Toni Monette Murder 1981

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and The Mounds View Police Department are looking for tips in an unsolved homicide.

The victim, 27 year old Toni Lanae [Talarico] Monette, had been working alone as a clerk at the 7-11 store located on Silver Lake Road in Mounds View, MN on March 25, 1981. In the early morning hours, a customer entered the store and discovered the victim’s body. Toni had been violently attacked and stabbed numerous times, resulting in her death. The victim left behind two young children at the time of the homicide.

If you have any information regarding this or other cold cases in Minnesota-please contact the BCA Tip Line or the Mounds View Police Department at the contact information below.

Tip Line 763.717.4061
BCA Tip Line 1.877.996.6222
bca.coldcase@state.mn.us
Investigator Jeremy Hellpap
(763) 717-4096

From: The Minneapolis Star 2 April 1981
By DAVE HAGE
The Minneapolis Star

Toni Monette wasn’t scheduled to work the night she was slain. Management at the 7-Eleven store at 7295 Silver Lake Road in Mounds View had hired another cashier, and protocol says the rookie works the 11 pm to 7 am shift. But Monette substituted for the newcomer that night, and wound up on the floor with 10 stab wounds.

Mounds View reacted with dismay this week to its first slaying in years. It occurred early March 25, 1981.
Mounds View Police, aided by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, haven’t arrested anyone or established a motive for the killing of the 26-year-old cashier. Police said no money was taken from the store and there was no sign of sexual assault.

Police checked the store about 2:30 am, the cash register tape indicated a sale at 3:10 am and a customer found Monette dead at 4:30 am. The apparent lack of motive has left neighbors a little nervous.

“I just wonder if there’s this thing wandering around our neighborhood, thinking, ‘Hmmm, I’ll try Mounds View for a while,'” said a woman who lives half a block away on Ramsey County Road H2. “I wasn’t too happy walking home from choir practice at Messiah Lutheran church Wednesday night. I made sure my husband was watching for me.

Two other neighbors said they aren’t on edge, but that they’re making extra sure that doors are locked before they go to bed.

“It’s strange to think it happened just down the street, yet we never heard or saw a thing,” said another neighbor. “But then, this is a neighborhood of early risers, and we go to bed early.” The neighborhood around Silver Lake Road and Ramsey County Road H2 is somewhat remote there’s a big wooded area on one corner, a few modest houses and double bungalows on the others. No sidewalks-just four long, straight roads leading away from the intersection.

The store’s manager, who asked not to be named, said the store has taken new precautions, but added, “I’m not sure I’d want to see the specifics in print.” Since the slaying, one employee has quit and the store has eliminated the 11 pm to 7 am shift because no one will work it, said Mike McDermott, 7-Eleven zone manager for Minnesota.

McDermott said there had been no other violent incidents at the store..
It was normal for an employee to work the late shift alone, the store manager said, because there is too little night business to justify two employees.

A cashier at a Tom Thumb store two blocks away on Knollwood Avenue said the killing made her nervous.
“It makes you more aware, had been scared before without realizing it. Now I realize it. I think it’d be crazy working alone at night. I’m hardly ever alone.

“I was running the store last Sunday (four days after the killing), and one time when there weren’t any customers, I was in the back doing some quick work.

When I got back up to the counter, there was a woman here who was just frantic. She kept saying, ‘Where were you? Where were you?’

Monette, who held a business degree from St. Theresa’s College in Winona, lived with her parents at [removed] S. 28th Ave., Minneapolis, and had worked at the store only since Feb. 11. But the manager said she knew Monette well.

“She worked for me. It doesn’t take long to get to know someone when you work closely with them. She was as nice a person as you could ask for, and she was on her way up.” On the counter was a coffee can labeled “Toni Monette Memorial Fund.”

“I’m not really scared to work here now I just miss her,” the manager added. “It’s kind of spooky coming in and not seeing her face.”

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