Looking back: Son murders father, brother saves sibling from drowning and waterbed stolen from apartment

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of May 15 to May 21 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

MUD LAKE — A well-known citizen and rancher in Lorenzo was murdered and the son was arrested, the Blackfoot Idaho Republican reported on May 20, 1910.

Tim Brown and his son, who was about 23 years old, left Mud Lake together but later, Tim was found dead next to his wagon “some distance above Roberts.” The paper said his head was crushed and “nearly severed from the body.” A bloody ax was found near the crime scene but the son was gone.

“Later developments pretty clearly connected (the son) with the horrible deed,” the paper explained.

The son was seen in the desert by a handful of people who talked with him.

“It was noted at the time that the fellow’s hands were bloody and there was blood on his clothes,” the article reads. “The man stated he was headed toward a railroad station, and very little was thought of the circumstances until the killing was discovered.”

He walked 16 miles (in a little over 24 hours) from the scene of the murder on his way to Roberts. He was then “captured” and taken to Roberts where he “dropped several remarks that put him in a bad light.” His mother met him in Roberts and the son told her, “I’ll tell you after awhile why I did it.” The motive wasn’t known at the time of publication.

Tim was in his 50s when he died. He was described as a “hard working and substantial individual” who made a “regular summer business of freighting in the Birch Creek and Salmon Country.”

The son was taken to the Fremont County Jail in St. Anthony to await trial.

1926-1950

POCATELLO — A Pocatello teen was injured when the bike he was riding collided with a car, the Idaho State Journal said on May 21, 1950.

Ben McQuillan, 13, was traveling eastbound when the brake on his bike broke. He attempted to turn right but collided with the right rear wheel of a sedan driven by John Randall, 30.

Police said Randall stopped his car when he saw the boy coming down the road.

McQuillan suffered a cut on the right side of his head above his ear and had bruises on his left leg, hip and right arm. Randall took the boy to the local hospital.

1951-1975

CARIBOU COUNTY — A nine-year-old saved his little brother from drowning, the Caribou County Sun wrote on May 15, 1958.

Dale Lindstrom rescued his brother, Ricky, in Bridge Creek.

“The creek is naturally high and swift this time of year and the boys were playing on a bridge near their home when Ricky tumbled into the water,” the paper said.

Dale quickly laid down on the end of the bridge and grabbed Ricky’s hand “as he came up the second time” and pulled him to safety.

1976-2000

POCATELLO — An impounded waterbed was stolen from a ground level apartment in Pocatello, according to the Idaho State Journal.

An article in the paper dated May 15, 1977, said the landlord, who also lived at the same apartment complex, impounded the bed after two tenants who used to live there didn’t pay rent “for a period of time.”

“Police reports indicated the bed was removed through a window after the thief or thieves removed nails securing the window,” the Journal explained.