By Steve White swhite@nebraska.tv
More than twenty years after the murder of an Ord woman, a Missouri man is under arrest for
the crime.
On Tuesday, officers from both Nebraska and Missouri arrested 45-year-old John Oldson for the 1989 murder of 30-year-old Catherine Beard.
Beard went missing in Ord in May of 1989. Her skeletal remains were found outside town in a shallow grave on a dirt road in 1992. The case was re-opened in 2008 and investigations led to Oldson.
John Oldson is described as highly intelligent but also a criminal with a troubled past.
"And he looks just about the same as when he was here," Agnes Janda said, holding a print-out of Oldson's mug shot.
Seeing the jailhouse portrait re-opens emotional wounds along the Ord town square.
Janda said, "I think it's great, should've been done 23 years ago."
Residents express surprise the case has finally resulted in an arrest.
Larry Copp said, "I think it was a shock, everyone forgot all about it. Everyone's hopefully relieved to put this thing to bed."
Mary Pesek knows first hand the lingering pain of the case. She said, "It was a long time coming. I worked at the police department so I know."
1989, the same year Cathy Beard died, John Oldson was convicted of assaulting a Burwell
woman.
In 1992, he was convicted in two separate assault cases.
And in 2003 Oldson was sent to prison for two years for child abuse, for what police describe in a press release as "sticking needles into the stomachs of his two step-daughters".
Many long considered Oldson the chief suspect in this cold case.
Chuck Ritz of Comstock said, "It's about time, been on the run a long time. Must've slipped up someplace."
The case was re-opened in 2008 when the county attorney asked the sheriff to renew the investigation. That resulted in charges being filed last week. This week an arrest warrant was issued from the Valley County courthouse followed by Oldson's capture in Missouri.
Acquaintances of Cathy Beard's family only wish the victim's mother had lived to see this.
"Too bad they weren't here for closure," Agnes Janda said. "Some of the family is here but they needed closure a long time ago."
Oldson has agreed to waive extradition and will be back in Nebraska within the week. He'll be in court on February 6 on a count of first degree murder. He is being held on a million dollar bond.
Valley County Sheriff Casey Hurlburt extended his condolences to the Beard family.
In a Wednesday afternoon press release, he said, "The Valley County Sheriff's Office and the Nebraska State Patrol is pleased that justice is finally being served for Cathy Beard and her family."
Hurlburt and Chief Deputy Roy Crites went to Missouri with Investigator Morrow to personally deliver the warrant.
Anyone with further information is asked to contact Hurlburt's office at 308-728-3906 or the State Patrol at 800-422-1494.
