the community.
Praise the Lord.
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Chapter 3: Who were the main suspects in David Harmon's murder?
There weren't a lot of homicides in Olathe, so the unsolved murder of David Harmon was a nightmare that stayed with them for more than two decades.
First time I heard about that case was maybe in the early 90s. Bill Wall was a young patrol officer at the time. It was always kind of a case that had never been solved, and it was kind of a legend throughout the department.
It might have stayed cold, if not for a simple request in 2001 and some new technology.
The crime lab came down, and they had some time, and they wanted to use their DNA expertise. You got any old cold cases? We had one. I'll grab this. You want that?
The Harmon case moved out of the evidence vault and into the hands of detectives Bill Wall and Steve James.
For us, this is uncharted territory. I mean, we really didn't have a lot of experience in opening up cold cases.
They went through all the evidence to learn what happened back in 1982. Once we get started to it, it's so intriguing, you don't want to put it down. There were accounts from police officers, including J.W. Larrick, then 27, one of the first responders.
It was a very, very brutal crime scene.
He found David Harmon's body upstairs in the master bedroom.
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Chapter 4: What role did forensic evidence play in reopening the case?
He was an impressive, impressive young man, good student.
Melinda introduced Mark to her husband, David.
I mean, David was in many ways like a big brother to me. You know, he took me under his wing.
They shared a passion for sports, business, and their church. As word of David's murder spread, it stunned Olathe's Nazarene community. I remember when the phone call came, how unreal it was.
Pam and Don Stelting were among the first to hear the news. I don't think we could even talk. It was such devastating news.
It shook us all very deeply, because here was someone that we thought was just a perfect example of what the church and the college stood for. And he was gone. His life snuffed out.
His friends at the Patron State Bank were shocked. Why? Why would this happen? Why, David? Joy Hempe and Hazel Hendricks.
We didn't have murders in Olathe. And then to have it happen to a person that you worked with every day, it was very scary.
Well, at first, everybody bought the story.
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Chapter 5: What new developments occurred in the investigation after 19 years?
If they got inside the bank with the keys, all they would get would be pencils, erasers, and paper clips. You couldn't get in the vault. It was on a timer.
So those are actually his.
It didn't take long for investigators to realize the pieces of the puzzle just weren't adding up.
No forced entry to the house. There was nothing else taken. Plus, the person that's able to get them access to the bank, they kill immediately. I don't think anybody was comfortable saying that first day, you know, we don't believe it. But there are eyebrows beginning to be raised about this story.
As doubts grew about Melinda Harmon's story, the focus of the investigation shifted.
I'm sure some of those detectives back then were thinking, hey, this is not right. There is something more here.
Did they believe that Melinda Harmon was involved in her husband's murder? And they suspected she had help.
Some questions came up, and in particular, a question about this person, Mark Mangelsdorf.
Collier Boyle was lying awake at night when he heard something horrible. It was going through your mind at that time.
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Chapter 6: How did Melinda Harmon Rash's story change over time?
And when you marry, you marry for life.
Back in 1982, in the Nazarene church, divorce was not the option that it is today. It would have not been a good thing. It would have caused a certain amount of shame and scandal.
To believe that one would have to not know the Nazarene church at that time, to think that someone would plan murder to avoid divorce is ludicrous.
Mark Mangelsdorf and Melinda Harmon always denied they had a romantic relationship. And at first, they cooperated with investigators. But that soon stopped, and leads dried up.
There's a lot of people that remember this case that were members of the church, members of our community. They all thought that the suspects had been identified. Why aren't we moving forward?
Investigators had a bloody murder scene, but no footprints or fingerprints and no murder weapon. Not enough evidence to prosecute.
The question of, is that going to be provable beyond a reasonable doubt, probably wasn't quite there.
With no charges against them, Mangelsdorf and Harmon both left Olathe. Melinda Harmon headed back home to Ohio with her parents. Mark Mangelsdorf went off to Harvard Business School and became a successful corporate executive.
Definitely went on with my life, and it's not something that I really dwelled on or focused on a lot.
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Chapter 7: What was the relationship between Melinda Harmon and Mark Mangelsdorf?
They didn't have it on the front burner, but they did not forget about it. The community wouldn't let them forget about it.
When you read it, it's kind of a no-brainer. The suspects are identified. These people did it, and now we've got to prove it.
As detectives Bill Wall and Steve James began going over the 19-year-old evidence, they found it odd that blood spatter was all across Melinda Harmon's pillowcase.
If she's laying in bed, her head should be here, right? Right. There should be a void. There should be a spot. Where there's no blood? Where there's no blood.
With so much blood on the pillowcase, Wall and James were surprised how little blood was on Melinda and her nightgown.
You would think, you would see... at least some blood up in this general area up here toward the top of the nightgown.
The only blood was at the bottom of the gown.
She's standing away from the bed, and it's cast off to her.
They also had doubts about Melinda's story of being knocked out by intruders.
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Chapter 8: What were the motives behind the alleged murder conspiracy?
So when detectives Bill Wall and Steve James showed up out of the blue at the Rash home in 2001, they didn't expect her to talk to them.
Steve and I both thought that she's probably going to say, hey, I left that back in Olathe, you're going to have to talk to my attorneys, something along those lines, but she didn't.
Instead, she invited them in.
It's beyond what I expected to happen.
As they sat in her kitchen, Rash told the detectives about the night her first husband, David Harmon, was murdered.
She says that she was awakened by these horrifying sounds of someone striking her husband. She sees a shadowy figure, and she runs to the bathroom.
This isn't the same story as two decades ago.
This is definitely not the same story. What happened to the two black guys that broke in demanding bank keys? What happened to, I think you hit him too hard, you may have killed him? None of that.
She didn't remember the lie she told.
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