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He shot his neighbor while delivering a Christmas card. Four decades later, the motive is unknown
Nick Radulovich, a retired police lieutenant, fatally shot neighbor Ray Rizzi in 1985; no clear motive emerged despite theories involving depression and prescription drugs.
- On January 5, 1985, retired Duluth Police Department lieutenant Nick Radulovich shot city personnel director Ray Rizzi at the Rizzis' home, and Rizzi later died at the hospital.
- A 1981 car accident aggravated Nick Radulovich's back injury, forcing early retirement and leading to prescriptions of Demerol, Darvon and flurazepam, which raised concerns about psychological effects.
- Kathe Rizzi witnessed Nick Radulovich pull the trigger five times and survived a hand wound after shielding her face.
- Rumors spread trying to make sense of the killing, including a supposed police‑union dispute that law enforcement investigators later found false, while the Duluth community and neighbors continued searching for a motive.
- On Aug. 1, 1993, Duane Radulovich carried out a triple murder‑suicide with a.357‑caliber revolver, killing Kay Fritz and two others before taking his own life, linked by The Duluth News Tribune to his prior depression and the 1985 killing.
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He shot his neighbor while delivering a Christmas card. Four decades later, the motive is unknown
DULUTH, Minn. — Rose Radulovich didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary on Jan. 5, 1985, the evening her husband left their home to deliver a handwritten Christmas card to their neighbor’s house. Members of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Radulovich family celebrated Christmas on the seventh of January each year. Nick Radulovich wasn't acting strange when he returned, either. Yet Rose Radulovich hadn’t realized he left — and returned — with …
Coverage Details
Total News Sources17
Leaning Left0Leaning Right9Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution64% Right
Bias Distribution
- 64% of the sources lean Right
64% Right
C 36%
R 64%
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