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The 33-year-old Cloquet mother-of-three, Trina Langenbrunner, was last spotted hitchhiking in the early hours of September 3, 2000. The following morning, her brutally stabbed and bloodied body was found by a passerby off a rural road near the Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota.
A dozen years later, authorities arrested a man named Joseph Couture who was one of Langenbrunner's neighbors. Investigators reportedly made a breakthrough in the case after following nearly a thousand leads. It was later revealed that Couture had threatened multiple witnesses at the time who eventually came forward, revealing horrifying details about the case.
An upcoming episode of Murder in the Heartland on ID will revisit Trina Langenbrunner's cold case this Wednesday, March 15, 2023. The episode, titled Killer on the Res, airs on the channel at 9.00 pm ET.
The synopsis reads:
"When someone stabs Trina Langenbrunner to death and leaves her on a road in Cloquet, Minn., her family, community, and law enforcement work together for over 12 years to find her killer."
Trina Langenbrunner was s*xually assaulted and died of severe blood loss from at least 29 stab wounds
Trina Langenbrunner's body was found in the early hours of September 3, 2000, off a rural road in a gravel pit in southern St. Louis County near the Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota by a passerby. She was last seen hitchhiking in the area of Brookston Road sometime between 1.30 and 2.00 am, about six miles away from where her body was found.
The mother-of-three was brutally beaten and stabbed to death and had 29 stab entry wounds to her torso, face, and back. The medical examiner later confirmed that she died as a result of severe blood loss from multiple stab wounds and was also s*xually assaulted. Due to a lack of leads, the case remained unsolved, but authorities later revealed that they had been following up on leads throughout.
Investigators remained stumped by the case for years, believing that the victim likely knew her killer and that she even attempted to defend herself. However, they were unable to identify a suspect - someone with recent wounds, bruises, or scratches - to fit the profile of the killer.
Born in St. Paul on September 12, 1966, Langenbrunner attended Humboldt High School and later moved to Cloquet several years prior to her death. While living there, she worked as a home health aide and was a member of the Fond du Lac Tribe of Ojibwe. She left behind three children, namely Sheila, Todd Jr., and Shelly Tormanen.
A dozen years later, Joseph Couture was named the killer in Trina Langenbrunner's 2000 stabbing death
Trina Langenbrunner's case gained traction a dozen years later in 2012, leading to the arrest of 41-year-old Joseph Couture after two unnamed witnesses decided to testify against him. One of them even told authorities that Couture confessed to the crime. It was also mentioned that a vehicle similar to his gray Dodge minivan was spotted near the crime scene on the night of the murder.
Couture later told authorities that he knew Langenbrunner, but denied having any significant contact with her prior to the crime. He also admitted that he was driving his gray minivan in the vicinity of the crime scene around the same time the victim was last seen alive in the area.
During his trial, Joseph Couture revealed that he was on his way home after having a few drinks on the night of the crime. This was when he spotted Trina Langenbrunner hitchhiking in the middle of the road. As per the Duluth News Tribune, Couture initially agreed to give the mother-of-three a ride, but later told her that the destination was too far away and that he was too drunk to be driving.
As per Couture's account, Langenbrunner got angry and threatened him with a knife. He then snatched the knife from her and "stuck her" at least twice during the altercation. The 33-year-old allegedly threatened to call the cops when he started beating and stabbing her repeatedly to shut her up. He then conspired with his girlfriend Sandra Couture and tried to intimidate witnesses.
However, according to one unnamed witness, Couture confessed to them that he thought he would have s*x with Langenbrunner that night. However, she rejected him and he "snapped" and said that "it went brutal." He then allegedly stabbed her and "choked her out."
ID's Murder in the Heartland will shed more light on the case on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
