$10,000 reward offered for Fredericksburg Woman's Killer

A Fredericksburg woman is beaten and stabbed. Her home then set on fire. The murder mystery has gone on for eight years. Now the Gillespie County Crime Stoppers is upping the ante. They are offering $10 thousand dollars for a tip leading to the arrest and conviction of Linda Muegge's killer.

A new home now occupies the address of 506 Franklin Street, but there many are reminders of the former occupant.

"Under the vines in the back are blue salvia and of course her little favorite oxalis, the purple lavender flowers," Shannon Ramsey pointed out.

Shannon Ramsey calls a flower bed in her front yard "Linda's Corner" after her sister Linda Muegge who lived there until May 14, 2007. The tree that towers over the flowerbed still wears the scars of what happened that day.

"We got a call over there for a structure fire," said Fredericksburg Police Lt. Terry Weed.

When the fire was extinguished, firefighters found Linda's body. She had been beaten and stabbed in the head and neck. Her home then set on fire.

"If you're concentrating on this area to me whether you're hitting them or you're stabbing them or them whatever you're doing. I can't see a stranger doing that," said Weed.

Lt. Terry Weed followed every lead first investigating those closest to Linda and moving out from there.
He consulted the Texas Rangers, a statewide cold case review team and even made a trip to the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia.

Still--no arrest.

"You wake up and you think about it," said Weed. "What are you missing? What haven't I done?"

For eight long years the family has wondered what happened to her.

"My mother is 91. She would really like to know. We keep telling her when she gets to heaven she can ask Linda directly. It's been difficult," said Ramsey.

Ramsey built a home on the property. In addition to taking care of Linda's flowers, Ramsey watches over her vegetable garden. Linda was a personal chef and used the fresh produce in her recipes.

"It's a huge hole. I still have all of her phone numbers in my cell phone. I still have her email address in my email address book. And there's very few days that go by that I don't think please I wish you were here so I can tell you what ma did this time. Or what's going on out here," said Ramsey.

In an effort to help bring closure to the family, Gillespie County Crime Stoppers is offering a $10 thousand dollar reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Linda's killer.

The offer is good for 30 days.

Ramsey says the family is prepared to add five thousand dollars to that total bringing the possible payout to $15 thousand dollars.

"I've frequently had some late night conversations where I'm staring at the ceiling and talking to her, but truthfully I think when god is ready for us to know, we'll find out," said Ramsey.

If you have any information that may help officers solve this case, call the Gillespie County Crime Stoppers at 830-997-8477.