The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-04-07
Went TO HOSPITAL
RETURN, NOT YET
SHERIFF ANTON OSTEN Hal
REQUIsITIoN FOR HIM
He Warned Official In De
Moines Not To Permit Fellow
To Leave Cell; Now Chase
After Fugitive Must Be Begu=
All Over Again.

Roy A. Fowler, super slicker.
has again evaded the clutches =.
the law and is now at large bu
strenuously sought by Sheriff An
ton Osten of this county. Fowlo
is wpxted in this county for !
charge Of removing and concealini
mortgaged property for the purpos
of placing it beyond tine reach o
the mortgage. This Is the secon'
time he has escaped from the Off.
GERS of the law through his smootl
line of talk and is persuasive man
ner of inviegiing officers into per
forming their duties as he sees II
to have them performed.
Last week Sheriff Osten learnei
through man named Cosgrove II
the twin cities that Fowler ha
some relatives in Council Bluffs low
and the Blue Earth sheriff immed'
lately wired Council Bluffs for in
ceived a quick response with tn
information that Fowler was no
there but might be in Des Nome
and was wanted in several place
in Iowa for forgery. Sheriff OsteI
called Des Moines by phone bu
learned that Fowler had been il
custody there for thirty days an,
had been released only three day
prior to the time the call was made
Requisition Papers Obtained
Sheriff JOsten asked Sheriff Rob-
at Des Moines to apprehend Fowle
as soon as possible and this wa
done with the result that Sheriff
Osten went to st. Paul to get re
learned that the prisoner would no
come to Mankato without them
Sheriff Robb asked if it would b.,
all right with the local officers
Fowler and his attorney were al
lowed to make the trip here alon'
and he was told that such a steI
would only mean that Fowle,
would escape and the chase starte,
over again.
Before leaving for Des Nome,
Sheriff Osten received a phone cal
from that city in which he was in
formed that Fowler had again tax
en- French leave. He got his libert.
tl.is time by telling the officers tina
he wished to TO hospital to se'
his wife and would be accompanied
by his attorney. The attorney, sal,
to be one of the most reputabl,
men of his profession in the cit.
accompanied him and meant tha
Fowler should return TO the jail bu
in the course of the short journe,
the prisoner made his escape. Let
ting Fowler out of a cell with hi:
attorney was the specific thin,
Sheriff Osten asked the Des Nome
authorities not to do. AS a. resul
of that escape local officers ar =.
now at the old starting point. il
their pursuit Of the fugitive al
though they have definite clue Il
work upon now as Fowler was OBJ
served in Boone, Iowa, soon afte
his last escape.
Happened At Virginia .,
Some time ago Deputy Sherii
John Macbeth went to Virginia fo
the purpose of bringing Fowler T.
this county but when he arrived il
the range city he learned tina
Fowler had talked a, Virginia depu
ty sheriff into letting him go unac.
companied to the office of an at
torney. He went but the attorne.
never saw him.
In both instances Fowler toll,
the officers who caught him tina
he was more than anxious to ge
his attorney and start the. trip t.
Mankato voluntarily. He was s,
torney to whose office he asked I,
go, thought that Fowler wouk
surely present himself in this cit,
within a few days. That was sew.
eral months ago.
Wife Has Flu
At this time Fowler's wife is in
Des Moines hospital a flu patien
and soon to give birth to a child
Her condition is critical and i
expected that there is a possibilit,
that Fowler's affection for her will
lead him, back there although tha
may be AN error since investiga
ton has disclosed that there is
strain of insanity in his famil,
tree and it is said that some of tn,
fugitive's actions are strangr
enough to warrant a belief tina
there may be some queer spots il
his mental makeup.
At Des Moines there was the us,
ual set of alibis and passing tn,
buck" when the Blue Earth sher
if demonstrated with them for thu
careless handling of the case bu
that brings the officers no neare3
the man they want.