Peggy Flanagan's Grandfather Linked to Unsolved Murders and Long-Term Hospitalization

John Jacob Hartmann, the maternal grandfather of Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, was committed to state mental hospitals beginning in 1951 following the discovery of a burned body in his room. Throughout his confinement he was repeatedly investigated for the deaths of fellow patients and, after a transfer to Anoka State Hospital in 1970, later became a suspect in killings in New Mexico, though no murder indictments were ever pursued.

In April 1979 he escaped from the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter, fled to Missouri, and was alleged to have threatened U.S. District Judge Miles Lord during a phone call, prompting federal charges and protective measures for the judge. Judge Lord publicly described Hartmann as a “mass murderer.” Hartmann died on February 6, 1983, at age 58, and his obituary listed his surviving daughters and grandchildren, including Peggy Flanagan, who has highlighted her Native American heritage in her political career. The newly examined newspaper archives bring this previously obscure family history to public attention.