DOVER-EYOTA

Despite a dog’s best efforts, a Minnesota bank was blown open by 'the cleverest criminals’ in 1900

Olivia Estright — Tue, 08 Oct 2024 12:31:00 GMT

DOVER TOWNSHIP, Minn. — A dog could have saved Dover Township citizens thousands of dollars, but no one would listen.

On the night of May 24, 1900, the Dover bank was robbed of $4,500, which calculates to more than $160,000 in 2024.

“The looting of the bank was one of the most complete he ever saw and was undoubtedly done by professionals,” The Winona Sunday Herald reported as the sheriff investigated.

Silver dollars were scattered around the bank, blackened and bent. Shreds of paper money littered the ground. There were holes drilled around the combination, which seemed to have broken the lock.

The vault itself was a strong, heavy box, “an iron affair,” the Herald reported. Except now, there was a large dent in the iron door, which investigators believed to be from a flying piece of iron inside the vault.

The burglars blew it open.

One man told the paper that the explosion startled his dog, who barked for over an hour.

“Had the good people of Dover been as thoroughly aroused as a dog in the town was, the robbery of the bank would have been detected, in all probability soon enough to catch the thieves,” the Herald reported.

Less than a month later, the Olmsted County sheriff returned from Chicago with a suspect: Thomas O’Neill, also known as Omaha Kid. O’Neill was “a cracker of safes and one of the cleverest criminals in the whole country,” according to reporting from The Post and Record.

“All in all he is one of the most promising specimens who was ever presented for jail honors,” the article read.

O’Neill was charged with first- and second-degree burglary, although the jury found him not guilty in his first indictment. O’Neil was found guilty and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison following his second indictment.

During the trial, a La Crosse woman named Belle Bruce testified that she went with O’Neill to a bar on May 26, two days after the robbery. He showed her that he had “all kinds of money to buy beer with,” The Post and Record reported.

Many witnesses named three other men they believed to be involved: Lefty Fitzgerald, Daddy Flynn and Toronto Jimmy.

Jacob Miller, a witness from Wisconsin, testified that he drove Daddy Flynn to Osseo, Wisconsin, on May 28. Daddy Flynn had a bag, cane, bottle of whiskey, one sack of gold and one sack of silver on him.

“He was quite drunk in fact,” Miller said, noting Daddy Flynn would pour his sack of money out in Miller’s car.

Lefty Fitzgerald and Daddy Flynn were arrested before O’Neill, according to the Winona Daily Herald. The pair was turned over to the United States authorities, awaiting extradition.

It wasn’t until January 1903 when Toronto Jimmy was found. He gave the court his real name, James Johnson, and pleaded not guilty.

His bail was set at $6,000, but he opted to find his own way out.

“On Sunday morning before the spring of the June term it was discovered that Jimmie had fled the jail in the night, and that a lesser criminal, Charles Reynolds, held for burglarizing a hardware store in Stewartville, had also fled,” Joseph Leonard wrote in “History of Olmsted County.”

Leonard wrote that the pair escaped through the windows after cutting the steel bolts and bars.

Johnson dodged his fate for five years. He was “captured by a bank insurance detective” in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“Unlike his accomplice, O’Neil, previously sent to the penitentiary who looked like a vulgar thief, Jimmy was a good looking, well dressed and gentlemanly looking young fellow of about thirty years,” Leonard wrote. “He looked the professional man that he was, thoroughly qualified in his profession of safe breaking.”

Johnson was taken to Williamstown, Kentucky, where he was tried for two bank robberies in that county.

“Rochester will have to do without seeing this interesting gentleman again,” The Post and Record wrote.

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Minnesota authorities find 'suspicious' dead body in backseat of crashed car

Staff reports — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 16:06:15 GMT

ROCHESTER — While responding to a single-vehicle crash Saturday morning on Interstate 90, the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office found a dead body in the back seat, according to a press release.

The sheriff's office responded to the crash around 7 a.m. Saturday, June 22, near the Eyota exit. The driver, 32-year-old Margot Lewis, was out of the vehicle and being tended to by a passerby. While checking to see if anyone else was in the vehicle, deputies found the body of a 35-year-old woman in the back seat.

According to the release, the condition of the woman who was found dead was "suspicious," and it was “immediately apparent” the death wasn’t a result of the crash.

Lewis was medically cleared and placed under arrest for interference with a dead body, the release said.

Lewis is expected to make an appearance on this case in court on Tuesday.

The name of the deceased is being withheld until next-of-kin notifications can be made.

Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Eyota Fire Department and Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service assisted with the initial call.

"As this is an ongoing investigation, no further information can be released at this time," the release said.

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Eyota, Minn., teen sentenced to 10 years for his brother's death

Emily Cutts — Thu, 27 May 2021 20:30:00 GMT

ROCHESTER, Minn. — An Eyota, Minn., teenager was given a 10-year prison sentence for the murder of his younger brother

in what the judge called one of the "most chilling and profoundly sad cases" in his 40-year legal career.

Kaleb Wolfe Smith, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in connection to the June 2020 death of his 5-year-old brother, Alex James Smith.

Kaleb Smith was sentenced Thursday morning, May 27, to 120 months in state prison by Judge Kevin Lund in Olmsted County District Court.

Minnesota sentencing guidelines say two-thirds of a prison sentence must be served in custody while the remaining third may be served on supervision.

Olmsted County Sheriff's deputies and Eyota Ambulance were called on June 1, 2020, for a report of a 5-year-old boy who was not breathing. Lifesaving efforts were attempted on scene. Alex James Smith was pronounced dead at Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys. The children's mother was doing yardwork at the time of the incident, she said in court.

Preliminary results of an autopsy conducted by the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner's Office indicated that the boy's brain exhibited swelling consistent with hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, by smothering. Shortly after the incident, Kaleb Smith admitted to law enforcement that he pinched his brother's nose shut and covered his mouth for 1 to 2 minutes, according to court documents.

A mother speaks

Alex was two weeks away from his 6th birthday that June day, his mother, Mischea Smith, told the court.

"The terrible despair of having to prepare for his funeral instead of his birthday that week was a crushing tragedy that no mother should ever have to go through," she said. "Your honor, I wish I could hear Alex’s little voice again. I wish I could tell him that I love him. I wish our family hadn't been torn apart by all of this, but it has."

Smith spoke of how the Alex's death affected herself and her other children, and the work she has done in the almost year since the incident.

"I lost two sons that day and all that I have left of my son Alex is a few mementos and his urn with his ashes and all that I have left of my son Kaleb is broken dreams and hopes that I had had for him and his future," she said. "I hope that he will continue getting the help that he needs and I hope that he will be safe and secure at that facility because the fear of my family of having him come physically near us affects many aspects of our life."

Before handing down his sentence, Lund commended the mother and all those involved in the case for the work that they had done.

"This is one of the most chilling and profoundly sad cases in my 40 years in the legal profession," Lund said. "A child, even though Kaleb is over the age of 18, Kaleb has severe mental health and a trauma background and he is being sentence here today as an adult for the death of his younger brother."

"Ms. Smith, I cannot fathom the depth of your grief. Grief for Alex who has been killed at the hands of your son Kaleb. And yet you also have grief for Kaleb, as well," Lund said. "I don't pretend to understand how you have been able to deal with that. And I appreciate you bringing up the seismic effect that this kind of inexplicable conduct has caused to your children, and your extended family and to the community at large who knows your family and cares about you and cared about Alex and I suspect to a certain degree about Kaleb.

"The only comfort I take is that your son Kaleb is in the appropriate place and has been for a period of time and that he will ultimately receive the treatment he needs to overcome all of the mental health and other issue he has confronted in his life," Lund said.

Kaleb Smith's sentence

The 120-month sentence is an aggravated sentence, which means it is above the guideline sentence for the particular offense for a person with a similar criminal history score of zero. In handing down the aggravated sentence, Lund found that Alex was particularly vulnerable; the crime was committed in a place that Alex had an expectation of privacy; and that Kaleb Smith was in a position of authority over Alex.

Kaleb Smith, who was found to have a mental illness and dangerous to the public, has been receiving treatment at a secured facility and will remain there rather than be transferred to a state prison.

If the psychiatric commitment were to end before two-thirds of his prison sentence has passed, Smith could be ordered to serve the remaining time in prison. Attorney David Jones, who represents Smith in the civil commitment matter, told the court Thursday that there was very little likelihood Smith would conclude his commitment in 80 months.

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The Recruiting Trail: Studer passed up the B1G but discovered something better

Isaac Trotter — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 13:32:00 GMT

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Jack Studer didn’t need any help on the football field. He put up video-game-like numbers on the gridiron as a senior and helped Dover-Eyota win eight games in 2018. Studer hauled in 73 receptions for 1,536 yards and 16 touchdowns that season.

But he couldn’t navigate the wild world of recruiting alone.

Enter his older brother, Garrett.

Garrett Studer is a sports junkie who played three sports at Dover-Eyota before graduating in 2016. He was the starting quarterback for the Eagles’ football team and a four-year varsity letter-winner in basketball.

Garrett is a basketball coach for the Minnesota Lightning, a Rochester-based AAU program. He lives and breathes the world of recruiting.

Garrett knew how good his younger brother was. So he got right to work getting him in touch with colleges around the area. It didn’t take long for Jack Studer’s recruitment to pick up. The film spoke for itself and many programs were interested. Even the University of Wisconsin hosted Studer for a game-day visit.

Had a great time this morning on my visit at the University of Wisconsin! Thanks to @CoachBostadUW and the rest of the @BadgerFootball coaching staff! #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/nv45jpEWjv
— Jack Studer (@studer_jack) November 3, 2018

But the bright lights of the Big Ten weren’t that appealing to Studer. He didn’t want to be a glorified tackling dummy. He wanted to play.

“The Wisconsin visit was nothing like any of my other visits,” Studer said. “It was so nerve-racking. Seeing that one was so much more to take in. It was awesome, but it just didn’t seem right for me. Looking back, I definitely made the right decision. I was definitely looking for playing time where you work hard and could get out on the field in the first year or two. And also for me, I didn’t want it to be super far away.”

He found his home at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. UWL has won at least seven games in each of the past three years, and Studer fell in love with the campus and the coaching staff on a visit.

“I was very unsure on what I wanted to go, but I went on a visit there and every single coach was super friendly,” Studer said. “You could tell that they wanted to win and they wanted you to become a better player. It was a good place for me.”

Studer played in three of UWL’s first five games before suffering a bad hip injury that ripped away the rest of his freshman year. But he made the right choice. His recovery went smoothly and he’s back to 100 percent. He has his sights set on earning a starting wide receiver job in 2020.

“I am enjoying UWL a lot,” Studer said. “Every coach at UWL, they want to be your friend and get to know you for real. I really appreciated that.”

It would’ve been easy for Studer to fall in love with the appeal of the Big Ten and go to Wisconsin as a preferred walk-on. But that’s just not what he wanted. And finding the right fit is the key to a happy life after signing on the dotted line.

“You have to go there and see it for yourself,” Studer said. “I’m glad I went to Wisconsin and found out that’s not what I wanted. You have to know what’s right for you.”

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Minnesota residents killed in state's deadliest crash in nearly a decade remembered

Emily Cutts / Forum News Service — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 19:42:15 GMT

EYOTA, Minn. – The three Minnesota residents killed in an car crash are being remembered as people who loved family and overcame many obstacles, according to their obituaries.

Esther Linda Joy Peters, 47, and her two children Christopher and Shayla Peterson were killed in the early morning hours of Aug. 2 after a car traveling the wrong way on Interstate 90 hit their car head-on.

A mother of three, Peters was described as a "strong and compassionate woman" who survived breast cancer.

"She will be remembered as a loving, caring mother and grandmother who loved her children and grandchildren more than anything," her obituary says.

Christopher Michael Peterson, 26, is remembered for his "love of animals and family, his politeness, and intelligence." He moved to Rochester for college courses in business management.

"He had such a kind and gentle soul and would never hurt anyone or anything," his obituary reads. "Chris was a strong individual who overcame many things in life, including Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (a rare heart condition.)

Shayla Jean Peterson, 23, is remembered for her "love and compassion towards children," whom she enjoyed spending time with, especially her nieces and nephew.

"She had such a kind heart and bright personality that shined through to anyone that met her," her obituary says. "Shayla was a strong person who overcame many things in life, including life-long Type 1 Diabetes."

A service for the three is planned for Thursday in Willmar. Arrangements are with Peterson Brothers Funeral Home, Willmar.

A GoFundMe page started by Peters sister, Rachel Peters Goldsby, was started on Sunday to help cover the costs of funeral expenses.

"The sudden and unexpected deaths of my sister Esther and her dear children Christopher and Shayla have stunned all of us that loved them. In a time when the unthinkable happens, many of us do not have the means to cover such a massive expense," the page read. "Esther and her children are not a family of means for such a tragedy so there’s not much in the way of extra funds."

Preliminary reports from the Minnesota State Patrol indicate that the driver of a 2008 Ford Focus was going the wrong way, heading eastbound in the westbound lanes, when it struck a 2005 Chrysler Sebring heading westbound on I-90 near mile post 223 about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 2.

Sheila Eagle, 54, and her passengers, Tamara Lynn Eagle, 29, and Nyobee Eagle Richardson, 11, all of of Waukesha, Wis., were in the Focus. The three were related.

This is the deadliest single crash on Minnesota roads since 2010 when six people were killed in a crash.

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