Kriti Mehrotra
When 49-year-old Kaye Tiede and her mother, 76-year-old Beth Potts, were fatally shot inside a mountain cabin in Oakley, Utah, on December 22, 1990, another individual was also injured. It was none other than the former’s husband of over 27 years, Rolf Tiede, in what can only be described as a heinous ordeal, as chronicled in CBS’ ’48 Hours: Three Days Before Christmas.’ That’s because two men – Von Taylor and Edward Deli – had broken into their beautiful, secluded estate with the intention of causing chaos. But fortunately, the patriarch survived the attack.
Rolf Tiede Was a Proud Entrepreneur and Family Man
Although born on September 29, 1939, in Eddelack in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Rolf Tiede spent the majority of his life in the US after immigrating around the age of 11 in 1950. According to records, he was born to Erika Winkelmann and Johann Tiede when they were both quite young – 18 and 22 years old, respectively – but only the former chose to come to the US. It appears that they were initially based in New York, only to then move around a bit in the following few years before ultimately settling in Harris County, Texas, for good by the late 1960s.
By that point, Rolf had not only already tied the knot with the woman he believed to be the love of his life, Kaye Tidwell, despite their two-year age difference, but also established a business. While he had married Kaye in an intimate ceremony in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 24, 1963, he launched his commercial laundry equipment supplier company, Skyline Equipment Inc., in 1969. The couple then went on to build a truly happy, stable life for their little family, including their three kids – Linae Tiede, Shaun Tiede, and Tricia Tiede – until everything changed in December 1990.
Rolf Tiede Consciously Chose to Play Dead During a Fight For His Life
Since the Tiedes were relatively well-off, they had a cozy, secluded mountain cabin near Beaver Springs in Oakley, Utah, where they loved to spend almost all their holidays with extended family. Their plans for 1990 were thus no different, but they had no idea that two men would break in while they were away on an overnight, last-minute Christmas shopping trip in nearby Salt Lake City. These men were Von Taylor and Edward Deli, two recent parolees who had escaped their halfway house to commit burglary, grab a good vehicle, get rid of the evidence, and flee the state.
In the process, they fatally shot Kaye and her mother Beth while taking Linae hostage since they were first into the cabin, and they later jumped on Rolf and Tricia upon their arrival too. According to the then-51-year-old’s accounts, he knew something was wrong as he was pulling into the property on a snowmobile with his 16-year-old daughter sitting behind him. That’s because he could see 20-year-old Linae bound and gagged with someone standing right behind her in a mask, just for another man in a similar mask to then come out of the garage. The latter, whom he identified as Edward, subsequently ordered him to remove his clothing and asked if he had cash, driving the entrepreneur to take off his jacket before tossing them $105.
Rolf hoped the matter would be over, but Von ended up ordering his accomplice to kill him immediately after — he believed it was less than 3 minutes since he had gotten off the snowmobile. As per his testimony in court, when Edward hesitated, the other assailant “became impatient and started pulling the trigger on his revolver,” which did not discharge until the third time. The bullet struck him in the face with such force that he was knocked down, but he was still conscious and hence made a snap decision to play dead so as to avoid further open violence. However, he was shot again in the right temple at close range before feeling gasoline being poured on him by one of the two men, who later set the place on fire, kidnapped the girls, and fled.
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Rolf Tiede Passed Away From Cancer in 2008
When Edward stood trial in 1991, Rolf testified that he was somehow still conscious even after the second bullet to the face, so he waited until he heard the men escape to stop playing dead. According to him, he got up the moment he heard the snowmobiles fade away to stomp out the blaze because he was worried about his wife and mother-in-law, having no idea about their fate. He was bleeding badly and soon caught on fire too, but he managed to pull off his clothes as well as pat himself down with a towel before realizing he desperately needed help. So, he got on the last snowmobile while still partially clothed and rushed down, where he fortunately met his brother, who contacted authorities, saving him as well as his daughters.
With Rolf’s testimony, along with those of Linae and Tricia’s, Edward was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, attempted murder, aggravated assault, aggravated arson, aggravated robbery, and theft. He was consequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, whereas Von was handed down the death penalty after he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder because he was deemed the triggerman.
In the years to follow, Rolf did his best to move on in life by focusing on his children and his career, during which he realized, “Lightning never strikes twice in the same location.” This thought gave him a lot of comfort, so he passed it on to his daughters, too, enabling them to continue embracing new experiences while keeping the memories of those they lost alive in their hearts. He even found love again with a mother of two named Donna, whom he eventually married. Therefore, when he sadly passed away from cancer on November 19, 2008, the 69-year-old Texas resident left behind three children, a wife, and two stepchildren.
