The murder of Neil Olsen by family members The Crime Library
The Sign Maker
There can be no doubt that 42-year-old Patricia Olsen called Mrs. O’s, her seafood restaurant, first thing in the morning on January 10, 2005, a typically frigid New England winter day. According to the court testimony of Rosa Nicola, a Mrs. O’s employee, Patricia called that morning with the same request she had on most other days.
“Rosa,” Patricia said in her scratchy, smoker’s voice, “can you bring me a breakfast sandwich over to the house for Neil.” Neil Olsen, a hulking man with brown hair and a resolute smile, was Patricia’s 48-year-old husband of twelve years.
“Certainly, Mrs. Olsen,” answered Rosa.
Mrs. O’s was located just down the road from Neil and Patricia Olsen’s home at 333 South Main Street, in Lanesborough, Massachusetts. It took Rosa a few minutes to make the sandwich and get it over to the house.
According to court documents, Patricia greeted Rosa at the door and, as usual, invited her in, saying, “I didn’t sleep well last night. I took three Tylenol PM pills.”
Patricia liked Rosa. Most people did. She was a hard worker, one of only a few Patricia had hired in the two years since she’d opened the restaurant.
Rosa nodded. “OK, Mrs. Olsen.”
Patricia later told police, “Neil eats breakfast every morning. I don’t normally eat breakfast, maybe once a week.” Rosa was good about bringing Neil his breakfast every morning. It was her routine. Later, in court, Patricia recalled a time when Rosa once went on vacation. “I thought Neil was going to go nuts. I hate cooking breakfast.”
Upon entering the Olsen household, Rosa wondered where Neil was.
“He’s out in the barn,” Patricia said. “I think he’s working.”
Rosa put the sandwich down on the counter and drove back to the restaurant. It would be the last ordinary, routine situation Rosa and Patricia ever experienced together. Because moments after Rosa left, somewhere around 8:00 a.m., Lanesborough, Massachusetts, police chief F. Mark Bashara arrived for work when, no sooner, a 911 call came into the Lanesborough Police Department (LPD) that rocked the little town off its axis.