Our next case takes us to Mound, Minnesota.
Eli Hart, who was six years old, lived with his mother Julissa Thaler. She and his dad, Tory Hart, were amidst a court custody battle but she had custody at the time.
Eli was well known at Shirley Hills Primary School in Mound, Minnesota. He enjoyed talking and playing with friends and was known to be a happy child. He was born with Townes-Brocks syndrome, which is a rare genetic disorder that can cause abnormalities in body organs. He used hearing aids and had routine doctor’s appointments with specialists.
According to court documents, Thaler began drinking at the age of 13, abusing opiates at age 16, and sedatives at age 20. She was hospitalized on numerous occasions and diagnosed with at least two personality disorders.
At the age of 21, she reportedly used LSD on a daily basis and that same year, she was reported to child protective services for suspected exposure of Eli to drugs before giving birth to him.
In 2016, Eli was just a year and a half old when Rice County child protection received a report that Thaler was delusional and despondent, believing that a bug was trying to attack Eli. Sometimes, the only way he could get her attention was to bang his head on a table.
The case was closed after she agreed to seek treatment for both of them. Thaler often accused Eli’s father, Tory, of violently abusing her, but there was no evidence to support this. She even admitted to constantly lying about him.
In 2019, Thaler accused Tory of planting a bomb in her car. The police found a water bottle full of nails, and Thaler used the report to obtain a restraining order against Tory, which made it so he could not contact her. She had sole custody of Eli at that point, making it difficult for Tory to be with his son.
Thaler then moved herself and Eli to Farmington, where she had mental breakdowns in late 2020 and early 2021. One incident led to her leaving Eli naked amongst broken eggs, rotting garbage, and a flooded bathroom.
Police found him some pajamas, and still, he was returned to Thaler’s care. However, three months later, she reportedly heard voices telling her to kill herself. When social workers arrived, they found Eli home alone with cuts, matted hair, and without his hearing aids.
At that point, a judge placed Eli, age 5, into the legal custody and responsibility of Dakota County, and he was placed in foster care with Thaler’s cousin, Stephen Kronberg, his wife Nikita, and their family in January 2021.
Per social services, in order to regain custody of Eli, Thaler had to meet basic requirements as a parent. She had to treat and stabilize her mental health, meet Eli’s medical needs, maintain clean and stable housing, remain drug free and submit to random testing, and have age-appropriate conversations with Eli.
Tory wanted to be part of the case, but since he didn’t have custody of Eli, he was not considered as a placement option. The county did require him to undergo parenting and psychological evaluations and drug tests, none of which identified any concerns.
Over the next 11 months, Thaler denied any wrongdoing and was fixated on her accusations that Tory was trying to harm her and Eli. She would ignore instructions from social services and lie, then beg them to return her son.
Thaler continued to struggle with her mental health, telling Eli at one visit that she was living off of Mountain Dew and cigarettes. She also told him, “I just can’t function, and I don’t know what to do.”
Thaler also missed or tampered with the drug tests, and in late April 2021, she was arrested for allegedly stealing pain medications and needles from an Apple Valley clinic.
In early June, child protection worker Beth Dehner took over the case and the concerns about Thaler’s mental health and instability continued to be a focus. She stopped going to therapy in October and moved four times in four months.
Worker suspected that she was homeless for a time, and in November, she was kicked out of a drug testing for being too disruptive. While she continued to make accusations against Tory, case workers began to suspect they were made up.
Tory began having visits with Eli, and they developed a strong bond. It appeared that his father was a stabilizing influence in his life.
However, the same could not be said for visits with Thaler. During one visit, she dug her fingernails into a social services staff member’s hand and then threw garbage at her. A week later, Thaler ignored Eli for long periods and just stared into space as Eli loudly begged for her to play with him.
Eli’s Guardian ad Litem, Sherri Larson, tried to observe a visit between the mother and son, but Thaler wouldn’t cooperate and argued with her. Larson kept telling her to concentrate on her visit, but she wouldn’t. The Guardian ad Litem eventually had to leave.
By November, a state-mandated deadline drew nearer, in which a child must be reunited with their caregivers within a year or be placed into another permanent home. Larson filed a court report that suggested the case go to “permanency.” This would have ended Thaler’s parental rights and allowed the county to place Eli with Tory.
Thaler would have had the opportunity to challenge the decision in court. However, Dehner felt that she was meeting parts of her case plan and worried that would complicate any effort to strip Thaler’s rights.
Dehner wrote in an email to an assistant Dakota County attorney, “I don’t think Julissa will maintain what she is currently doing, but my opinion about that isn’t enough to win a case in court apparently.”
Approximately two weeks prior to the court report, Thaler had picked Eli up on time for her unsupervised visits, made it to Eli’s therapy appointments, and dropped him back off at his foster home on time. She also agreed to drug testing.
While there were still concerns, Dehner asked a judge to allow Eli to return to Thaler on a trial home visit, though the county would retain legal custody.
Nikita Kronberg voiced her concerns about this, writing in an email to Dehner, “We are just gonna forget every single bad thing she has done these last 10 months?! I guess there’s not much I can do but keep my doors open for him when he will return. Because everyone in the family sees him returning to foster care if he is returned to her.”
Dehner, in an email to assistant Dakota County attorney Jennifer Jackson, wrote that she let Thaler know that if things didn’t go well with a trial home visit that they would place Eli with Tory and file for a transfer of custody. Dehner also asked what needed to happen in order for a trial home visit to be ended and to plan for transfer of custody.
Jackson wrote back, “According to the statute, a THV may end “in order to protect the child’s health, safety, or welfare.” Pretty vague. I don’t think it needs to rise ot the level of endangerment. I think you are on the right track; if mom shows she cannot consistently meet his needs (by missing his appointments, school, etc.), then I think we consider ending the THV. We can also consider ending the THV if mom does not make her appointments and it directly affects Eli’s health, safety, or welfare. And I do like the backup plan with dad.”
The judge signed off on the trial home visit. The county set a date of December 22 for the trial home visit to begin, so Eli wouldn’t miss school. Until that time, there were overnight visits with Thaler, but Eli remained in the Kronberg’s care.
One night, Thaler was bringing Eli back to the foster home and came flying down the road, driving dangerously about 20 miles over the speed limit. Eli was sobbing as he got out of the car.
Nikita criticized the decision to Dehner, writing, “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the decision to do this home trial. The reason Eli was taken from the home was due to mom’s mental health, and her mental health has not improved at all. If anything I would say it has declined.”
Later that month, Thaler and a roommate parked on the street in front of Kronberg’s house with binoculars, watching the home for hours and into the next morning. When Nikita got up early for work around 3 AM, she called the police when she saw the car. She tried to confront Thaler, but she drove away.
Kronberg emailed Dehner and told her she would get a restraining order against Thaler, barring her from any contact with them. However, Dehner emailed Eli’s school and told them, “I was made aware of some issues that occurred last night and this morning, and I know that Eli’s mom called school to see if he was there this morning. We have made the decision to have Eli move back with his mom two days early after what occurred last night. I have told her that she is responsible for bringing him to and from school tomorrow and Wednesday. She will be picking him up at 3 tonight for his usual Monday therapy session that he has.”
Kronberg was angry and upset about the social services worker’s decision to move Eli back home, stating that giving him back to Thaler only rewarded her bad behavior. And even so, the trial home visit was rocky from the start.
The first day Eli was back home, child protection was contacted via email from the school stating that Thaler drove recklessly both at drop off and pick up.
Ten days later, on December 30, 2021, the court-appointed guardian recommended removing Eli from Thaler’s care. Sherri Larson wrote to Dehner, “I feel like we need to vacate the (trial home visit) as she doesn’t appear stable to me and is putting Eli at risk. These are the same concerns regarding her mental health that brought this case in, and it hasn’t improved.”
Larson had been made aware of Thaler’s stalking of the foster family, and Thaler began repeatedly calling her to get visits with Tory canceled. Thaler filed for another Order of Protection against him, using many of the same false accusations she had in the past.
That day, Dehner had a video visit with Eli and Thaler that disturbed her, and when Thaler tried to discuss the new Order of Protection she filed, the social services worker told her the county had no concerns about Tory. Thaler became argumentative and Dehner ended the call.
Another social services worker dropping off Eli had the door slammed in her face on more than one occasion in January and February 2022. She wrote to Dehner, “She does not want me looking in her apartment, that’s for sure.”
Thaler missed so many of the required parenting education sessions that they kicked her out in mid-January. By the end of the month, she had also been caught lying about her mental health program, saying she’d graduated and no longer needed services. However, days later, the program director refuted that.
Child protection worried that Thaler was not being truthful with her therapists, and that she sought new providers that didn’t know about her history. Despite all of this, social services allowed the trial home visit to continue. Dehner wrote to the court, “There is no current indication that her son is physically unsafe in her care.”
And while Thaler had shown that she’d abused drugs and alcohol for a decade, Dehner took her off drug testing after two months of clean tests.
Eli began to show evidence of changed behavior as well. At school, teachers reported that Eli had become aggressive and punched other students. In February 2022, a teacher emailed Dehner and wrote, “I asked each student to give me an example of someone being mean to them on the playground or in school. E.H. proceeded to tell me that his mom pushes him. The other students seemed shocked by his example. We discussed the importance of telling a trusted adult like a teacher or a principal if an adult is hurting you.”
Dehner responded by saying, “I appreciate the update and it is interesting that he would make that statement. It’s not something that CPS would take as a maltreatment report to assess unfortunately, however I do want you to keep documenting everything.”
Eli’s therapist also emailed Dehner later that month to describe an incident where he hid in a cabinet after Thaler became confrontational with them. Another report came from the school.
Thaler threatened to cut off all contact between Eli and Tory, saying to Dehner that her son would not be seeing him once she got custody.
In early March 2022, Tory filed for custody in Hennepin County family court. Thaler responded by filing another Order of Protection against Tory, once again citing many of the same false allegations against him.
Dehner wrote in an email to Jackson, “She’s so mentally ill… I think the second we close the case it’s just going to be report after report of false abuse allegations…. She’s starting the process already.”
Nonetheless, Dehner and Jackson suggested to the judge to close the case at the next hearing. In an email from Dehner to Jackson, she wrote, “The kid has been going to school. She cooperated with a visit for dad last weekend. Kiddo is still going to therapy. That’s basically what she’s required to do at this point.”
Sherri Larson disagreed. She wrote to Dehner, “I’ve talked this over with Char, my supervisor, and I’m submitting a report that will say my concerns about closing the case yet realizing that the concerns don’t rise to the level of a child protection matter. Then it will be up to the judge to decide. I just can’t say right out close it without going on record expressing these concerns regarding how she’s impacting his mental health.”
On March 30, 2022, Larson told the court that Thaler was attempting to isolate Eli, including filing false abuse reports in an attempt to prevent visitation time with Tory. She said she had concerns that Eli wasn’t safe in his mother’s care.
The judge told Thaler, “It seems like overall you are doing whatever it takes to thwart any visitation or parenting time by Mr. Hart. I’m very concerned by your actions here.” He did not close the case and instead scheduled another hearing in May.
Another report was made to Dehner in the meantime saying that Eli told an adult that his mom was hurting him. When asked what she was going, Eli grabbed his wrist and squeezed it. There is no evidence that child protection acted on the report.
In April, a judge put Tory’s custody petition on hold until the child protection case was closed, as state law requires child protection cases take precedence over custody petitions.
Of course, family courts can consider who would be the better parent. In a child protection case, attorneys argued that the court could only consider whether it was safe to reunify Eli with the parent he was removed from – in this case, Thaler.
In early May, Larson filed a new court report, and while she cited ongoing concerns with Eli’s emotional and mental wellbeing, she noted that Tory’s attempt to get custody as one of the reasons to close the child protection case.
Dehner was supposed to have a final visit with Thaler, but the mother canceled, and the social services worker didn’t reschedule. Thaler was supposed to restart parenting classes, but Dehner never checked to see if she was attending them.
Dehner emailed that she was tired of dealing with Thaler, and a social services staff member, Amy Horn, agreed to pick up Eli from the mother to deliver him to a visit with Tory.
Eli had dark circles under his eyes, and it looked like he hadn’t showered in days. He told Horn that he and his mother had driven around in their car all night. However, Dehner and Larson had already filed reports with the court to recommend the case closure.
On May 10, 2022, the judge accepted the recommendation and closed the case, granting Thaler full custody.
On May 19, 2022, Thaler walked into a sporting good store and asked for shells that would “blow the biggest hole into something.”
On May 20, 2022, police stopped Thaler as she drove near her Lake Minnetonka apartment. One of her tires was gone and she was driving on the rim. The back window was completely shot out, and she told the police that kids shot BB guns at her.
Blood spattered the inside of the vehicle. Thaler was very disheveled and had what appeared to be a blood-like substance on her hands, face, and clothing.
When the police asked about the blood on her hand and face, she told them it was from removing a tampon. When asked about what looked like tissue matter in the vehicle, she said she had deer meat that she’d gotten from an unknown butcher overnight. She said she had returned to Mound to meet with her AA sponsor.
Officers saw what appeared to be a bullet hole in the rear passenger seat rest, with what appeared to be blood and tissue. The police spent about 30 minutes trying to determine if Thaler was part of another incident that had occurred near the area, and she grew cold and impatient, refusing to sit in the squad car.
Thaler was released from the scene and given a ride to her home. Based on the suspicion of blood in her vehicle, officers decided to impound the car. While photographing the exterior and interior of the vehicle, they discovered a discharged shotgun sell.
Prior to impounding the car, the police decided to open the trunk. They found a shotgun tucked behind a gray colored blanket, and they could tell something else was wrapped in it. They lifted the blanket and found the remains of what would later be identified as those of Eli Hart. Nearby, in a dumpster, was a car seat riddled with bullet holes and blood.
The officers immediately returned to the address where they’d dropped Thaler off and forced their way into the apartment, only to find it empty. They reviewed building surveillance and saw Thaler leaving the apartment building with a white male wearing a large backpack just minutes prior.
The police were able to locate Thaler and her boyfriend and arrested them both. Thaler repeatedly stated that she had nothing to do with Eli’s death. Before the case made the news, Dehner filed her final case report, writing, “At the time of case closing, while there were some concerns about Julissa’s parenting, there were no protection issues that required ongoing child protection placement or involvement. The county will be closing the CPS case at this time.”
Thaler was charged with first-degree murder. She refused to cooperate with a court-appointed psychologist but was ultimately deemed competent to stand trial. Prosecutors agreed to self-edit in this case, ultimately not showing gruesome photos of what happened to Eli, though they did show photos of the crime scene itself.
In February 2023, Thaler was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Eli Hart. When given a chance to speak during her sentencing, Thaler said, “I’m innocent, F you all, you’re garbage.”
Tory filed lawsuits against both the county as well as three social services workers, stating that they failed to keep Eli safe.
Sources:
https://www.fox9.com/news/eli-hart-killing-boys-dad-testifies-at-julissa-thalers-trial
Missing Person of the Week:
This week’s missing person case is that of Grady Benson, in Randlett, Oklahoma. The 69-year-old man was last seen November 9, 2022.
Grady goes by the name Bruce, and on the night he disappeared, he had been living with his wife Maxine and worked as a farmer with his son on his property.
On November 8, 2022, Grady and his wife went to vote in the midterm elections in Temple, Oklahoma, then went grocery shopping. The next day, Grady and his wife shared a pie for breakfast, and that evening, they went to dinner with some friends at Bill’s Fish House in Waurika.
Maxine left for a planned girl’s trip to Branson, Missouri later that evening. Grady returned home at around 8 PM and took dinner to his son, who was working in the fields on the property.
Grady told his son that he was not feeling well and may not come to work in the fields the next day. He went back to the house and had not been seen or heard from since.
At 11:15 PM, Grady’s wife texted him to say goodnight, but he didn’t respond. Since he wasn’t a big texter, she wasn’t initially worried, until she tried to call repeatedly, and he didn’t answer.
Since Grady had told his son he wasn’t feeling well and might not come to work, he wasn’t concerned when his dad didn’t show up. Maxine called to ask him to check on his father since he hadn’t been answering her calls. Their son told her that he wasn’t at home, and she returned from her trip early.
On November 11, 2022, Grady’s son filed a missing person’s report, and a silver alert was issued on November 12.
Grady’s cellphone, wallet, car keys, and jacket were found in his unlocked pickup truck in the carport. The house and garage were all locked, and none of his vehicles were missing from the property.
Grady left behind a new pair of boots beside his favorite chair inside, a pair of socks on top of them. The leftover pie was still in the fridge.
Authorities searched nearby areas with drones, canine teams, and helicopters, but no signs of Grady have been found. There is a $25,000 reward for information leading to Grady’s disappearance.
Grady is a white male with gray hair and blue eyes. He is 5’11” and weighs 210-220 pounds. He was last seen wearing a white polo T-shirt with green stripes, blue jeans, and worn-out steel-toed boots. He also wears silver framed glasses.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Grady Bruce Benson, please contact the Cotton County Sheriff’s Office at 580-875-3383, or the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation at 405-848-6724.
Murderosity 
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