Richland County, Ohio - Genealogy Trails

The Mansfield News (Mansfield, Ohio) August 24, 1911
HABITUAL CRIMINAL'S LIFE ENDS
Degenerate Fiend Holds Up Two Young People In a Secluded Spot In Sherman-Heineman Park.
FLOURISHES .38 CALIBRE REVOLVER
With Threats of Death He Marches Victims Out of North Park, Across the Railroad Tracks to a Corn Field Where He Attempts a Dastardly Crime but Is Choked to Death By the Lady's Escort--Dead Man Later Identified as Stephen Wolford of Mt. Vernon Who Has Spent Eighteen Years Out of Thirty In Penal Institutions--Fit Subject For an Habitual Criminal Statute.
The Lake park of the Sherman-Heineman park and the ground adjacent to the park to the north was the scene of a holdup and dastardly attempted criminal assault early Wednesday evening which resulted finally in the choking to death of the assailant by the young lady's escort in spite of the fact that the criminal was armed with a large revolver.
The affair was one of the most exciting tragedies which has occurred in Mansfield for many years and contains some criminal features of the most high-handed and dastardly kind ever known in a peaceable community. Two young people, Walter Clever, who resides about two miles north of Bellville, and Miss Hortense Shafer, daughter of Albert Shafer, of Bellville, were notable figures of the affair, and the stranger, who held them up with a loaded revolver, and whose worthless life was ended by young Clever in a terrible struggle in the dark corner of a corn field adjacent to the park, was afterward identified as Stephen Wolford, a young crook from Mt. Vernon.
To the ordinary citizen the story of this outrage seems to be almost unbelievable. It sounds more like something from one of the yellow backed novels the circulation and sale of which is prohibited. It should serve as a warning to young people to remain within reach of help when going to park grounds. All of the details of such a story of course can not be given in a news article, but the main facts in brief are these:
Walter Clever and Hortense Shafer, aged respectively about 21 and 20 years, have been keeping company. Mr. Clever drove to the city Wednesday in his buggy and Miss Shafer came up on the train. Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer had been school teachers and they arranged to attend the teachers' institute in the day time and at night to attend the performance at the Casino, after which they intended to drive home. After supper the young couple went to the park, but as it was too early for the Casino they took a walk in east lake park and finally sat down in the arbor near the sun dial on the north side of the lake. As they talked together it grew dark and as near as can be ascertained it was about 7 o'clock or a little later when a stranger to both young people appeared at the entrance to the arbor and remarked:
"It's a fine evening, isn't it"?
Neither made any answer to this and the fellow suddenly drew a gun and leveling it in their faces continued:
"Now you two do just as I tell you or I'll let daylight through you with a 38-calibre bullet."
With that he ordered Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer to march ahead of him while he held the revolver pointed at them. The fellow marched the two victims along the path leading over the Baltimore and Ohio track and then to the west. Both young people were thoroughly frightened and thought they were to be robbed. The highwayman marched his victims across both the Baltimore and Ohio and Erie railroad tracks and then ordered them to sit down under a large elm tree near the wagon road leading from the park north to McPherson street. The holdup man then decided that this was too public a place so he ordered them to get up again and marched them some little distance farther on into a corn field. This was a more secluded place and was out of the way of anybody passing along the road leading across the railroad tracks into the park.
CONCEALED HIS WATCH.
Mr. Clever had a gold watch attached to a fob and also a small amount of money on him and as he thought he and his friend were to be robbed he quietly reached down, loosened his watch from the fob and dropped it on the ground when they were ordered to move on from the place under the big elm. His idea was that he could go back and get the watch after the holdup was over.
After reaching the corner of the corn field the crook again ordered his victims to sit down on the ground with the big revolver pointed at their heads. Instead of proceeding to take their valuables the fellow directed Mr. Clever to make an unmentionable assault on his lady friend. Clever refused to comply with the order and then the highwayman ordered him to lie down on the ground and he himself attempted to assault the girl as he had ordered. The fellow kept the revolver in his hand but his attention had no sooner been diverted to the girl than young Clever picked up a heavy clod of dirt and hit the fellow in the face. It afterward developed that this clod cut a gash over the fellow's eye and the dirt must have partially blinded him. Clever followed this up by seizing the highwayman by the throat and he must have been possessed of superhuman strength, for he choked him until he became partially unconscious. Miss Shafer came to the assistance of her escort and seized the thug's pistol arm and the two managed to down him and take the pistol away from him. The weapon was laid upon the ground and then Mr. Clever tried to revive him. As soon as he recovered a little, the highwayman got his pistol again but Clever never gave him a chance to use it. This time he choked him until he was entirely limp. While the terrific struggle was on in the corn field the villain got Mr. Clever's left wrist in his mouth and bit his arm very severely. After the girls' escort had choked the fellow limp a second time, he again became frightened and tried to revive him by pumping his arms as a person would a man who had been drowned. The young people cried for help and their cries were heard by two young men named Albert and George Miller, who had come to the park from their homes on the extreme north side. They notified Park Policeman David Cole and told him that somebody was in distress and it ought to be investigated.
HEARD CRIES OF DISTRESS.
The Miller boys wanted the park policeman to get plenty of help before going over into the corn field, but Davy Cole told them to go along with him and not wait for any more help. He seized a lantern and the three went over to the field where the cries came from. They found Clever still working with the highwayman, trying to revive him, but Davy Cole, after examining the fellow's pulse, told him he was dead and there was no use to work with him any more. The young people told Cole a brief story of their awful experience and one of the young men was sent to the Casino to notify the city police department.
Chief Feeney was on the job when the message came that a man had been held up and robbed and the robber choked to death at the park. The chief ordered an automobile and enroute, he gathered up Officers Marks and Harbaugh and a quick run was made to the park. When the officers arrived at the scene of the attempted crime, Mr. Clever had not yet stopped his efforts to revive the dead man. The latter was brought to Beelman's undertaking rooms and the young people were taken to the police station in another vehicle.
HAD FLASHLIGHT.
When the dead man was searched, in addition to the revolver, it was found that he had a knife with a large, wide blade and an electric pocket flashlight. The 38-calibre Iver-Johnson revolver was loaded with the exception of one chamber, which had been fired. He carried no letters or papers or anything which would show who he was.
NO CHARGE MADE .
After Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer reached the police station, Mayor Brown and Coroner Maglott, who had been notified, heard their story which was substantially as detailed above. Mayor Brown directed Chief Feeney not to hold either Mr. Clever or Miss Shafer on anything in the shape of a charge and told them they were free to proceed to their homes at any time they saw fit to do so. Coroner Maglott was of the same opinion as Mayor Brown, who made the statement that the young man had done a good job and instead of being held to answer to any procedure of any nature should be given a medal for his bravery in killing such a fiend and saving his lady friend, especially when the thug was armed with a heavy revolver. Coroner Maglott, who would ordinarily, in such cases, hold an inquest as a form of law, stated that he did not deem an inquest necessary in this case and would issue no order--at least at that time--for the appearance of the two young people as witnesses. When the coroner reached this conclusion Mayor Brown told young Clever that he need not be in the least alarmed or to bother any more about the matter as he was free to go, as was also Miss Shafer and if it should be deemed necessary later to have any further statement or information from either, they would be notified. Mr. Clever expressed a desire to drive home with Miss Shafer and declared that he was able to go. Thereupon Night Captain Hagerty, of the police department, at 9:30 o'clock, escorted then to the livery barn, where the rig was put up and started them for home.
BELONGED IN MT. VERNON.
Up to the time Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer started for their homes, south of the city, the dead man who was lying at Beelman's undertaking rooms on Park avenue, had not been identified. He was neatly dressed and the stuff in his possession and other things indicated to the police that he was probably a holdup man and criminal of considerable experience. The news of the dastardly crime spread over the town in short order and hundreds of men went to view the body. People stood around on the streets in front of the undertaking establishment and elsewhere in groups and discussed the matter. Shortly before 10 o'clock, E. K. Bricker, a Mt. Vernon barber, who was here visiting friends, heard about the matter and went to the undertaking rooms and at once identified the body as that of Stephen Wolford, a young Mt. Vernon crook, who has had a checkered criminal career, although he is not yet very old.
Before leaving police headquarters Chief Feeney called the Mt. Vernon police chief and notified him about the matter.
Thursday morning a member of the News staff talked with a representative of the Mt. Vernon Republican-News and learned more of the dead man's life and antecedents. It was stated that Wolford, when yet a boy, was sent to the Lancaster reform farm for stealing a horse and later he served two terms in the Ohio reformatory. One of the crimes for which he was sent to the reformatory was the holdup and robbery of an old man in Fredericktown. He also served time in the Ohio penitentiary for holding up a man. At one time, while away from his home, he turned up in trouble at Defiance. It is said he chummed with a man known as Biddie Davis at Mt. Vernon and it is stated that the latter is now doing time in the penitentiary. About a year ago, Wolford came back to Mt. Vernon and by some people it was thought he had turned over a new leaf and had decided to behave himself. While in the penal institutions of the state he had learned the trade of tailoring and he opened a small repair and dye shop in Mt. Vernon. Wolford is the son of poor, but respectable parents, who have done much for him, but all their efforts were of no avail and he came to the untimely end that was frequently predicted for him. The dead man is a son of Lants Wolford, who is the caretaker of the horses of Charles S. Cooper, president and general manager of The Corliss Engine company at Mt. Vernon. The father resides at No. 102 North Center Run street. No information could be secured from Mt. Vernon as to how long young Wolford had been away from home this trip. It was stated that a Mt. Vernon undertaker would come and take the body back to the parents for burial.
A well known gentleman from Bellville, who had been a school examiner, was here today and he stated that both Mr. Clever and Miss Shafer had been teaching school and both are highly respected young people.
DEAD MAN IDENTIFIED.
E. K. Bricker of Mt. Vernon, the man who first identified the body of young Wolford is the same man who identified the man who cut his throat at the Fairview Flats some months ago. He happened to be in Mansfield at that time and hearing that a stranger had committed suicide, went to see the body and at once identified it, the same as he did that of Wolford Wednesday night, which is a rather peculiar coincidence.
As stated above, during the struggle with the assailant in which he was choked to death, the villain got young Clever's arm in his mouth and bit it very severely. A doctor gave the wound attention while he was at the police station and he was advised to look after the wound, until it heals thoroughly. Mr. Clever's clothing showed evidence of the terrific life and death struggle, in which he had engaged with Wolford. His shirt was torn and his suit and shoes were covered with mud as the result of the battle in the muddy corn field.
Thursday morning Park Policeman Davy Cole came to the police station bringing with him Miss Shafer's parasol, which was picked up in the corn field just outside of the park, where the battle took place. The sun shade was a dilapidated looking article, having been out in the rain all night. Mr. Clever owns a greenhouse about two miles north of Bellville and brings flowers and plants to Mansfield to sell regularly.
HIS RECORD
From the Ohio State Reformatory Thursday morning was learned the criminal record of Stephen Wolford. When the crime became known at the institution, Superintendent Leonard caused the matter to be looked up. Stephen Wolford was about 30 years of age and of this period he has spent 18 years in penal institutions of Ohio. He was regarded as weak bodily and mentally, a degenerate type, but it was not thought by any of the reformatory officials that he would attempt anything as vicious as the crime of Wednesday night. Wolford spent six and one-half years in the Lancaster reform farm. He was first sent to the Ohio Reformatory in 1898, which was before Supt. Leonard's time at the institution. The offense was burglary and larceny. After serving two years, he was paroled and then discharged. After this he was in the Ohio penitentiary for six and one-half years for the same crime of burglary and larceny. In April, 1908, Wolford was again committed to the Ohio Reformatory for his usual offense of burglary and larceny, the sentencing judge not being aware that he had previously been in the penitentiary. So much time had elapsed and a change had been made in the office of the superintendent of the reformatory and other officials there, that he was not recognized. His criminal history was discovered shortly before he was paroled, which occurred about 11 months ago. At the time of his death he was still under parole and had not been discharged. The field officer of the institution visited him at Mt. Vernon and found him at work in his tailor shop. The last report came in from Wolford in July last.
In speaking of the Wolford case, President Leonard says that it is a pity that the habitual criminal law was ever repealed in Ohio and that Wolford would have been a fit subject to come under the provisions of such a law.
MAKING UP PURSE.
Geo. H. Lowery and Dr. W. E. Loughbridge, in recognition of the brave deed done by young Clever in protecting Miss Shafer, Wednesday evening, are making up a purse as a testimonial of his worth as a protector of women. They believe he should be given a testimonial from the citizens of Mansfield that the good class of people are heartily in sympathy with him and endorse every man who protects women and girls in time of danger. The citizens are subscribing quite liberally.

The Van Wert Daily Bulletin (Ohio) August 24, 1911

ASSAILANT OF GIRL KILLED BY FLORIST
Ex-Convict Intimidated Couple In Mansfield Park.
Mansfield, O., Aug. 24.
A man supposed to be Charles Wolford, ex-convict, lies dead in a local undertaker's room as the result of an apparent attempt at assault on the young woman companion of the man who killed him.
Walter Clever, a florist, near Bellville, and Miss Hortense Shafer, daughter of Albert Shafer, were seated in the north end of Sherman Heiman park when an unknown man confronted them with a revolver and ordered them to accompany him across the adjacent railroad tracks.
Under threat of death they complied, fearing to make an outcry, but when their assailant was momentarily off his guard, after he had compelled his victims to lie down on the ground and lay beside them, young Clever seized a clod of earth and struck the stranger in the face, partially blinding him, and them seized him around the throat with both good hands and choked him to such good effect that when assistance arrived, in response to the screams of the couple for aid, their assailant was dead.

The Mansfield News (Mansfield, Ohio) August 31, 1911
The intended crime on Miss Hortense Shafer has aroused our village to white heat. These young people are of our finest families and Miss Hortense one of the kindest and most lovable little ladies, a good musician, a lover of books and her young life has been one continued struggle to live. First a hard spell of scarlet fever which left her nerves a wreck, then nervous prostration and last but not least typhoid fever with the brave fight for her life comes this awful thing. The tears were in almost every eye here Thursday when this thing was made known and words of the highest praise for our boy and girl's brave fight and every voice uttered thanks to God that Walter Clever had the strength to kill the brute.

The Lima News (Lima, Ohio) October 5, 1944
WOMAN DIES IN HOME
MANSFIELD, O., Oct. 5--(AP)
Mrs. Hortense Shafer Clever, 53, was found dead beside the kitchen stove in her home in nearby Bellville. Acting Coroner R. E. Wharton said she probably fell on the stove and died of burns and asphyxiation.

(submitted by Ida Maack Recu)

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) January 14, 1935
EX-MANSFIELD MAN AMBUSHED
Joseph Berno, 30, Shot; Suspect Held at Akron; Victim Hit by Shotgun Charge.
   Joseph Berno, 30, former Mansfielder, is in St. Luke's hospital, Cleveland, wounded about the head and body by a man who, Summit county deputies say, lay in ambush for him for three hours Saturday night.
   The man, reported to have confessed shooting Berno, is being held in the county jail at Akron. The shooting took place outside the Berno home in Northfield, 15 miles north of Akron, dispatches said,
   The suspect, against whom no charge has been placed today, pending the outcome of Berno's injuries, is reported to have said that Berno had been friendly with his wife. The man is an FERA worker. Akron advices said The shot which struck Berno is said to have been fired from a 20-gauge shotgun.
   Berno is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Berno, 388 Park avenue west. Employed as a bond salesman in Cleveland, he had lived until recently in Shaker Heights, moving a short time ago to Northfield. His parents left for Cleveland today.
   Mrs. Berno is in St. Anne's hospital, Cleveland, it was learned in son Saturday. She has not been informed of the shooting, but was told her husband had been hurt in a "minor" accident.
   Berno's condition today was reported to be "fair."

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) January 15, 1935
ASSAILANT OF MANSFIELDER FACES COURT
Bound Over to Grand Jury on Shooting to Kill Charge; Berno Improving.
SCOUT MAN'S SUSPICIONS
Authorities, Neighbors, Discount Story Involving Salesman, Wife of Laborer.
   While Joseph Berno, 30, former Mansfield resident, laid in St. Luke's hospital, Cleveland, recovering today from a shotgun wound, John Melcher, 49, an FERA worker in Northfield, Summit county, was bound over to the Summit grand jury on a charge of shooting with intent to kill.
   Melcher is accused of having ambushed Bruno when the latter entered his home at Northfield Saturday night, firing a shotgun at him at close range.
   His mind believed to have been inflamed by drink, Melcher was under the delusion that Berno, a bond salesman, was in love with Mrs. Melcher, according to Akron authorities. The latter scouted Melcher's suspicions.
   Assistant Summit county prosecutor Charles Sacks was the authority for the statement that Melcher had been drinking prior to the shooting.
Berno Improves.
   Melcher was arrested a short time after the shooting, his daughter having called police and told them that her father had left the house, intent on shooting Berno. Deputies from the office of Sheriff James T. Flowers caught him in a woods near his home. He offered no resistance.
   Meanwhile, dispatches from Cleveland said that Berno was slowly improving. The shotgun had torn into his jaw.
   Mes. Berno, who became the mother of a son four days ago, in St. Anne's hospital, Cleveland, was informed of the tragedy that had befallen her husband late yesterday. News of the shooting was withheld from her for a time. She was told only that he had been hurt in an "accident."
   The shooting occurred as Berno entered his home after having been in Cleveland to see his wife.
Neighbors Scout Man's Suspicions.
   Akron dispatches said neighbors of the Berno family joined with authorities in discounting Melcher's suspicions concerning Berno and Mrs. Melcher, who is much older than Berno. Mrs. Melcher had been employed from time to time at the Berno home for the last few weeks, while Mrs. Berno prepared for the arrival of her son, born last week. Neighbors asserted, dispatches said, that Berno's conduct had been irreproachable since he had lived in Northfield. The family moved there from Shaker Heights last summer.

Evening Gazette (Xenia, Ohio) April 11, 1935
SENTENCED TO LIFE
AKRON, O., April 11--John W. Melcher, Northfield FERA worker was sentenced to life imprisonment here yesterday after being convicted of shooting Joseph Berno three months ago.
(submitted by Ida Maack Recu)

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) January 25, 1939
JURORS HEAR OF SHOOTING AT 'BELLING'
Case of Knox County Youth to Come Before Panel This Afternoon.
FACES FOUR INDICTMENTS
Tells County Authorities How He Forged Check; 21 Other Cases on Jury Docket.
   Facing indictment on four charges as the result of a shooting episode Monday night at a "belling" party at his father's home near Bellville, Carl Spayde, 20, of near Amity, Knox county, today awaited action by the county grand jury which was scheduled to hear his case this afternoon.
   The case is one of 22 which was to be presented to the grand jury today in its first session in the January term of court.
Outgrowth of Party.
   Although no formal charges had been filed against Spayde, Prosecutor G. W. Marriott said he might be indicted for shooting with intent to wound, automobile theft, forgery, and carrying concealed weapons as the outcome of a party during which the youth allegedly shot at his step-mother and former sweetheart.
   Young Spayde related to county authorities yesterday how he had forged a $20 check in Bellville to buy new clothes for his father's wedding party and then shot at his step-mother, Mrs. Ann Spayde, 23, after he was ejected from their home.
   The youth then took his father's car and fled south to the Knox county farm where he was employed, he said. Sherriff E. P. Long and Deputy Glenn Freeman arrested him there at noon yesterday.
Goes to Celebrate.
   Young Spayde lost his sweetheart to his father about a week ago when his parent and the girl were married, but the son contended he held no ill feelings and went to his father's home with three companions to celebrate the marriage.
   Ordered out of the house when he is said to have become involved in an argument with his father, young Spayde said he went to the rear of the home and fired a .22 caliber revolver at his step-mother through a window. She was not injured.
   Young Spayde told deputy Sherriff Freemen that he obtained the gun from his mother who is divorced and lives in Bellville.

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) January 27, 1939
   Faced with four possible charges, Carl Spayde, 20, Knox county farm youth, was indicted for shooting with intent to wound. The charge grew out of a shooting affray Monday night at a "belling" party for Spayde's father, Fred Spayde, at his home near Bellville.
   The youth allegedly fired a revolver at his 23-year old stepmother, with whom he admitted "keeping company" before she was married to his father about two weeks ago. Young Spayde fled in his father's car after the shooting. He admitted forging a $20 check to purchase clothes for the party.

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) January 28, 1939
   Carl Spayde, 20, of near Amity, Knox county, pleaded guilty to an indictment for shooting with intent to wound his step-mother last Monday at a "belling" party near Bellville. The girl, who married Spayde's father after "going with" the son, was not injured,
   Disposition of Spayde's case was continued on the application of Atty. A. S. Beach, counsel for the youth.

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) February 4, 1939
Gets Prison Term for Firing at Stepmother
Knox Youth Sent to O. S. R. For 1 to 20 Years As Result of Shooting at Ex-Sweetheart At 'Belling'
   A shot he fired at his stepmother - who had been his sweetheart - put Carl Spayde in Ohio state reformatory today, under sentence of one to 20 years.
   The 20-year-old Knox county farm hand was sentenced in a shooting that took place during a "belling" party two weeks ago at her home near Bellville.
   Spayde had pleaded guilty a week ago to an indictment for shooting with intent to wound, and Prosecutor G. W. Marriott revealed today that the grand jury returned secret indictments against the youth on charges of forgery, carrying concealed weapons and operating a car without the owner's consent.
   Soon after his arrest the day after the shooting at the "belling" party, Spayde admitted to county authorities that he fired a revolver through a window at his stepmother, Mrs. Ann Spayde, 23, after he had been ordered form her home.
   Before going to the party, the youth said he forged the name of his father, Fred Spayde, to a $20 check to buy new clothes. Following the shooting, the younger Spayde fled in his father's car and was captured later near Amity, Knox county. The father and young Spayde's sweetheart were married about three weeks ago.

[Belling party - A noisy celebration or mock serenade for newlyweds. (source: Dictionary of American regional English)]

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) October 17, 1939
NOTICE OF HEARING FOR PAROLE
Mansfield, Ohio, Oct. 5, 1939
37311. Carl Spayde, a prisoner now confined in the Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield, Ohio, admitted from Richland County, Case No. 4285, Doc. No. 12, convicted February 6, 1939 of the crime of Shooting With Intent to Wound and serving a sentence of 1 to 20 Yrs. is eligible for a hearing before the Ohio Pardon and Parole Commission on or after December 1, 1939.
OHIO PARDON AND PAROLE COMMISSION
A. C. Forsyth. Parole and Record Clerk.
(Oct. 17, 24, No '39

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) December 12, 1939
183 IN O. S. R. GIVEN PAROLES
   Action by Commission Most Extensive This Year; Two From County in Group.
The Ohio Pardon and parole commission granted Christmas paroles today to 183 Mansfield reformatory inmates, including two from Richland county, but the paroles won't be good until after the holidays.
   The commission's action in releasing 175 prisoners outright and granting eight others conditional releases was one of its most extensive of the year.
   Richland countians granted paroles were Carl Spayde; sentenced to one to 20 years for shooting with intent to wound, and Samuel Bender, received at the reformatory Dec. 24, 1934, to serve a one-to-15 year term for burglary.
   Spayde will be released next May 1 and Bender on April 1 if county authorities do not want him on another charge. His case will be referred to the county, the commission said.
(submitted by Ida Maack Recu)

The Mansfield News (Mansfield, Ohio) August 22, 1934
DENIES CHARGE
Kenneth Spayde today pleaded not guilty to a statutory charge filed against him by Frieda Bowman when arraigned before Judge R. E. Hutchison in municipal court today. Hearing in the case was set for Monday morning by Judge Hutchison. Spayde was released under bond of $500. He is represented by Attorney C. J. Kalbfleisch.

The Mansfield News (Mansfield, Ohio) August 27, 1934
Kenneth Spayde, of near Bellville, charged with a statutory offense, was bound over to the grand jury under $500 bond today, following preliminary hearing before Municipal Judge R. E, Hutchison.

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) April 19, 1935
CASE DISMISSED
Action Taken By Court Averts Scheduled Jury Trial.
A statutory complaint brought against Kenneth Spayde by Frieda Bowman was dismissed today in common pleas court. Spayde was to have gone on trial before a jury yesterday. A dismissal order filed in court said Judge C. H. Huston sustained an application by the complainant to withdraw the charge and also a defense motion of dismissal. Charles W. Chew was attorney for the complainant and G. E. Kalbfleisch for Spayde.
(submitted by Ida Maack Recu)

Mansfield News Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) August 24, 1963
Former Mansfield Banker Linked To $200,000 Shortage
   Estley Dean (Ed) Maglott, 32, former Richland Trust Co. employe and a native of Butler, was the object of an FBI search today following his disappearance from his post as assistant vice president of the Hyde Park, Ill., National Bank and discovery of a shortage of funds which could reach $200,000.
   Also sought was an attractive 20-year-old blonde who formerly worked with Maglott in the consumer loan division of the Hyde Park bank of which Maglott was manager.
   The Illinois bank, which obtained a warrant for his arrest yesterday, is headed by John F. McKnight, also a former Mansfield man who resigned as vice president and secretary of Richland Trust Co. in 1958 to accept the presidency of the Hyde Park bank.
   It was McKnight who had offered Maglott a position with the Illinois bank soon after he took over the top position in 1958 and in less than five years Maglott had been promoted to vice president and manager of the consumer loan division there.
   McKnight told investigators in Hyde Park the shortage was discovered during a routine audit and shortly after Maglott was told about it, he disappeared.
   The exact amount of the shortage is not expected to be known until a thorough investigation is completed but McKnight told newsmen in Chicago:
   "Thus far, less than $10,000 in loans have been connected to these irregularities" but he added the shortages could total $200,000.
   Bank officials at Hyde Park, which is on the south side of Chicago, reported the loss would be covered by a fidelity bond of $1 million. The bank has deposits of $34.7 million.
   Maglott, son of Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Maglott of Butler, and his wife, Shirley, also from Butler, had lived in Mansfield at 190 Gerke Ave. Friends here said that after moving to Illinois the couple had adopted a child.

The Marion Star (Marion, Ohio) August 24, 1963
Former Ohioan Is Sought for Theft Of Bank's Funds
   A former Ohioan is being sought in connection with the possible loss of $200,000 at the National Bank of Hyde Park on Chicago's South Side.
   He is Estley Maglott, 32, assistant vice president in charge of the consumer loan division. He formerly worked for the Richland Trust Co. in Mansfield, Ohio.
   John F. McKnight, president of the Chicago bank, said irregularities were found in Maglott's accounts and added that the exact amount of the loss has not been determined.
   Bank officials said, however, that a loss as high as $200,000 is a possibility. The FBI has joined in the search for Maglott.

The Cochocton Tribune (Coshocton, Ohio) August 24, 1963
Banker, Blonde, Cash Missing
   Federal agents today hunted a young bank official who disappeared after auditors uncovered bank shortages that could reach $200,000.
   Also sought was an attractive blonde who formerly worked at the bank.
   The National Bank of Hyde Park obtained a warrant for the arrest of Estley Dean Maglott, 32, described by a fellow employe as a "well-liked" family man. Maglott had been in charge of consumer loans since he came to the South Side bank from Mansfield, Ohio in 1958.
   The Federal Bureau of Investigation also said it was looking for a 20-year-old blonde who formerly worked with Maglott in the loan division.
   Bank President John F. McKnight said the shortage was discovered during a routine audit. Maglott was told about it he said, then disappeared.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) August 24, 1963
Hyde Park Bank Officer Sought in Fund Shortage
   A warrant was issued yesterday for Estley Dean Maglott, assistant vice president of the National Bank of Hyde Park, 1525 E. 53rd st., in connection with a shortage in the consumer loan department that may total $200,000, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported.
   John F. McKnight, bank president, said the shortage was uncovered during a routine audit of the department which Maglott headed.
Bank Calls FBI
   Maglott, 32, of 9588 Colfax av., disappeared after being told of irregularities disclosed by the audit, McKnight said.
   The bank referred the irregularities to the FBI, which investigated to determine whether a federal violation had occurred.
   "We will not be able to determine the extent of the loans involved until a thoro investigation is completed," McKnight said. "Thus far less than $20,000 in loans have been connected to these irregularities. Loss to the bank could reach $200,000."
Move Out of House
   He estimated that much of the loss will be recovered thru normal collection procedures and emphasized that the entire loss is covered by a one-million-dollar fidelity bond.
   Maglott was employed by the bank in 1958. He formerly worked for the Richland Trust company, Mansfield, O.
   Neighbors said the Maglotts lived at the Colfax avenue address for about two years.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) August 25, 1963
BANK OFFICER SOUGHT
   Federal Bureau of investigation agents continued their search for Estley Dean Maglott, vice president of the National Bank of Hyde Park, 1525 E. 53rd st., in connection with shortages which the bank said might reach $200,000.
   Maglott, 32, disappeared from his apartment at 9588 Colfax av., several days ago after being confronted with shortages of $20,000 in the consumer loan department which he headed, said John F. McKnight, bank president.
   The FBI began its search for Maglott on a warrant issued Friday charging embezzlement of $19,639. Meanwhile, the missing bank official's estranged wife, Mrs. Shirley Loney Maglott, 31, of Butler, O., said she had not seen her husband since early this month.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) June 21, 1965
BANKER SOUGHT IN $19,000 THEFT HELD IN MIAMI
   Estley Dean Maglott, 36, former assistant vice president of the National Bank of Hyde Park who was sought for embezzling from the bank, has been arrested in Miami, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said yesterday.
   Maglott, who was charged with misapplying more than $19,000 from the consumer credit department, disappeared from his apartment at 9588 Colfax av. in August, 1963.
   He was arrested by Florida authorities on charges of abetting and operating a lottery, held in Dade county jail in lieu of $25,000 bail. A hearing will be held at 2:30 p.m. today.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) July 31, 1965
AN EX-BANKER TELLS WHY HE MISUSED FUNDS BY John O'Brien
   Estley Dean Maglott, 35, former assistant vice president and loan officer for the National Bank of Hyde Park, 1525 E. 53d st., pleaded guilty to misapplying $124,388 in bank loans in federal District court yesterday.
   Maglott appeared before Judge Joseph Sam Perry, who set sentencing for Aug. 13. Maglott was placed in the federal marshal's lock up. His bond was set at $25,000.
Sought Since 1963
   Maglott, a fugitive since August, 1963, when he was indicted by a federal grand jury, was returned to Chicago yesterday from Miami, where he has been living since he fled. When arrested on a gambling charge by Dade county police on June 19, Maglott told them he was wanted in Chicago.
   Maglott was earning $11,000 a year when his troubles began.
   After his court appearance yesterday, Maglott and his court-appointed attorney, John J. Muldoon, told a TRIBUNE reporter the story of what they said caused his downfall.
   A mortgage broker. whose identity Maglott would not disclose, came to him early in 1961 highly recommended, they said. The broker said he wanted to obtain loans from the bank to improve his holdings in several Chicago suburbs.
   Maglott said the broker supplied information and photos of property which he said he owned and wanted to use as collateral. Thru Maglott, he received a series of loans from the bank totaling $103,000 over a period of several weeks.
Payments to Bank Stop
   The broker made the first several payments due on the loans but then stopped. Maglott said his superiors at the bank ordered him to find out why and to take steps to collect the payments. Maglott said he tried repeatedly, but in vain, to get the broker to keep up his payments. He said he then discovered the information and pictures the broker provided on the collateral property were phony.
   Then, Maglott said, he stopped reporting to the bank that the loan payments were overdue and tried to pay them out of his own funds. He estimated he used between $2,000 and $3,000 of his funds to meet the payments.
   However, Maglott found he couldn't keep up this method of making payments. Instead, he issued $21,388 in false loans to fictitious people and used this money to repay the broker's loans, he said.
   Finally, Maglott said, he could no longer cope with the situation and fled by plane to Miami with $100 in his pocket, leaving behind his wife and daughter, without telling them his problems. He said he worked at odd jobs in Florida.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) August 26, 1965
DENIES SELLING 31 MORTGAGES TO 2 PERSONS
Convicted Banker Refutes Charge
   Estly D. Maglott, who has pleaded guilty to a nine-count federal District court indictment charging him with misappropriating more than $100,000 in National Bank of Hyde Park funds, denied in a statement yesterday in Circuit court that he sold the same mortgages twice.
   Maglott, former assistant vice president of the National Bank of Hyde Park, gave a deposition in the suit filed by Harry Eager, owner of the Illinois Mortgage company. The suit charges Maglott sold 31 mortgages valued at $103,000 to Richard J. Deutsch, an attorney, after having sold them to Eager.
   In the deposition, Maglott said he sold the mortgages to Deutch. He denied selling them to Eager.
   Maglott is scheduled to appear before Judge Abraham Marowitz in federal District court on Sept. 13 for sentencing in the misappropriation case. Maglott, who disappeared in 1961, was arrested in Miami last month.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) September 16, 1965
EX-BANKER GETS YEAR
   Estley Dean Maglott, 35, former assistant vice president and loan officer for the National Bank of Hyde Park, 1525 E. 53d st., was sentenced to one year in prison by Judge Abraham L. Marovitz in federal District court yesterday for misapplying an estimated $300,000 in bank funds.
   Judge Marovitz said he had intended to impose a two-year sentence but changed his mind after he was told that Maglott was cooperating with federal investigators. Additional indictments involving loans from the bank were expected in 60 days, the court was told.
   Paul E. Plunkett, assistant United States attorney, said Maglott, who was arrested in Dade county, Fla., on a gambling charge and returned to Chicago last July, received about $30,000 of the misapplied funds.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) February 19, 1969
2 CONVICTED, SENTENCED IN BANKING FRAUD
   An attorney and a real estate dealer were found guilty yesterday of conspiring to defraud the former National Bank of Hyde Park, 1525 E. 53d st., of $42, 825, and each was sentenced to 18 months in prison and fined $5,000 by Judge Julius J. Hoffman in federal District court.
   They are Richard J. Deutsch, 9534 Colfax av., an attorney with offices at 8543 Stony Island av., and Bert Williams, 6132 Michigan av., operator of the Unlimited Realty company, 1024 E. 76th st.
   Lawrence T. Stanner, assistant United States' attorney, charged during the trial that the two men conspired with Estley D. Maglott, 38, a former vice president of the bank, to defraud the bank of the money between 1961 and 1963.
   Maglott was an unindicted co-conspirator to the case. He had served one year in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling $124,388 from the bank.
   Stanner claimed that Deutsch and Williams provided false information to the bank in applying for loans in their names and the names of companies they controlled. He said Maglott then caused the bank to approve the loans.
(submitted by Ida Maack Recu)

Lima Daily News
Nov 8, 1913

Mamsfield, O., Nov 8- William D. Bonnetti, 24, was shot and instantly killed while playing cards with Samuel Basino, at the latter's home at 1 o'clock this afternoon. Basino claims Bonnetti shot himself, but Coroner Miller claims this to be impossible, the bullet entering the body under the left arm near the heart. Basino disappeared after the shooting and has not yet been found.

(Submitted by Linda Dietz)