John Charles Bolsinger was born on September 17, 1957. He was 23 at the time of the 1980 killing for which he was convicted in Utah. The victim, Kaysie Sorensen, was killed in Magna, in Salt Lake County, in March 1980.
He was arrested on April 1, 1980, and booked into the Salt Lake County jail. He gave a taped statement to police, and he testified at his trial, which took place nearly a year after the statement. The date of the verdict and the name of the trial judge are not on record.
The jury returned a verdict of murder in the second degree. Bolsinger appealed to the Supreme Court of Utah, and the court decided the case on April 5, 1985, in State v. Bolsinger. The justices upheld the ruling that allowed his statement to be used at trial. They held, however, that the evidence did not support a conviction for murder in the second degree as charged, though it did support the included offense of manslaughter. The court sent the case back with directions to set aside the verdict and enter a judgment of conviction for manslaughter without a new trial, and to sentence him accordingly. The lead opinion was written by Justice Howe, with Justice Durham concurring. Justice Stewart agreed that the murder conviction had to be set aside, agreed with reluctance to the manslaughter remand, and dissented in part. Chief Justice Hall dissented and would have affirmed the jury's verdict. Justice Zimmerman took no part.
He served a five-year prison sentence in Utah.
Bolsinger was paroled to Springfield, Oregon, on March 7, 1986. On September 26, 1986, Springfield police arrested him. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in the Oregon Department of Corrections. The offense name and the sentencing date are not on record.
On August 4, 1987, he was moved to Utah State Prison on a parole violation. He remained there until December 8, 1987.
Three women died in Eugene while Bolsinger lived in neighboring Springfield. Gladys May Hensley, 62, died in early June 1986, and police believe the date was June 4. Janice Marie Dickinson, 33, died in June 1986. Geraldine Spencer Toohey, 73, died in February 1988; the Oregon State Police investigated her case. All three cases stayed unsolved for decades. A tip line opened in 2018 drew more than 100 tips, and every suspect named in them was eliminated.
On February 2, 2022, Eugene police announced that the cases were solved and named Bolsinger. The Eugene Police Department and the Oregon State Police said they were pleased to finally bring closure to the families of Gladys, Janice and Geraldine. Police asked anyone with information about his activities in Lane County to come forward.
No charge was ever brought against Bolsinger in any of the three cases, and no court has ruled on them. They are attributed to him by police and nothing more.
Bolsinger died by suicide on March 23, 1988, in Springfield, Oregon. He was 30.
The one conviction that a court has confirmed is the Utah case, and its final form is manslaughter, not murder. The sentence imposed on that judgment, the trial date and the date of release from the five-year term are not on record. Whether the Oregon sentence of 1986 and the Utah parole violation of 1987 were served concurrently or one after the other is also not on record. The three Eugene deaths remain attributed deaths, and the police attribution is the only finding on them.
September 17, 1957: John Charles Bolsinger is born.
March 1980: Kaysie Sorensen is killed in Magna, Utah.
April 1, 1980: Bolsinger is arrested.
April 5, 1985: The Supreme Court of Utah sets aside the second-degree murder verdict and directs a manslaughter conviction.
March 7, 1986: Paroled to Springfield, Oregon.
June 1986: Gladys May Hensley and Janice Marie Dickinson die in Eugene.
September 26, 1986: Arrested in Springfield; later convicted and sentenced to five years in Oregon.
August 4, 1987: Transferred to Utah State Prison on a parole violation.
December 8, 1987: Released from Utah State Prison.
February 1988: Geraldine Spencer Toohey dies in Eugene.
March 23, 1988: Bolsinger dies by suicide in Springfield.
February 2, 2022: Eugene police announce that the three Eugene cases are solved and name Bolsinger.