CONVICT KILLS WIFE AND HIMSELF
SOURCE: Bill Bryan Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
PUBLICATION: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
SECTION: NEWS DATE: May 20, 1988
EDITION: FIVE STAR
PAGE: 1A
A convicted counterfeiter tried to abduct his estranged wife, then fatally shot her in the head and fatally wounded himself as police converged on him Thursday morning in south St. Louis, authorities said.
William C. Olsten, 53, described by acquaintances as a ''good guy gone bad,'' shot himself in the temple after shooting his wife, Francene, in the forehead. The shootings occurred in Olsten's rented van about 8 a.m. in the 4500 block of South Kingshighway, near Devonshire Avenue.
Francene Olsten, 38, died at 5:33 p.m. at Barnes Hospital. William Olsten was pronounced dead at the scene.
''Apparently, marital problems were the cause of all this,'' said Homicide Sgt. John Roussin. ''They were going through divorce proceedings. He had threatened her a month ago, and she had obtained a restraining order to keep him away.''
William Olsten apparently waited in the van for Francene Olsten to show up for work. She is a secretary for a small restoration business at 4519 South Kingshighway and was grabbed before she could unlock the door, police said. Several area residents heard Francene Olsten screaming and saw a man forcing her into a Ryder rental van.
''They were screams of terror,'' said Roxanne Genna, 28, who watched the entire incident from her apartment window on Kingshighway directly above the van.
''After the woman was dragged into the van, you could hear a thumping noise coming from inside,'' Genna said. ''It was really bizarre.''
Another witness was retired St. Louis Fire Cap t. John Vail, 60. ''I had just ordered some coffee at the White Castle and heard the woman shouting and saw her being dragged into the truck,'' he said.
Vail and two other men walked up to van and looked inside. They saw a man on top of a woman. ''I saw a gun in his hand, and he had the woman on the floor,'' Vail recounted.
''She was saying, 'Help me!' 'Please help me!' 'Oh, help me!'
''The van was rocking, and she was kicking,'' Vail said. The man in the van turned toward the three, and they backed away. A single shot was fired from inside the van, and Vail assumed the man had fired the shot at them.
Vail ran to a pay phone and called police.
The first police officer to arrive at the scene, Richard Rauscher, heard three shots and screams coming from inside the van as he pulled up in his patrol car.
Rauscher said the van had backed up, striking a parked car. Rauscher shot out the right front tire of the van to keep it from leaving.
Rauscher opened the door of the van and ordered the man to get out. But the man replied, ''Get back! I've got a gun to her head!''
Rauscher backed away, with his weapon pointed at the van. As other patrol cars arrived, two more shots were heard from inside the vehicle. Moments later police opened the van and found William Olsten dead and Francene Olsten gravely wounded. A .38-caliber revolver was recovered.
The incident provided a feeling of helplessness, Vail said. ''If I had a gun, I would have tried to shoot him,'' he said.
''I felt so helpless. You couldn't do anything but just stay out of the way. When you see a person in distress and have no way to help, it's just hard to take.''
Francene Olsten was shot through both hands. ''She apparently covered her forehead with her hands, and the bullet passed through them and went into her head,'' Roussin said.
William Olsten had been living in the 5500 block of Southwest Avenue since his parole from a federal prison in January. He had been working in the landscaping business with a son from his first marriage, detectives said.
Francene Olsten, who was Olsten's second wife, lives in the 800 block of Canaan Avenue in the Baden area of north St. Louis. She had no children. Her mother, Josephine Weiman, lives in the St. Louis area, authorities said.
The Olstens formerly lived together in the 8400 block of Lowell Street in Baden.
In the incident involving the Olstens last month, William Olsten was arrested and charged in a warrant with flourishing a weapon at Francene Olsten. Olsten's federal parole was in jeopardy because of the charge, authorities said.
Olsten was sentenced in 1985 to five years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to two counts of passing counterfeit bills. He was involved in one of the largest counterfeiting operations in the country, federal investigators said.
He received a lenient sentence after cooperating with Secret Service agents and helping them recover more than $4 million in counterfeit money.
Agents seized a total of $5.2 million in counterfeit bills - the largest such seizure ever in the Midwest.
Olsten had tried his hand at being a hairdresser and a florist, with a business in Florissant. When he was younger he was a St. Louis police officer for three years.
He resigned in 1959 while under suspension after a 15-year-old girl accused him of having sexual relations with her in his patrol car. Olsten was indicted on a charge of statutory rape, but the charge was reduced to common assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and got one year's probation.
Authorities said at the time that the charge was lowered because the girl had two children by different fathers and was uncooperative in the investigation.
St. Louis Police Chief Robert E. Scheetz remembers Olsten quite well.
''I knew him all his life,'' Scheetz said. ''He was from a good family who ran a grocery store and tavern at 11th Street and St. Louis Avenue. He was a good athlete, a daring type of guy and in general a good kid.
''He had a lot on the ball and could have been a good policeman,'' Scheetz said.
''But life really went sour for him. Where he went bad I don't know. I think maybe he succumbed to seeing the phonies of this world - like the pimps and dope pushers - getting ahead.
''He thought he was smarter than them.''
SOURCE: Bill Bryan Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
PUBLICATION: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
SECTION: NEWS DATE: May 20, 1988
EDITION: FIVE STAR
PAGE: 1A
A convicted counterfeiter tried to abduct his estranged wife, then fatally shot her in the head and fatally wounded himself as police converged on him Thursday morning in south St. Louis, authorities said.
William C. Olsten, 53, described by acquaintances as a ''good guy gone bad,'' shot himself in the temple after shooting his wife, Francene, in the forehead. The shootings occurred in Olsten's rented van about 8 a.m. in the 4500 block of South Kingshighway, near Devonshire Avenue.
Francene Olsten, 38, died at 5:33 p.m. at Barnes Hospital. William Olsten was pronounced dead at the scene.
''Apparently, marital problems were the cause of all this,'' said Homicide Sgt. John Roussin. ''They were going through divorce proceedings. He had threatened her a month ago, and she had obtained a restraining order to keep him away.''
William Olsten apparently waited in the van for Francene Olsten to show up for work. She is a secretary for a small restoration business at 4519 South Kingshighway and was grabbed before she could unlock the door, police said. Several area residents heard Francene Olsten screaming and saw a man forcing her into a Ryder rental van.
''They were screams of terror,'' said Roxanne Genna, 28, who watched the entire incident from her apartment window on Kingshighway directly above the van.
''After the woman was dragged into the van, you could hear a thumping noise coming from inside,'' Genna said. ''It was really bizarre.''
Another witness was retired St. Louis Fire Cap t. John Vail, 60. ''I had just ordered some coffee at the White Castle and heard the woman shouting and saw her being dragged into the truck,'' he said.
Vail and two other men walked up to van and looked inside. They saw a man on top of a woman. ''I saw a gun in his hand, and he had the woman on the floor,'' Vail recounted.
''She was saying, 'Help me!' 'Please help me!' 'Oh, help me!'
''The van was rocking, and she was kicking,'' Vail said. The man in the van turned toward the three, and they backed away. A single shot was fired from inside the van, and Vail assumed the man had fired the shot at them.
Vail ran to a pay phone and called police.
The first police officer to arrive at the scene, Richard Rauscher, heard three shots and screams coming from inside the van as he pulled up in his patrol car.
Rauscher said the van had backed up, striking a parked car. Rauscher shot out the right front tire of the van to keep it from leaving.
Rauscher opened the door of the van and ordered the man to get out. But the man replied, ''Get back! I've got a gun to her head!''
Rauscher backed away, with his weapon pointed at the van. As other patrol cars arrived, two more shots were heard from inside the vehicle. Moments later police opened the van and found William Olsten dead and Francene Olsten gravely wounded. A .38-caliber revolver was recovered.
The incident provided a feeling of helplessness, Vail said. ''If I had a gun, I would have tried to shoot him,'' he said.
''I felt so helpless. You couldn't do anything but just stay out of the way. When you see a person in distress and have no way to help, it's just hard to take.''
Francene Olsten was shot through both hands. ''She apparently covered her forehead with her hands, and the bullet passed through them and went into her head,'' Roussin said.
William Olsten had been living in the 5500 block of Southwest Avenue since his parole from a federal prison in January. He had been working in the landscaping business with a son from his first marriage, detectives said.
Francene Olsten, who was Olsten's second wife, lives in the 800 block of Canaan Avenue in the Baden area of north St. Louis. She had no children. Her mother, Josephine Weiman, lives in the St. Louis area, authorities said.
The Olstens formerly lived together in the 8400 block of Lowell Street in Baden.
In the incident involving the Olstens last month, William Olsten was arrested and charged in a warrant with flourishing a weapon at Francene Olsten. Olsten's federal parole was in jeopardy because of the charge, authorities said.
Olsten was sentenced in 1985 to five years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to two counts of passing counterfeit bills. He was involved in one of the largest counterfeiting operations in the country, federal investigators said.
He received a lenient sentence after cooperating with Secret Service agents and helping them recover more than $4 million in counterfeit money.
Agents seized a total of $5.2 million in counterfeit bills - the largest such seizure ever in the Midwest.
Olsten had tried his hand at being a hairdresser and a florist, with a business in Florissant. When he was younger he was a St. Louis police officer for three years.
He resigned in 1959 while under suspension after a 15-year-old girl accused him of having sexual relations with her in his patrol car. Olsten was indicted on a charge of statutory rape, but the charge was reduced to common assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and got one year's probation.
Authorities said at the time that the charge was lowered because the girl had two children by different fathers and was uncooperative in the investigation.
St. Louis Police Chief Robert E. Scheetz remembers Olsten quite well.
''I knew him all his life,'' Scheetz said. ''He was from a good family who ran a grocery store and tavern at 11th Street and St. Louis Avenue. He was a good athlete, a daring type of guy and in general a good kid.
''He had a lot on the ball and could have been a good policeman,'' Scheetz said.
''But life really went sour for him. Where he went bad I don't know. I think maybe he succumbed to seeing the phonies of this world - like the pimps and dope pushers - getting ahead.
''He thought he was smarter than them.''
CONVICT KILLS WIFE AND HIMSELF
SOURCE: Bill Bryan Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
PUBLICATION: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
SECTION: NEWS DATE: May 20, 1988
EDITION: FIVE STAR
PAGE: 1A
A convicted counterfeiter tried to abduct his estranged wife, then fatally shot her in the head and fatally wounded himself as police converged on him Thursday morning in south St. Louis, authorities said.
William C. Olsten, 53, described by acquaintances as a ''good guy gone bad,'' shot himself in the temple after shooting his wife, Francene, in the forehead. The shootings occurred in Olsten's rented van about 8 a.m. in the 4500 block of South Kingshighway, near Devonshire Avenue.
Francene Olsten, 38, died at 5:33 p.m. at Barnes Hospital. William Olsten was pronounced dead at the scene.
''Apparently, marital problems were the cause of all this,'' said Homicide Sgt. John Roussin. ''They were going through divorce proceedings. He had threatened her a month ago, and she had obtained a restraining order to keep him away.''
William Olsten apparently waited in the van for Francene Olsten to show up for work. She is a secretary for a small restoration business at 4519 South Kingshighway and was grabbed before she could unlock the door, police said. Several area residents heard Francene Olsten screaming and saw a man forcing her into a Ryder rental van.
''They were screams of terror,'' said Roxanne Genna, 28, who watched the entire incident from her apartment window on Kingshighway directly above the van.
''After the woman was dragged into the van, you could hear a thumping noise coming from inside,'' Genna said. ''It was really bizarre.''
Another witness was retired St. Louis Fire Cap t. John Vail, 60. ''I had just ordered some coffee at the White Castle and heard the woman shouting and saw her being dragged into the truck,'' he said.
Vail and two other men walked up to van and looked inside. They saw a man on top of a woman. ''I saw a gun in his hand, and he had the woman on the floor,'' Vail recounted.
''She was saying, 'Help me!' 'Please help me!' 'Oh, help me!'
''The van was rocking, and she was kicking,'' Vail said. The man in the van turned toward the three, and they backed away. A single shot was fired from inside the van, and Vail assumed the man had fired the shot at them.
Vail ran to a pay phone and called police.
The first police officer to arrive at the scene, Richard Rauscher, heard three shots and screams coming from inside the van as he pulled up in his patrol car.
Rauscher said the van had backed up, striking a parked car. Rauscher shot out the right front tire of the van to keep it from leaving.
Rauscher opened the door of the van and ordered the man to get out. But the man replied, ''Get back! I've got a gun to her head!''
Rauscher backed away, with his weapon pointed at the van. As other patrol cars arrived, two more shots were heard from inside the vehicle. Moments later police opened the van and found William Olsten dead and Francene Olsten gravely wounded. A .38-caliber revolver was recovered.
The incident provided a feeling of helplessness, Vail said. ''If I had a gun, I would have tried to shoot him,'' he said.
''I felt so helpless. You couldn't do anything but just stay out of the way. When you see a person in distress and have no way to help, it's just hard to take.''
Francene Olsten was shot through both hands. ''She apparently covered her forehead with her hands, and the bullet passed through them and went into her head,'' Roussin said.
William Olsten had been living in the 5500 block of Southwest Avenue since his parole from a federal prison in January. He had been working in the landscaping business with a son from his first marriage, detectives said.
Francene Olsten, who was Olsten's second wife, lives in the 800 block of Canaan Avenue in the Baden area of north St. Louis. She had no children. Her mother, Josephine Weiman, lives in the St. Louis area, authorities said.
The Olstens formerly lived together in the 8400 block of Lowell Street in Baden.
In the incident involving the Olstens last month, William Olsten was arrested and charged in a warrant with flourishing a weapon at Francene Olsten. Olsten's federal parole was in jeopardy because of the charge, authorities said.
Olsten was sentenced in 1985 to five years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to two counts of passing counterfeit bills. He was involved in one of the largest counterfeiting operations in the country, federal investigators said.
He received a lenient sentence after cooperating with Secret Service agents and helping them recover more than $4 million in counterfeit money.
Agents seized a total of $5.2 million in counterfeit bills - the largest such seizure ever in the Midwest.
Olsten had tried his hand at being a hairdresser and a florist, with a business in Florissant. When he was younger he was a St. Louis police officer for three years.
He resigned in 1959 while under suspension after a 15-year-old girl accused him of having sexual relations with her in his patrol car. Olsten was indicted on a charge of statutory rape, but the charge was reduced to common assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and got one year's probation.
Authorities said at the time that the charge was lowered because the girl had two children by different fathers and was uncooperative in the investigation.
St. Louis Police Chief Robert E. Scheetz remembers Olsten quite well.
''I knew him all his life,'' Scheetz said. ''He was from a good family who ran a grocery store and tavern at 11th Street and St. Louis Avenue. He was a good athlete, a daring type of guy and in general a good kid.
''He had a lot on the ball and could have been a good policeman,'' Scheetz said.
''But life really went sour for him. Where he went bad I don't know. I think maybe he succumbed to seeing the phonies of this world - like the pimps and dope pushers - getting ahead.
''He thought he was smarter than them.''
SOURCE: Bill Bryan Of the Post-Dispatch Staff
PUBLICATION: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
SECTION: NEWS DATE: May 20, 1988
EDITION: FIVE STAR
PAGE: 1A
A convicted counterfeiter tried to abduct his estranged wife, then fatally shot her in the head and fatally wounded himself as police converged on him Thursday morning in south St. Louis, authorities said.
William C. Olsten, 53, described by acquaintances as a ''good guy gone bad,'' shot himself in the temple after shooting his wife, Francene, in the forehead. The shootings occurred in Olsten's rented van about 8 a.m. in the 4500 block of South Kingshighway, near Devonshire Avenue.
Francene Olsten, 38, died at 5:33 p.m. at Barnes Hospital. William Olsten was pronounced dead at the scene.
''Apparently, marital problems were the cause of all this,'' said Homicide Sgt. John Roussin. ''They were going through divorce proceedings. He had threatened her a month ago, and she had obtained a restraining order to keep him away.''
William Olsten apparently waited in the van for Francene Olsten to show up for work. She is a secretary for a small restoration business at 4519 South Kingshighway and was grabbed before she could unlock the door, police said. Several area residents heard Francene Olsten screaming and saw a man forcing her into a Ryder rental van.
''They were screams of terror,'' said Roxanne Genna, 28, who watched the entire incident from her apartment window on Kingshighway directly above the van.
''After the woman was dragged into the van, you could hear a thumping noise coming from inside,'' Genna said. ''It was really bizarre.''
Another witness was retired St. Louis Fire Cap t. John Vail, 60. ''I had just ordered some coffee at the White Castle and heard the woman shouting and saw her being dragged into the truck,'' he said.
Vail and two other men walked up to van and looked inside. They saw a man on top of a woman. ''I saw a gun in his hand, and he had the woman on the floor,'' Vail recounted.
''She was saying, 'Help me!' 'Please help me!' 'Oh, help me!'
''The van was rocking, and she was kicking,'' Vail said. The man in the van turned toward the three, and they backed away. A single shot was fired from inside the van, and Vail assumed the man had fired the shot at them.
Vail ran to a pay phone and called police.
The first police officer to arrive at the scene, Richard Rauscher, heard three shots and screams coming from inside the van as he pulled up in his patrol car.
Rauscher said the van had backed up, striking a parked car. Rauscher shot out the right front tire of the van to keep it from leaving.
Rauscher opened the door of the van and ordered the man to get out. But the man replied, ''Get back! I've got a gun to her head!''
Rauscher backed away, with his weapon pointed at the van. As other patrol cars arrived, two more shots were heard from inside the vehicle. Moments later police opened the van and found William Olsten dead and Francene Olsten gravely wounded. A .38-caliber revolver was recovered.
The incident provided a feeling of helplessness, Vail said. ''If I had a gun, I would have tried to shoot him,'' he said.
''I felt so helpless. You couldn't do anything but just stay out of the way. When you see a person in distress and have no way to help, it's just hard to take.''
Francene Olsten was shot through both hands. ''She apparently covered her forehead with her hands, and the bullet passed through them and went into her head,'' Roussin said.
William Olsten had been living in the 5500 block of Southwest Avenue since his parole from a federal prison in January. He had been working in the landscaping business with a son from his first marriage, detectives said.
Francene Olsten, who was Olsten's second wife, lives in the 800 block of Canaan Avenue in the Baden area of north St. Louis. She had no children. Her mother, Josephine Weiman, lives in the St. Louis area, authorities said.
The Olstens formerly lived together in the 8400 block of Lowell Street in Baden.
In the incident involving the Olstens last month, William Olsten was arrested and charged in a warrant with flourishing a weapon at Francene Olsten. Olsten's federal parole was in jeopardy because of the charge, authorities said.
Olsten was sentenced in 1985 to five years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court to two counts of passing counterfeit bills. He was involved in one of the largest counterfeiting operations in the country, federal investigators said.
He received a lenient sentence after cooperating with Secret Service agents and helping them recover more than $4 million in counterfeit money.
Agents seized a total of $5.2 million in counterfeit bills - the largest such seizure ever in the Midwest.
Olsten had tried his hand at being a hairdresser and a florist, with a business in Florissant. When he was younger he was a St. Louis police officer for three years.
He resigned in 1959 while under suspension after a 15-year-old girl accused him of having sexual relations with her in his patrol car. Olsten was indicted on a charge of statutory rape, but the charge was reduced to common assault. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and got one year's probation.
Authorities said at the time that the charge was lowered because the girl had two children by different fathers and was uncooperative in the investigation.
St. Louis Police Chief Robert E. Scheetz remembers Olsten quite well.
''I knew him all his life,'' Scheetz said. ''He was from a good family who ran a grocery store and tavern at 11th Street and St. Louis Avenue. He was a good athlete, a daring type of guy and in general a good kid.
''He had a lot on the ball and could have been a good policeman,'' Scheetz said.
''But life really went sour for him. Where he went bad I don't know. I think maybe he succumbed to seeing the phonies of this world - like the pimps and dope pushers - getting ahead.
''He thought he was smarter than them.''
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