Room 260: The Morticians' Convention Murders (part two)

The murders of Rose Burkert and Roger Atkison at the Amana Holiday Inn in September 1980 left investigators with a hotel full of witnesses and not a single person who heard a thing. In Part Two, Jenna and Laura dig into the suspects — and there's no shortage of them.

There's Danny Burton, Rose's ex-boyfriend who stalked her relentlessly, killed her dog, and was the person Rose herself told police to look at if she ended up dead. There's the hotel bartender who argued with Rose the night of the murder, then abandoned his truck, left his paycheck behind, and enlisted in the military. There's a serial killer in the family tree. And then there's the theory that changed everything — investigator Paul Holes' connection of Room 260 to two other hatchet murders at highway hotels across three states, all linked by one bizarre detail: toothpaste left at every scene.

After forty-five years of silence, new DNA evidence and a reopened investigation suggest that Room 260 may finally give up its secrets. Jenna and Laura lay out every theory, pick their sides, and make the case for answers that are long overdue.

If you have any information about the murders of Rose Burkert and Roger Atkison, contact the Iowa County Sheriff's Office at (319) 642-7307, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at (515) 725-6010, or the FBI's ViCAP at (800) 634-4097.

To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here.

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