Newly uncovered newspaper archives reveal that the maternal grandfather of Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan spent more than 30 years in state mental hospitals, escaped psychiatric custody multiple times, and was suspected in four killings across several states. He was never charged with murder.
Flanagan has built much of her political identity, including her current U.S. Senate campaign, around her personal story: her Native American heritage, her single mother, and a childhood that included reliance on government assistance. The records introduce a chapter of her family history that has not been part of that public narrative.
Her maternal grandfather, John Jacob Hartmann, died on Feb. 6, 1983, at age 58. Three days later, the Star Tribune ran a headline that captured the arc of his life: “John Hartmann, suspected in 4 slayings but never tried, is dead.” Historical newspaper accounts, family obituaries, and photographs reviewed by Alpha News confirm that Hartmann was the father of Flanagan’s mother, Patricia Hartmann Flanagan. Flanagan herself was listed among his surviving grandchildren in his death notice, under the name Peggy Hartmann.
Hartmann’s confinement began in 1951, after the body of a Minneapolis man named Theodore Foth was found burning on a bed inside Hartmann’s room. Hartmann was not charged with murder. Instead, following a petition from his wife alleging he was mentally ill and dangerous, he was committed to a state security hospital.
In 1964, while still institutionalized, he came under suspicion again after another patient was killed at the facility. Authorities suspected Hartmann but did not charge him, citing insufficient evidence. He was transferred to Anoka State Hospital in 1970, later escaped, and traveled to New Mexico, where he was arrested as a suspect in the deaths of a man and a woman. Again, no charges followed.
According to the Peggy Flanagan grandfather investigation, Hartmann escaped again in April 1979 from the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter and fled to Missouri. Before he was recaptured, he allegedly threatened U.S. District Judge Miles Lord during a phone call, leading to a federal criminal charge. Lord, a former U.S. attorney who had been involved in legal proceedings related to Hartmann, obtained armed protection after learning of the alleged threat. Lord also publicly described Hartmann as a “mass murderer.”
Flanagan was born in 1979. Hartmann died when she was still a young child, and his alleged crimes are not hers. Still, for a politician who has made family history a central part of her public identity, the records represent a significant untold chapter. Alpha News reached out to Flanagan’s campaign for comment but did not receive a response.
A June 2013 Instagram post by Flanagan shows she was aware of the Hartmann name. She captioned a childhood photo “Little Peggy Hartmann in 2nd grade.” At some point she took the surname of her stepfather, Thomas Flanagan, whose 2020 obituary identifies her as his stepdaughter. She did not take the surname of her biological father, Marvin Manypenny, the White Earth Ojibwe activist whose heritage she has frequently highlighted, nor the surnames of either of her two husbands. Share your thoughts on this story in the comments or on social media.
