N.D. Supreme Court Staff In the early morning hours of January 29, 1931, a mob broke into the small stone jail at Schafer, North Dakota, and seized Charles Bannon. Sheriff William Carroll then distracted the doomed man while an assistant sprang the trap. Hanson was located near Williston and though he denied complicity Ross' testimony was sufficient to obtain his conviction for murder. The only execution at the State Penitentiary occurred and the first irrigation works were constructed in North Dakota. It simply states where murders occurred most frequently on an absolute and rate basis. They first turned up at Grand Forks in March 1901 when Jake shot and killed a farmer named Anton Anderson in a Great Northern boxcar. Soon after a pleasant young man calling himself James Smith showed up at Washburn, N.D., where he spoke of serving in the recent war with Spain and found work doing odd jobs. Marshal. Rangel was killed in the shootout, and four were wounded: two Kidder County deputies and two other passengers, who along with the driver were later charged with robbery. The History of True Crime in the Mid West is a fictional novel written by Barton Brixby containing accounts of stories of true crime in the midwest region of the United States, some of which are featured in the TV series.. The noted historian and North Dakota's first State Archivist, Frank Vyzralek, delivered this address to the Judge Bruce M. Van Sickle Inn of Court on October 19, 2000. On the early morning of Sunday, January 25th, 1885, a young man drove up to the Northwestern Hotel in Grand Forks in a team and sled, the horses all covered with frost. The execution took place on September 14, 1900, at a point then outside of the city limits, about a half mile southeast of the Ward County courthouse. The state has a history of murderous episodes, with the most recent tragedy being this week's quadruple homicide at a Mandan business. Deiter was assassinated in 1951 and succeeded by his son, Otto. Yet, the strange story had one more ironic twist. He went to the scaffold puffing on a cigar and loudly protesting his innocence, but left behind a handwritten note in his trousers pocket admitting the murder. Clara Olson was found murdered in her home at 820 West 11th Street in Sioux Falls on Aug. 6, 1986. There seems no question that North Dakota juries found the death penalty so odious after 1903 that in nearly all cases a sentence of life imprisonment was considered preferable. The only survivor of the massacre was too young to talk. Nearby, law officers were preparing to arrest him for violating probation. With Cole's tacit approval the case against him proceeded with unseemly alacrity and barely three days after the crime was committed, Judge Walter Winchester pronounced the death sentence. The case is still under investigation and anyone with information is urged to contact Special Agent Steve Gutknecht, of the North Dakota Bureau of Investigations, at 701-774-4310. Jacob Wolf and two of his daughters were found murdered in a barn. John Drennen was in love with Agnes Baker, 19, but she didn't feel the same. Despite their denials they were charged and transferred to the county jail until May 22nd when they escaped. Annual crime data from 2010 to the last calendar year is made available for the public and can be used to reports detailing statistical trends for a specific offense, jurisdiction, or other dataset. It was led by a brutal Brooklyn gangster named Abe "Kid Twist" Reles, who under orders from mob bosses like Lucky Luciano, Lepke Buchalter and Albert Anastasia, dispatched his hitmen across the country to kill anyone who … Moved to the Burleigh County jail in Bismarck, Smith broke out briefly in late October but was caught and held until his trial at Washburn in November where he was found guilty. This is... 2. Eight people were found murdered. His friendliness with local reporters resulted in considerable information being published on his life as a leader of a gang which preyed upon the harvest workers who migrated to North Dakota every fall. Special Agent Ronald A. Williams. C. Y. Snell, a Baptist minister, had been found murdered in their farmhouse. Dugan was the victim of a homicide sometime between April 7 and April 21, 1972. Located in northeastern North Dakota, Devils Lake experienced a solid rise in violent crime over the last year. The 56-year-old former meth user and gun collector claimed he went there because he was upset about Hatcher's drug use, but a prosecutor called it jealousy. Otto, the family’s patriarch, suffers a stroke, leaving the … The victims were between the ages of 8 and 10, and were raped and murdered. The Vampire murder case is an unsolved murder relating to an unknown assailant who committed the murder of a sex worker named Lilly Lindeström in Stockholm, Sweden. She died of strangulation. Rooney was the first (and last) convict to die under a 1903 law which dictated that all future executions take place at the state penitentiary. The Wolf Family Murders North Dakota Memories Collection/Digital Horizons In April of 1920, one of North Dakota's... 2. Thus, when he landed in Minot, N.D., in 1898 he had little difficulty wooing and winning young Ida Johnson, a girl still in her teens. Those Who Were Executed and the Circumstances of Their Crime and Trial: George Miller Grand Forks October 1885. Gordon Kahl was holding a Sunday afternoon meeting in Medina to plan an independent township because he was certain the banking system would soon collapse. He went to investigate and stumbled into what might be the most horrific crime scene in North Dakota history. States Attorney Ed Allen felt strongly that Stark had been murdered by Ira Jenkins, the son, and prosecuted the case on that basis when it came to trial in May. Six … However in the past 100 years, North Dakota has recorded at least six shootings, aside from the Mandan slayings, that killed or injured three or more people. ... legal and historical record. Although it’s unknown exactly how long the bodies went unnoticed, officials say April 22, 1920, was the day farmer Jacob Wolf, his wife Beata, five young daughters and a chore boy, Jacob Hofer, were killed. While registering he identified himself as George Miller and displayed considerable wealth in terms of fine clothes as well as silver and gold coins. For those of you who haven’t followed this season of Fargo – shame on you! The body of Erik Jan Hanussen (43), an Austrian Jewish publicist who … Lindeström was found dead with a crushed skull in her apartment on May 4, 1932. The North Dakota and Clay County cold case units are still pursuing the other murder. Bomberger maintained an indifferent attitude throughout the entire proceedings and blamed excessive liquor for making him susceptible to committing the crime. Lora Jean Dugan – Homicide On April 30, 1972, the body of 14 year old Lora Jean Dugan was found approximately three miles southwest of Medora, North Dakota, in a hilly and wooded area approximately one mile south of Interstate 94. He killed Hatcher and two others, and injured one. Marshals Feb. 13, 1983, near Medina, N.D. Joan Kahl, 62, wife of fugitive Gordon Kahl is escorted back to the Cass County Jail by a U.S. Enactment of the 1915 law actually saved the lives of the perpetrators of one of the state's most horrifying crimes. Forum file photo, The scene of the Gordon Kahl shootout with U.S. marshals in 1983 near Medina, N.D. Forum file photo, 101 5th Street North, Ida Thorpe died instantly. Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1) Violent Crimes … The first killings were accidental, Layer said, and after that he was in a fog. “Oh, it’s been a part of my life as long as I can remember. On the evening of December 1st, after a week-long drinking bout, he followed her next door to Mrs. Johanson's house, pulled a revolver and shot her twice in the head. Their gravestone reads ‘The Murdered Family.’ But who did it? On this day, exactly 100 years ago, a horrifying discovery was made on a farmstead in Turtle Lake. Certainly there are killers with higher body counts in the Grand Canyon … By late 1899, however, the marriage was floundering. The death of the 93-year-old landlady baffled friends and family. But Ira continued to give contradictory evidence and even accused his father of strangling Stark in a drunken fit but when doctors testified the body showed no sign of being choked, Ira's goose was cooked. The Gerhardt's steadily expanded over the next few years and enjoyed almost undi… They were caught two weeks later in Florida. Held again at Washburn, where the execution was scheduled for February 20th, 1903, Smith/Bassanella nearly escaped once again, making it necessary that he be watched both night and day. There isn’t a strict definition of a mass killing, but the FBI defines mass murder as the killing of four or more people, typically in a single location. In the basement of the farmhouse there were five more bodies — the rest of Jacob’s family plus a chore boy, Jacob Hofer, son of a neighbor. 6 Horrifying North Dakota Stories You Didn’t Learn About In History Class 1. The State Historical Society of North Dakota was given legal status; 1905 was the single largest construction year for railroads in North Dakota (529.3 miles). But when the 63-year-old anti-tax protester came up to the roadblock with family and supporters, he started a 30-second shootout that killed two marshals and wounded four, including his son. The pair fled but were quickly caught and lodged in the city jail. “This is the biggest mass murder in North Dakota history,” he added. Layer also hit the Wolfs' 3-year-old daughter with the side of a hatchet, killing her. Police noted that someone had drunk her blood. Four persons were bound over for trial in U.S. District Court Feb. 22, 1983, after appearing at a preliminary hearing before the federal magistrate in Fargo in connection with the shooting deaths of two U.S. 58102, Sports broadcaster Shawn undergoes cancer surgery, Custody battle drew Williston dad to Idaho, where he was fatally shot before seeing kids, Food forest to be planted in Moorhead park, a 30-second shootout that killed two marshals and wounded four, including his son, he shot and killed his parents, brother and sister, Judge sets bond at $1 million for Mandan homicide suspect, Man arrested on murder charges in connection to 4 slain in Mandan, Minnesota's Lower Sioux Community restructures Police Department, 3 shot behind downtown Fargo bar; conditions unknown, Fargo police identify truck, driver involved in hit-and-run crash that knocked out stoplight. Arizona: Jodi Arias. It was North Dakota's last lynching. Ross' execution was rescheduled for early on March 6th, on an enclosed gallows set up alongside the Bottineau County courthouse. There’s something about an area that can claim two mass murders of families in one area, a jilted lover murder, and a robbery-murder. Pennsylvania Wikipedia. In 1883 the law covering murder was amended and the whole question of punishment passed from that of a judicial responsibility to being a decision made by a jury while deliberating on the evidence surrounding a case. Annie Kreider was left to walk into Cando and report the crime. This crime is one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in Oregon history. Since the database started tracking mass shootings in 2013, North Dakota and neighboring states like Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana haven’t made the list. RESMURS Case (Reservation Murders) Special Agent Jack R. Coler. On the early morning of Sunday, January 25th, 1885, a young man drove up to... Albert Bomberger Cando (Towner County) January 1894. Daughters Maria, 9, Edna, 7, … The farm home were the crime took place burned in June 1917. There were 80 homicides in North Dakota from 1999 to 2006, plus 13 in the state so far in 2007. Miller said he had committed the crime while under the influence of liquor, a claim considered spurious since he had earlier wormed his way into the Snell family's confidence by loud exhortations of religious fervor. The execution was carried out on an enclosed scaffold built next to the county courthouse and reached through an office window. Daniel Jantzen, 56, told a courtroom he "snapped" when he walked into Sharon Hatcher's mobile home in Valley City and began firing a semiautomatic gun. A deranged madmen killing innocent people, even infants, tend to make spooky stories. At his trial in late April 1900, the state had little difficulty convicting Thorpe of first degree murder and he was sentenced by Judge David Morgan to death by hanging on May 10th.