Gregg Olsen has been obsessed with the story of Ida Stutzman for close to forty years. In his book, Abandoned Prayers, he wrote about Ida’s husband, Eli, the tragic death of their nine-year-old son, Danny, and the events that surrounded Eli and the discovery of Danny’s body in a Nebraska corn field. Danny’s body wasn’t identified until two years later. Now, all these years later, Olsen tries to tell the story of Ida’s death in The Amish Wife. Despite conjecture, interviews, and new evidence, after forty years many of those involved in the story of Ida Stutzman’s death are dead themselves. Olsen just wants justice.
When Ida Stutzman died in 1977 at the Ohio farm owned by Eli and Ida, all kinds of stories circulated about her death, including the official coroner’s report that she had a weak heart and died during a fire on the farm. But, Olsen gathered other accounts about Eli’s past and his life that landed him in prison for a man’s murder. Olsen and Ida’s brother, Daniel Gingerich, just wanted answers. Both men suspect Eli Stutzman killed his wife, sold the farm, and took off to Colorado with his son, Danny. They also suspect Eli killed Danny, although he was only found to have covered up a death.
But, who covered up the truth behind Ida Stutzman’s death? Olsen tracks down everyone he can, hoping the Wayne County, Ohio officials will reopen the investigation, or at least look at it as a suspicious death. According to Olsen’s account, there was dishonesty and cover-ups from the sheriff’s department to the coroner’s office to Eli himself. Olsen is convinced if one person had looked more closely at Ida Stutzman’s death, a number of murders later attributed to Eli could have been avoided.
True crime aficionados might want to follow in Olsen’s footsteps as he takes another look at Ida Stutzman’s death. I’m going to admit I expected a positive result when I read The Amish Wife, the resolution that usually occurs in a true crime book. Gregg Olsen was obsessed with this story, The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free. It will be up to the reader to decide if Ida Stutzman’s death is resolved.
Gregg Olsen’s website is https://www.notorioususa.com/
The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy that Let a Killer Go Free by Gregg Olsen. Thomas & Mercer, 2024. ISBN 9781662514180 (hardcover), 380p.
FTC Full Disclosure – The publicist sent me a copy of the book, with no promise of a review.
