Boise Wiki Article – Linden Murder House

​If you have lived in Boise, especially southeast Boise, for a considerable amount of time you have most likely heard of the “Murder House”. Linden Street in southeast Boise, off the I-84 exit 54, is mostly a beautiful tree-lined street with well-kept homes—except for the house at the corner of Linden and Leadville. The house, a large craftsman style built in 1910, is the subject of many grandiose urban legends. There are legends of a crazed murderer who killed and dismembered numerous people in the house. A myth of the house being a fraternity house for Boise State University, with fraternity members telling of disembodied blood dripping from the basement walls. Also, a ghost story of a female apparition in 19th century clothes staring out the window at night. There is no evidence that 805 Linden was ever used by Boise State University as a fraternity house. The ghost story is a matter of personal belief, but the first rumor mentioned does have some truth to it.
​Regardless of the rumors, the truth of what happened at 805 Linden Street is probably one of Boise’s most grotesque murders. Court documents state that on the night of June 30, 1987 an altercation broke out between three men: Preston Murr, Daron Cox, and Daniel Rodgers—the owner of 805 Linden. Preston Murr was shot in the shoulder as a result of the altercation. Attempting to flee, Murr ran to nearby homes and pleaded at the doors for help, but before anyone opened their door Rogers and Cox retrieved Murr and dragged him back into Rogers’s house. Once inside, Murr was fatally shot by a bullet to the brain. Soon after the shooting a nearby neighbor—an owner of a house Murr ran to for help—phoned police and reported the suspicious activity, however the police did not respond promptly and the neighbor went to bed.
​Having murdered Murr, Rogers and Cox dismembered his body and placed the pieces into plastic bags. The bags were then placed into the trunk of a car and Rogers and Cox drove to Brownlee Reservoir, near Weiser, Idaho, to dump the body parts. The remaining evidence—gloves and the plastic bags—was thrown into a dumpster behind a Meridian, Idaho convenience store.
​In the morning police responded—after a second call by the concerned neighbor—and discovered bloodstains on the street and several neighboring doors. Police then attempted to contact residents inside 805 Linden, but after no response they received a search warrant and discovered the crime scene. Cox and Rogers were apprehended and charged with murder. After complying with police and giving a detailed account of the incident, Cox was given a lesser sentence—accomplice to murder—of which he served six years. Rogers, being found guilty of murder, is currently serving a fixed life sentence at the Idaho Correctional Center; he was denied parole most recently in 2005.
​So, Rogers is not a crazed killer who chopped up numerous victims in his basement. Blood does not spontaneously drip from the walls inside the house. And the accounts of a ghostly woman in the front window are unverifiable. It seems that this house—despite extravagant urban legends—is just the house at 805 Linden, where one of Boise’s most gruesome murders occurred in the summer of 1987.