He was a charming and dear fellow. Pretty. Women passed out for him as if he were Elvis Presley.
His name was Melvin James Gallagher, but everyone called him Jimmy.
“Everyone just loved Jimmy,” his younger sister, Joann Heideman, told Dateline. “He was a good, sweet guy. Good looking. Like Elvis Presley. A real womanizer. And, well, he just had that way of himself. “
Joann and Jimmy, just a year apart, have always been close. Joann told Dateline that he still remembers playing make-believe as a child, like taking turns at the checkout while playing in the supermarket or cooking an elaborate meal in his fake restaurant.
When they became teenagers and then young adults, Joann said that Jimmy naturally took on the role of an older brother, protecting his sister at all costs.
“He always took care of me,” she said. “And although he is not here now, I still feel him taking care of me from heaven. Protecting me. “
After serving in the US Army, Jimmy returned to his hometown, Waterloo, Iowa, where he focused on finding a good job and settling in to have a family.
Joann told Dateline that his brother was popular with women in his city and that he quickly fell in love and became engaged. But not long after, he broke off the engagement to be with another woman.
After Jimmy and his first fiancee broke up, she found out she was pregnant with Jimmy’s child. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy’s new bride discovered that they were expecting twins.
With his family growing up, Jimmy applied for a job with the Waterloo Police Department and also applied to enter a chiropractic school. For months, he worked the night shift at the Clark Super 100 service station in Waterloo.
But on January 3, 1959 – just a week before Jimmy’s wedding – the 22-year-old’s life was brutally interrupted. He never had a chance to marry his bride. Or meet your unborn children.
It was very cold and snowing that morning in Waterloo, while Jimmy ended his night shift at the station. Investigators believe it was around 5:15 am when he was killed by a shotgun blast to the head, Waterloo Police Sergeant Michael L. Rasmussen told Dateline.
Sergeant Rasmussen added that $ 179 was withdrawn from the station, and while there are still many theories about what happened that night, money may be the reason. Another theory is that Jimmy knew his killer because he was found with his left hand in his pocket.
According to the article in The Waterloo Courier published in 1960, Clark Company employees said their employees were instructed to never resist attempts at assault. When speaking casually to clients or friends, Jimmy often had his left hand in his pocket, which led investigators to believe that he had been talking to someone he knew.
Sergeant Rasmussen, who works with the department’s Investigations Division, told Dateline that while it is possible that Jimmy knew his killer because he was so well-known in the city, he could not confirm whether Jimmy’s hand was in his pocket or that he had something to do with whether or not he knew his killer.
For years, Waterloo police followed clues and tips, but none led to Jimmy’s killer.
In an article published in the Waterloo Courier in 1960, Chief Harry Krieg told reporters that many people were questioned, but never found evidence to move forward.
Jimmy’s first bride gave birth to her son, Michael, on February 19, 1959. Later that year, the woman Jimmy was supposed to marry in January gave birth to the couple’s twin daughters.
Michael Rogers, who was given up for adoption as a baby and grew up in Oklahoma, was 36 when he met his birth mother and reunited with her. It was also when he found out that his biological father, Jimmy, had been murdered.
“When I called her, I asked, ‘February 19, 1959 means something to you,'” he told Dateline, referring to his date of birth. “She dropped the phone. She knew who I was. “
Michael explained that his biological mother went on with her life, was married and had four children. Her husband said to Michael on the phone, “We wonder if you would ever find us.”
Michael told Dateline that he always knew he would try to find his birth parents at some point.
“I grew up in a loving home with wonderful parents,” said Michael. “But knowing that I had another family out there, I wanted to meet them.”
Then, in 1995, Michael drove to Iowa to meet his family.
“At 36, I finally met my mother for the first time,” said Michael. “It was very bizarre, but I was overjoyed.”
Michael said it was at this time that he heard about his father’s murder.
“She told me that my father was murdered in January and that is why she gave me up for adoption when I was born, just a month later,” Michael explained. “She went to stay with a friend in Tulsa and that’s how I grew up in Oklahoma.”
After Michael reunited with his birth mother in Iowa, he met other family members he never knew he had, including one of his half sisters, from twins born to his father’s fiancee, just months after Jimmy was murdered .
Michael, who now lives in Texas, told Dateline that years after finding out about his father’s murder, he became more obsessed with finding out what happened. He asked questions. He conducted his own research. And he kept in touch with the investigators.
“I kept hitting dead ends,” said Michael. “It was like looking for a needle in the haystack. And I didn’t know where to go next. I had to get away a little. “
Michael said he hopes that with advances in DNA technology, there may be a way to exhume his father’s body and find out what happened.
Sergeant Rasmussen told Dateline that “it is possible that new technology could help solve this murder. However, in 1959, the focus of crime scene investigators was not on preserving possible evidence involving DNA, since this technology had not been developed ”.
He added that there have been no updates or people of interest for years, but points out that they are always willing to seek new information or tips as they arrive.
Michael told Dateline that he hopes that further exposure in his father’s story will bring new information that can resolve the case and close his family.
“The last day I was in Waterloo, I remember going to my father’s grave and telling him that as long as I live, I would never give up looking for his killer,” said Michael.
Michael told Dateline that he is fully aware of how many lives have been affected by Jimmy’s murder, including his own.
“Who knows what my life would have been like – good or bad – but it changed my life forever,” said Michael. “And, of course, I want to know what happened, but I want to know more for Joann.”
Michael met his father’s sister, Joann, not long after meeting his birth mother.
“I don’t look much like him, but she always tells me how much I look like her Jimmy,” said Michael. “It just broke it. So, more than anything, I just want her to find peace. “
Joann told Dateline that he had prayed for years to meet Jimmy’s son, Michael. And when she finally did, she was shocked, but very happy.
“I almost fell off my chair,” Joann told Dateline with a small laugh. “It was a small miracle after losing my brother. And Michael, he has Jimmy’s personality, he’s just like him. “
Joann, who turned 83 on December 31, 2020, said that this time of year is difficult for her. Although she must celebrate the holidays, her birthday and the new year, she almost always remembers the tragedy that unfolded a few days after the beginning of the year in 1959.
“He bought my last birthday cake before he was killed,” said Joann, crying. “My birthdays were never the same.”
Joann told Dateline that he last saw his brother in the early evening of January 2, just hours before he was killed. She was eating hamburger and fries while talking to Jimmy at the station.
“He looked at my chips and said, ‘Boy, those look good’ and ate them – just like a brother does,” said Joann with a laugh. “But I left you. He was my best friend. “
Joann said he doesn’t know if he will ever know what happened to his brother, but he told Dateline that he believes Jimmy knew his killer.
“I think the person who did this, who took his life, was jealous of him,” she said. “And that person is free while we all suffer. And Jimmy never had a chance to get married, have children or live his life. “
Six decades have passed since Jimmy died, but Joann still cries when talking about his brother.
“What happened to my brother is with me every day,” said Joann. “I would like to know what happened to him, before he died. But I’m 83 … so I don’t think that will happen. So, I think only of the good times – and that’s what keeps me going. I know I will see you one day, in heaven. “
In 2014, Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers announced a $ 1,000 reward for information that led to an arrest in Jimmy’s case.
Anyone with information about the Melvin James Gallagher case should call the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 or Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers, 855-300-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be sent with TipSoft or by text message with the word CEDAR plus information for CRIMES (274637).