WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — More than four decades ago a mother was fatally stabbed at her home in Willoughby. Now, her family finally has some sense of closure after police cracked the case and named a suspect in the slaying. But one question still remains as police have a name but not a motive. Why did it happen?
“If there is a place in hell, I know he is in it and I hope he rots there,” said Mark Madger.
For 42 years, Madger has tried to forget but can’t help but remember.
“Every single day the gruesome picture of how horrible she looked laying on the floor enters my mind,” said Madger.
Mark and Nadine Madger were married just a year and a half when he came home to their Willoughby apartment and found his 25-year-old wife had been stabbed 44 times with a knife from their kitchen.
That was in Jan. 11, 1980. The couple’s 8-month-old son was still in his playpen near his mother.
“She missed everything. I never got to have that connection. The mother and son, that bond. Growing up, I saw it with other friends hugging their mom, I always envied it,” explained the couple's son, Daniel Madger.
Willoughby police said over the more than four decades hundreds of police officers and detectives have worked to crack the cold case.
“For the last 42 years, this case has never gone cold inside our building. We’ve always had investigators, officers detectives, people working on the case,” said Willoughby Police Chief Jim Schultz. Police followed leads but none ended with the closure to this case, until now.
“It is our department’s conclusion that Stephen Joseph Simcak fatally wounded Nadine Madger in her residence on Jan. 11, 1980,” said Schultz.
DNA is the key that unlocked the mystery and cracked the case. Police said the top Nadine Madger was wearing had her blood on it as well as the killer’s. Police said that was the critical piece of evidence.
With new DNA technology, and by working with the Lake County Crime Lab and Parabon Nanolabs, Willoughby Detective Gable Sleigh was able to trace the suspect’s family tree to the 1800s which eventually led them to Simcak.
“Stephen Joseph Simcak was never a suspect in this case, his name was never mentioned in the report, he was never involved in any kind of criminal activity that would have made him a suspect so without this he would never have been identified,” said Sleigh.
But, it’s not just DNA. Police said a canary yellow Dodge Dart was spotted at the Madger’s apartment complex on the day Nadine Madger was killed. Police said Simcak drove a canary yellow Dodge Dart. Police also obtained work records from Lincoln Electric where Simcak worked. Records show, police said, he only missed one day of work in 1980, that day was Jan. 11, the day of the murder.
Now-retired police detective Ken Eisele was the first at the scene of the gruesome scene and never forgot about the young mother. He is pleased an arrest as finally been made.
“I didn’t think it would ever be resolved, but it stays with you,” said Eisele.
While police said they know who committed the crime, they don’t know why. Simcak died of natural causes in 2018 leaving many questions lingering.
The Madger family said they are extremely thankful to the Willoughby Police Department for solving the crime.
But, the question of why continues to haunt the family. Police are asking that anyone with information call them at 440-953-4210.
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