Looking back: Asylum inmate escapes and patrol car pushed into lake
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Aug. 12 to Aug. 18 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BLACKFOOT — An inmate of the asylum in Blackfoot escaped but was later returned to the institution, The Rigby Star reported on Aug. 18, 1921.
John Kruetzer, 45, walked the entire distance from Blackfoot to Hamer in 16 hours. He arrived in Hamer Monday morning at 8 a.m. Sheriff Lufkin was notified and brought Kruetzer back to Rigby. He was later returned to Blackfoot.
“Kruetzer formerly lived at Mud Lake and stated to Sheriff Lufkin that he walked the entire distance, covering almost four miles an hour for a distance of approximately 59 miles,” the article reads.
1926-1950
REXBURG — A Rexburg man was shot while fishing and taken to the hospital while a Hibbard man accused of the shooting was taken to the county jail, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Aug. 12, 1932.
Mark Lutz was allegedly shot in the leg by Andrew Kerr, a farmer residing in Hibbard. Kerr reportedly shot Lutz Thursday afternoon when Lutz and his friend, Ralph Timpson, of Rexburg, were fishing in a stream near Kerr’s ranch home.
“Kerr, it is charged, ordered them off the property,” the paper said. “The boys had permission, it was later stated, from the owner of the land which Kerr rented to fish in the stream on his property.”
The article continues, “Rather than cause any trouble, however, the two started to leave, it was reported today,” the article states. “Kerr (then) allegedly shot Lutz.”
Lutz’s condition was not serious and no charge had been filed against Kerr.
1951-1975
IDAHO FALLS — A two-year-old girl lost sight in one of her eyes from a BB gun accident, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Aug. 13, 1951.
Marsha Barker was the toddler involved in the accident and was being treated at the Idaho Falls LDS Hospital.
“The attending eye specialist was able to remove the BB pellet but was unable to save the eyesight,” the local paper wrote.
The report stated the BB gun was accidentally shot by an older brother. The shot apparently struck a sidewalk and “glanced upward to the girl’s eye.”
“Officers were informed by physicians that three or four children here each year lose the sight of one of their eyes and many others are injured as a result of BB shots,” the article reads.
1976-2000
RIGBY — Scuba divers with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office were called to search for a Jefferson County Sheriff’s patrol car that was pushed into a lake, The Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Aug. 15, 1977.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy Wayne Johnson said one of the deputies went to investigate a “kegger party” at a new recreation development north of Rigby near the old sugar factory. He locked the car and walked over to the scene of the party. When he made his way back to his car, he discovered it had disappeared.
“It was found by divers under 30 feet of water in the lake,” Johnson reported. “Windows in the car were smashed, indicating it had purposely been rolled into the water.”
The 1970 model sedan had several thousand dollars’ worth of radio equipment inside. The car was recovered from the water and the full extent of the damage was not known.
“We will be interviewing everyone that was at the kegger,” Johnson said.