EXCLUSIVE: Peggy Flanagan’s grandfather was suspected in serial killings, spent decades in mental hospitals, records reveal

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has frequently spoken about her family history, particularly her Native American heritage and the struggles of being raised by a single mother who relied on government assistance. Her personal story has become a central theme of her political career, including her campaign for the U.S. Senate. But newly uncovered newspaper archives reveal a far darker chapter of her family history — one involving four suspected murders, decades of confinement in state mental hospitals and an alleged threat against a federal judge. Flanagan’s maternal grandfather, John Jacob Hartmann, spent more than 30 years in Minnesota state...