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On the morning of Thursday, October 15, 1959, Frederick “Fred” Leonard Coste, 47, was brutally murdered while at work in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Coste, the manager of the Family Finance Corporation, was found stabbed to death inside his small loan interview cubicle at the company’s office located at 312½ Second Avenue SE. He was the only employee on duty that morning.
Shortly before noon, two customers—Thomas McMurrin of Linn Junction Road NE and Donald McSpadden of H Avenue NW—arrived at the office to discuss loan matters. Upon entering, they discovered Coste lying on his back in a pool of blood. The men immediately went downstairs to the DeVar Restaurant and notified Patrolman Donald Hollister, who responded to the scene…