Towner County ND
Crime News
John W. Hardee, for five years probate judge of Towner County, Dak., has disappeared, leaving a large indebtedness. He is supposed to be in Canada. A warrant has been issued for his arrest. [9 Aug 1889, "The Evening Repository" - Sub. by K.T.]
TRAGEDY IN NORTH DAKOTA.
Cowboy Shoots a Peacemaker and Later Punctures His Own Brain.
Cando, N. D., Aug. 14.— Robert Marron, better known as Squaw Bob, was mortally wounded by a cowboy named Roe, who soon after shot himself through the brain, dying in a few minutes. The two were tenting on the outskirts of the town. Roe was in town sitting in the shade of a building and Marron was persuading him to go to dinner, when a young man named Mike Kane passed by, exclaiming: "There's the feller that drew a gun on me yesterday and I'll fix him now."
Roe rose to his feet and drew his gun. Marron gra?ed the barrel of the weapon and endeavored to persuade Roe not to shoot. "Let go, Bob, or I'll shoot you," exclaimed Roe, and turning the weapon on Marron, shot him in the center of the forehead. As Marron fell, Roe took to his heels. A number of men who witnessed the tragedy gave the alarm and started in pursuit. Finding himself soon to be surrounded and captured, Roe shot himself in the right temple and died in a few minutes. [August 14, 1893, Rockford (Illinois) Daily Spectator - Sub. by K.T.]
Justice is sometimes tardy in North Dakota, it is true, but it was evidently sure in the case of the wretch (BAUMBERGER) who yesterday expiated on the gallows at Cando the awful crimes he committed on the 7th day of July last. The people of Cando and vicinity as well as of the entire state have shown a most commendable degree of patience and faith in the sufficiency of the legal provisions of the law to make sure that the crime which fairly appaled the nation with its atrocity, would be duly avenged to the extent the highest punishment the laws of civilized countries provides. So many criminals have escaped their just deserts, it is little to be wondered that some were fearful that the murderer might escape in some manner the punishment he more than deserved. Now that the murders have been avenged by the law, however, it is proper that the monstrous crime of the 7th of July and its sequel shall be no longer paraded before the world, but rather that the dark page in the history of this fair state be a closed page, except as a matter of history. [20 Jan 1894; "Grand Forks Herald" - Sub. by K.T.]
The people of Cando have been treated to another demonstration. One Daley, who was charged from a medicine show there got mixed up with a Cando girl. The father of the girl swore out a warrant for Daley, charging him with rape. He was brought down from Rolla Saturday last, and then the father came to Justice McIntosh and said he did not propose to appear, but wished to give the man a whipping and let him go. the justice told the father that he would not discharge the prisoner unless he paid all the costs; this the father did, but first agreed that he would not allow the man to be harmed. About 10 o'clock on Saturday night the justice told the sheriff that the prisoner was discharged, but it was not safe to let him out, as he was liable to be mobbed. At 12 o'clock McIntosh, the justice, saw a crowd of men take the prisoner out of jail, he at once ran to the residence of the sheriff, where he pounded on the door nad tried to arouse the sheriff. The mob tield Daley to a telegraph pole, stripped him below the belt, and two men whipped him with rawhide whips which had been procured at the harness shop, with some 40 men witnessing the scene. [May 02, 1896, Duluth (MN) News-Tribune - Sub. by K.T.]
This paragraph is floating about among North Dakota exchanges:
"The body of Bryan, the murdered blind pig dectective, has been buried in the potter's field in the cemetery at Cando. His neighbors are Baumberger, who killed six members of the Krieder family; Squaw Bob, who was killed in a quarrel with Roe, the Montana cowboy and horse thief, and Roe himself, who committed suicide after he had been surrounded by citizens of Cando, who were pursuing him. Cando's potters' field presents a varied collection for its sieze, and if ghosts walk, this should be a favorite spot." [26 May 1897; "Minneapolis Journal" - Sub. by K.T.]
For Robbery
Frank McKnight, of Cando, sentenced to Nineteen Months Imprisonment.
Alibi Did Not Take Well
The Robbery took Place at Midnight, and the Prisoner Accounted for His Time from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. but the Jury Thought the Evidence Unreliable.
Frank McKnight charged with attempted robbery, was tried at Rolla last week. The action was prosecuted by Mr. John Burke, and defended by Mr. James V. Brooke of Cando. Before the trial commenced the defendant asked for a change of venue on the alleged ground that there was so much prejudice in the minds of the people of Rollette county that he would be unable to secure an impartial trial. The application was denied. In the trial the defense relied upon was in effect an alibi. A farmer of Rolette county testified that on the night the attempted robbery took place, McKnight came to his house about 10 p.m. and did not leave until 6 o'clock the next morning. The attempted robbery took place at midnight. The principal witness for the prosecution was one Robert S_ley (?), who was also a party to the attempted robbery. The jury after hearing the evidence and being out for several hours returned a verdict of guilty but with a request to the court of leniency. McKnight was sentenced to 19 months' imprisonment. [Grand Forks Herald, April 06, 1899 - Sub. by K.T.]
Yeggs Busy in North Dakota
Cando, N.D., Oct 8 - The bank at Church's Ferry was robbed of $5,000 besides valuable papers. The safe was dynamited. [October 08, 1907, "Aberdeen (SD) American" - Sub. by K.T.]
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