Mary Lee Anderson:1980, Frederick, Oklahoma

   


  Mary Lee Anderson was born on April 14th, 1956. I was not able to find much about her family or her upbringing. 


  In the Spring of 1980, she moved to Frederick, Oklahoma. I was not able to find out what brought her to the small town of Frederick in southwest Oklahoma. 


  On Wednesday August 27th, 1980, a worker for the telephone company spotted a body on the side of a Tillman County road. The body was fully clothed. There had been a struggle there at the scene. The young woman had been stabbed to death. Her wounds were described as being “from the shoulders up”. 



  The remains were identified as Mary Lee Anderson. She had only been dead between 8-12 hours according to the medical examiner.


  The reporting about Mary’s murder was very brief. But, I dug into the newspaper archives and found one other murder in the tiny town of Frederick, Oklahoma. 



  On January 1st, 1980, Roberta “Bertha” Adams was murdered in her own home. She was 73 and in very poor health. She had recently had cataract surgery. She was frugal and lived on a fixed income but was known to keep money in the house. She did not trust banks. Many older people didn’t then as they had grown up through the Great Depression. 


  Someone entered her home and sexually assaulted her. She died of a heart attack during this brutal rape. She was also beaten severely after her death. Her home was robbed as well. 


  In March, her young relative, Danny Lee Nolan, was arrested in Van Nuys, California and brought back to Frederick. He was charged with her murder and the sexual assault. His court appointed defense attorney, Mike Evans, represented him at his arraignment. 



  Danny Lee Nolan was released later due to lack of evidence. I was not able to find the date of his release. But, I wonder if it was in August right before Mary Lee Anderson was killed. 


  Let’s say he was on the side of the road there. Since Mary Lee Anderson was new in town she would likely not know anything about the murder of the elderly woman, back in January and the release of Danny Lee Nolan. 


  He would have needed money and a car. Perhaps she stopped to offer him a ride and he carjacked and murdered her. 


   I wonder if there is any evidence left to test.  It might be possible that the knife slipped as he was stabbing her. He might have bled on her clothes. He might have left other DNA on her body. (Sometimes murderers masturbate over their victims.) His DNA might still be under her fingernails today. 


   Mary Lee Anderson is buried in Frederick Memorial Cemetery in Frederick, Oklahoma. 


   Danny Lee Nolan is currently serving a life sentence in Oklahoma for the murder of his elderly relative Roberta “Bertha” Adams. In 1999, DNA linked him to her murder definitively. 


   I don’t know when he was released in 1980. Perhaps someone else killed Mary Lee Anderson. (We also don't know what else he might have done from 1980 to 1999. It appears that through the 1990's, he lived in Florida.)


   If you have information about the murder of Mary Lee Anderson please call the Frederick Police Department at (505) 335-5702 or (505) 335-7503. 


  

  Rest in peace Mary Lee Anderson and Roberta Adams.


   


  


   


   





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