Dec 12, 2022
Announcing the subject of Season 8: The murder of Joel Lovelien.
On the evening of Oct. 27, 2007--the weekend before halloween--much of Grand Forks, ND was in an alcohol-infused state. Thirty-eight-year-old Joel Lovelien was enjoying the halloween festivities with his fiance at The Broken Drum Bar when a pulsating party bus, packed like a can of sardines with intoxicated passengers and loaded with beer and three hundred and twenty-five "Jello shots" pulled into the parking lot and unleashed it's cargo of 40 or more costumed partygoers. The bus and the intoxicated occupants didn't stay at The Broken Drum Bar for long. But once they were gone, Joel Lovelien was dead.
Law enforcement soon arrested a University of North Dakota nursing student named Travis Stay for the murder. However, a jury found Stay "not guilty" and although justice has never been served, law enforcement maintain to this day that the acquitted Travis Stay was their man. They are no longer actively working the case.
Joel Lovelien, his life and his tragic murder is the subject of Season 8 of Dakota Spotlight. Coming soon!
I am actively seeking contact with any of the following persons in regards to the case: Occupants on the party bus, taxi driver, bus driver, law enforcement investigators, Travis Stay and his roomates or anyone with information. If you yourself or someone you know is a person I should be speaking with, let me know by emailing me at jwolner@forumcomm.com
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