Dare to Enter? Boise’s Fascinating Murder House Will Open for Public Tours Soon

We’ll never forget the text message. There we were, enjoying the day at Boise Music Festival, when we got this message from our husband: “The Murder House is having a yard sale.” 

As excited as we were about seeing Jelly Roll and Ludacris, we really thought about leaving the concert to go check out what seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Living in Southeast Boise, we’ve long been fascinated by the home at 805 W Linden. Built in 1910, the home was the crime scene of one of Boise’s most gruesome and twisted murders. 

On the late June night in 1987, Preston Murr was involved in an altercation with Daniel Rodgers and Daron Cox at the Linden Home. At some point, Murr was shot in the shoulder but escaped from the home long enough to bang on the doors of other homes in the neighborhood asking for help. While no one answered their door, one neighbor called Boise police after finding blood smeared on his door. As he peered out the window, he saw someone chasing Murr and eventually they caught him and took him back in the house. 

Court documents indicate that after that, Murr was fatally shot in the back of the head while in the home’s basement. That’s where his body was cut into 13 pieces and packaged into plastic bags that were eventually tossed into the Brownlee Reservoir. That’s how the home earned nicknames like the “Boise Murder House” and “Chop Chop House.” 

READ MORE: 13 of Idaho's Most Mysterious Places Hiding in Plain Sight

As you can imagine, the crime led to a lot of urban legends about the home, which has fallen into a state of disrepair. The yard sale was the first time in the 14 years that we’ve lived in Southeast Boise where we saw people at the house. There was a day two of the yard sale, so you know we went. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to legally be on the property. The man we talked to said that it was his brother’s house. He was so nice that we didn’t have the guts to ask questions about the home or crime, even though we had about a zillion questions and were itching to see inside. 

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Well, that might be an opportunity that EVERYONE in Boise has in the near future. Mark Iverson, the creator and tour guide for IdaHistory recently posted on Facebook that his company will be offering tours and events at the home soon! Iverson, who has a Master’s in History and has spent quite a bit of time reading over 250 pages of confessions and police reports. He hit it off with the home’s owner and the two of them are working together on opening the inside of the home for tours. The tours will help benefit the preservation of the mansion. 

In his post, Iverson tells customers to forget everything they THINK they know about the “Boise Murder House.” He’s ready to tell the home’s whole story, dating all the way back to when the home was named “Roselawn” and was built by the ultra weather Matthews family. The tours will include photos from the police files and first hand stories from family connected to Murr’s murder. 

We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait for this REALLY fascinating opportunity! Follow Iverson’s company HERE to keep up to date. Judging by the photos of his recent Boise True Crime 1970s Motorhome Tours, the exterior of the home has already found its way into one of the tours that he offers!