Overview of The Deck — Rose Burkert and Roger Atkinson (9 of Diamonds, Iowa)
This episode of The Deck (Audiochuck) recounts the brutal, unresolved double homicide of Roger Atkinson and Rose Burkert at the Holiday Inn Amana (room 260) in Amana, Iowa on the weekend of September 12–13, 1980. The killing is notorious for extreme overkill and a string of bizarre, possibly deliberate crime‑scene “messages” (soap shavings, squeezed toothpaste, torn personal items, chairs positioned beside the bed). Multiple agencies investigated, several suspects were considered, and three other hotel homicides from 1980 with similar oddities were compared. Decades later investigators found an unknown male DNA profile on a bloody bathroom towel and are planning new forensic tests (including MVAC) on additional items—raising hope the case may finally be solvable.
Case summary — facts & timeline
- Date/location: Weekend of Sept. 12–13, 1980; Holiday Inn Amana, Amana Colonies, Iowa. Room 260.
- Victims: Roger Atkinson (32) and Rose Burkert (22).
- Discovery: Housekeeping supervisor Ida Block opened room ~1:15 p.m. Sept. 13 and found both victims in bed under a blood-soaked comforter.
- Injuries: Multiple heavy, long lacerations/blows to the back of the head — Roger: ~7 blows; Rose: ~12. Wounds ~3.5 inches and consistent in size; investigators thought a heavy bladed instrument (machete/cleaver/cane knife) was used. Roger was face down in underwear; Rose was on her back, fully clothed.
- Room booking: The room was registered under the name “Roger Burkert” (mix of Roger’s first name and Rose’s last), suggesting the couple used an alias.
Crime‑scene oddities (noted as potentially deliberate)
- Two chairs moved from a table and positioned side-by-side next to the bed, facing the victims; the chair nearest Roger’s head had a pristine white hotel towel draped over it.
- Items ransacked and scattered; Roger’s wallet had been rifled through; a photograph of an infant was torn in half; a cashier’s check (connected to Rose’s stepbrother, J.C. Halter) was shredded into many pieces.
- A hotel bar of soap was crushed/“pulverized” with shavings on the floor; the word “this” had been written on the bathroom door with soap.
- A tube of toothpaste (Turquoise Crest) was removed from the luggage and squeezed out in the bathtub; a small hand towel was crumpled near the drain. Towels had been used in the bathroom, suggesting someone cleaned up there.
- A small pile of personal items (glasses, wallet, keys, a deck of cards) lay next to Rose on the bed.
- An unknown male called the hotel around 9:00 p.m. asking specifically for Rose; at ~9:15 p.m. a guest across the hall heard a woman say “room service,” and later a loud thud was heard—no verified disturbance calls were made that night.
- Do Not Disturb sign was on the door by 8 a.m. the following morning; both victims were not discovered until housekeeping entered.
Investigative timeline & related cases
- Investigators connected this scene to at least two other hotel homicides in 1980 with similar elements (no forced entry, Do Not Disturb sign, male victims found face‑down in shorts, blows to the head, and toothpaste squeezed in the bathroom):
- William Kyle — Sheraton Inn, Galesburg, Illinois (June 24, 1980).
- Jack McDonald — Travel Inn, Meridian, Mississippi (1980).
- These similarities prompted inter‑jurisdiction cooperation and cross‑checks for suspects and patterns.
- Multiple hotel guests and staff were interviewed (some even hypnotized). Many leads were pursued but produced no charges.
Principal suspects & leads
Raimundo Esparza
- A steel worker seen at the Sheraton where William Kyle was murdered; passed to Iowa investigators as a lead.
- Police executed a search of his apartment in Dec. 1980; he was interviewed in Dec. 1980. He denied being in the Amana Colonies area. No charges; he died in 1983.
- Tissue samples from the VA hospital where he died were later located, but his DNA did NOT match the unknown male profile recovered from the bathroom towel in room 260.
Floyd Hatcher (Marcella’s father)
- Marcella (Roger’s wife) and other family members suspected Floyd due to motive (anger over Roger’s affair), an unaccounted-for alibi, and a later comment allegedly made to a girlfriend: “Do you know what I did to Roger?” (recounted as a grin, not a confession).
- Investigators attempted to get his DNA before he died but could not obtain consent; later familial DNA testing (through Marcella and a half-brother) excluded him.
Charles Hatcher (Marcella’s uncle)
- Convicted child killer; briefly considered due to family link. Time cards and lack of contact with the family made him an unlikely suspect for this crime, and he was dismissed.
“Mike H.” (Roger’s coworker)
- Allegedly threw items out of his car at the hotel parking area the day the bodies were found; later provided an alibi (wife recalled he was home that night, noted many years after the fact).
Other persons of interest included Rose’s ex-boyfriend, the father of Rose’s child, various hotel staff, and a teenager whose fingerprint was on Rose’s car—none matched the partial fingerprint on the shredded cashier’s check, and DNA from many collected suspects did not match the towel profile.
Forensic developments & current status
- For many years evidence was untested by modern standards. Chief Deputy Todd Sauerbrey reopened a forensic push in 2015–2017.
- A bloody hotel bathroom towel tested in 2017 produced a mixed DNA profile: Roger, Rose, and an unknown male (a “good” partial profile).
- That unknown male profile was entered into CODIS; the partial print from the shredded cashier’s check was entered into AFIS/APIS—no matches to date.
- Raimundo’s tissue DNA did not match the towel profile.
- Investigators plan to:
- Retest the bathroom towel using newer techniques to try to extract a fuller profile.
- Test Roger’s wallet (apparently never tested previously; Rose’s wallet was tested).
- Retest the toothpaste tube and other items using MVAC (a sampling method described as a miniature vacuum to recover DNA).
- Chief Deputy Sauerbrey believes better technology may reveal new DNA leads; the unknown male profile remains the most promising physical lead.
Theories & open questions
- Personal vs. random: Overkill and the range of “messages” (torn personal items, soap writing, toothpaste) point many investigators and family members toward a personal, targeted killing rather than purely random robbery/homicide.
- Who made the 9:00 p.m. phone call seeking Rose? That caller is repeatedly noted as potentially critical but was never publicly identified.
- Purpose/meaning of the soap shavings, “this” on the door, and toothpaste in the tub: Deliberate taunts, ritualistic messages, or idiosyncratic behavior by the killer remain unexplained.
- How was entry gained? The master key was reportedly never removed from the front desk—possible that someone followed the victims into the room, used an inside key, or had legitimate access.
- Why was Rose fully clothed while Roger was not? Was someone sitting in the chairs (one covered with a towel) and watching? Multiple people? Two chairs suggest two assailants or a staged scene.
Notable quotes & observations
- Case nickname: “Amana hatchet murders” (investigators now think the weapon was more likely a machete/cleaver/cane knife than an axe).
- Chief Deputy Sauerbrey: investigators suspect a heavy blade—“a cane knife” was suggested.
- Marcella (Roger’s widow): “I think it was personal because they were... overkill.” She also maintains hope the case will be solved.
- The episode highlights that the Amana Inn is still visited by true-crime tourists because of the case’s notoriety.
Main takeaways
- The Amana double homicide remains unsolved despite decades of investigation, multiple suspects, and cross‑jurisdictional comparisons.
- Forensic DNA produced an unknown male profile from a bathroom towel; that profile has not matched anyone so far.
- New forensic testing (MVAC, retesting of the towel, first-time testing of Roger’s wallet and the toothpaste tube) is planned and could produce actionable leads.
- The unknown 9 p.m. caller and the meaning behind the strange crime‑scene elements remain the most intriguing unanswered facets.
If you have information
Contact the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office: 319‑642‑7307.
For more on the episode: The Deck (Audiochuck).