The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1927-05-09
FOSTER COUNTY
ELEVATOR MAN
HANGS HIMSELF
Steve Patterson of McHenry
Ends Life After Being
Charged With Arson
TWO OTHERS IMPLICATED
One Is Already in Peniten-
tiary and Other Will Be
Arraigned Today
TWO OTHERS IMPLICATED

One man has committed suicide,
another is in the state penitentiary
here and a third will be arraigned in
court at jamestown today as the
result of the cleanup Of an alleged
gang Of fircbugs in Foster county, S..
Peterson. deputy state fire marshal.
said here today.
The dead man is Steve Patterson,
about GO years old, reputed to have
been one Of the wealthiest men in
McHenry, small Foster county vii
lage. He hanged himself Saturday
morning following conference with
Peterson Friday at Darlington dur
ing which Peterson informed Patter-
!. son that he would be arrested and
charged with arson in connection
with an attempt to burn an elevator
at McHenry, of which Charles Will
son, 26, was manager.
Wilson was brought to the peni-
, tentiary here Saturday to begin
serving a sentence of one and one
half years. He pleaded guilty to
the arson charge and was sentenced
to the pcnitentiary a month ago but
had since been held in the Caring
ton Jail, Peterson said.
kputh Will Plead Guilty
The third man is Henry Knuth of
McHenry, also charged with COM
plicity in the arson plot, Peterson
said. Peterson said Knuth has
agreed to plead guilty to his part in
the affair:
The affair nrst came to light fol-
lowing an investigation by the fire
hoD nff ~f M oil M
tempt to burn the elevator at Nc
Henry. Peterson said. The attempt
failed when gasoline soaked rags,
lighted by Wilson, smothered in the
elevator pit into which he had thrown
them.
Wilson then was arrested on an
embezzlement charge because Of a
shortage in the elevator accounts and
was lodged in Jail at Darlington.
This charge was dismissed, however,
when Patterson raised enough money
to pay the alleged shortage, Peter
son said.
Patterson Called Ringleader
Later, Peterson said, Wilson con-
fessed that he had set fire to the
elevator in accordance with the ad-
vice of Patterson, that Patterson had
been ringleader in the embezzlement
plot by diverting grain from the
elevator and had advised him to
burn the elevator when it became
1 apparent that the embezzlement
would be discovered. Patterson, Pet
erson said, operated rival eleva-
tor at McHenry and handled the
grain which Wilson was accused of
being short. He also was interested
in a bank at McHenry.
!, Friday, Peterson said, he called
Patterson and Knuth to Darlington
and confronted them with Wilson's
confession. Knuth denied his COM
plicity in the affair, Peterson said,
but Patterson finally admitted his
guilt and asked that he be permitted
to return home to confer with his
wife and determine whether he
should plead guilty to the charge or
stand trial. Peterson granted the
request.
Hangs Self In Elevator
Patterson's body was found in his
elevator early the next morning by
his son-in-law. He had hanged him
self.
| Peterson said the dead man had
told several intimate friends that he
would never stand trial on any
charge and never would serve term
in the penitentiary.
Following receipt of news of Pat
tcrson's death, Peterson said, Knuth
admitted his part in the arson plot
and agreed to come to jamestown and
plead guilty.