On this date in 1871 Alfred F. Bomberger was born in Pennsylvania and twenty-two years later he was to die on the gallows at Cando. Indicted by a Grand Jury for the murder of six members of the family of Daniel Krieder near Cando on July 7, 1893, he subsequently pleaded guilty at his trial and his hanging occurred on January 19, 1894.

But this hanging almost did not take place. The Grand Jury that indicted Bomberger also indicted Major Fawcet, a Cando druggist, for selling illegal liquor. Fawcett’s attorney had discovered that one of the members of the jury was not a legal resident of the county and petitioned Governor Shortridge to pardon the druggist based on this evidence. Shortridge refused until after the hanging had taken place by suspending the sentence of Fawcett for 30 days, allowing the hanging to be carried out without complications. Justice was not blind it this case but it tended to look the other way for a while.

By Jim Davis

Sources:
Grand Forks Weekly Plaindealer January 25, 1894 Page 5
Churchs Ferry Sun February 3, 1894 Page 1.
Churchs Ferry Sun February 10, 1894 Page 4.

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