THE DARK SIDE OF NEBRASKA
Frank Dinsmore
Full Name: Frank Dinsmore
County: Buffalo
City: Odessa
Date of Crime: December 4, 1899
Victims: Mrs. R.H Dinsmore, Fred Lane
County: Buffalo
City: Odessa
Date of Crime: December 4, 1899
Victims: Mrs. R.H Dinsmore, Fred Lane
Was it a double murder, or murder and suicide? Mr. Dinsmore under arrest!
The most terrible tragedy that has startled this country in many years, if indeed there has been one more startling, was enacted Monday night at the little hamlet of Odessa, ten miles west of Kearney on December 4, 1899, in which a man and woman lost their life, and another man or woman are suspected of complicity in causing their death.
About 12:00 Monday night, Dr. H.S. Bell was called up by telephone by R.H. Dinsmore at Odessa, asking him to come to that place at once and informing him that his wife had been killed by one Fred Lane, who had also shot himself. Dr. Bell asked Dinsmore if the parties were dead, and being answered affirmatively asked why he was wanted, as he could not be of any benefit. Dinsmore replied that he wanted him to come anyway, and Dr. Bell at once set out on the trip, arriving at Odessa about half past one.
The sheriff's office had been communicated with, and Sheriff Funk being out of the city, Deputy Sheriff Sammons went to Odessa, arriving at Odessa about the same time as Dr. Bell. Dr. Bell informs the Kearney Hub that when he arrived at the house, which was the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Lane, he found Mrs. Dinsmore lying dead in one room and Fred Lane also dead upon the bed in his own room with a pistol-shot wound in the right temple.
An examination of the woman failed to show any marks, bruises, wounds or anything in the appearance of her eyes or face to indicate that she had died from the effects of the usual poisons. If poison had been administered, or if she had taken it with suicidal intent, it worked swiftly and left no outward trace.
To make the situation more clear, it may be stated that Dinsmore and wife were boarders in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Lane. The Dinsmores occupied an upstairs bedroom and the Lanes a bedroom on the first floor. The latter room was off the main living room, which was used as a kitchen and sitting room. It was about the center of this sitting room, on the floor and directly in front of the cook-stove, that the body of Mrs. Dinsmore was found.
Dinsmore stated to Dr. Bell that he was awakened by the sound of a pistol shot in the room below. He descended the stairs and first came upon the body of his wife, whom he did not know had risen. A light was burning in the bedroom adjoining, and he found Fred lying dead upon the bed, having taken his own life as he supposed.
Mrs. Lane states that she was awakened by her husband at about midnight, who had risen without her knowledge; that he stooped over the bed and kissed her and bade her goodbye, and immediately raised the pistol to his head, fired and fell dead upon the bed. Dr. Bell states that he found Fred lying upon the edge of the bed, stomach downward, with the face turned outward to the edge of the bed, the right arm hanging down, a gaping wound in the right temple, and the revolver with which the deed had been done lying on the floor beneath his hand, with one chamber empty. The wound had bleed freely but there was no blood except on the bed where the body had fallen. Nothing in the position of the dead man, in fact, failed to corroborate the statement of Mrs. Lane.
After the shooting, Dinsmore went to the house of Supervisor Tussing and informed him what had happened and Tussling at once went to Lane's house. Other neighbors gathered and Dinsmore was placed under arrest by a constable, but not taken into custody. The deputy sheriff did not make any arrest, considering that appearances did not warrant him in taking that course, especially as Dinsmore was already in the custody of the constable.
Coroner Hodges of Shelton was notified and went to Odessa on a freight train about noon, accompanied by Dr. Bell. It was the intention of the coroner to hold an inquest on the two bodies, and also to have an autopsy performed on the body of Mrs. Dinsmore to ascertain, if possible, the cause of her death. There is considerable talk in Odessa, and while it is unfavorable to Dinsmore, it is probably natural.
Dinsmore is said to be a man about 35 years of age and had been married about six months. Lane was about the same age, and was the father of three children, the oldest of which is a girl eight or nine years old. Dinsmore is described as a giant, physically, about 6'2" tall, and has a reputation for moroseness. Lane is said to have been rather jolly and good natured. He has been running a corn-sheller and is said to be one of the better class of laboring men.
The most terrible tragedy that has startled this country in many years, if indeed there has been one more startling, was enacted Monday night at the little hamlet of Odessa, ten miles west of Kearney on December 4, 1899, in which a man and woman lost their life, and another man or woman are suspected of complicity in causing their death.
About 12:00 Monday night, Dr. H.S. Bell was called up by telephone by R.H. Dinsmore at Odessa, asking him to come to that place at once and informing him that his wife had been killed by one Fred Lane, who had also shot himself. Dr. Bell asked Dinsmore if the parties were dead, and being answered affirmatively asked why he was wanted, as he could not be of any benefit. Dinsmore replied that he wanted him to come anyway, and Dr. Bell at once set out on the trip, arriving at Odessa about half past one.
The sheriff's office had been communicated with, and Sheriff Funk being out of the city, Deputy Sheriff Sammons went to Odessa, arriving at Odessa about the same time as Dr. Bell. Dr. Bell informs the Kearney Hub that when he arrived at the house, which was the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Lane, he found Mrs. Dinsmore lying dead in one room and Fred Lane also dead upon the bed in his own room with a pistol-shot wound in the right temple.
An examination of the woman failed to show any marks, bruises, wounds or anything in the appearance of her eyes or face to indicate that she had died from the effects of the usual poisons. If poison had been administered, or if she had taken it with suicidal intent, it worked swiftly and left no outward trace.
To make the situation more clear, it may be stated that Dinsmore and wife were boarders in the family of Mr. and Mrs. Lane. The Dinsmores occupied an upstairs bedroom and the Lanes a bedroom on the first floor. The latter room was off the main living room, which was used as a kitchen and sitting room. It was about the center of this sitting room, on the floor and directly in front of the cook-stove, that the body of Mrs. Dinsmore was found.
Dinsmore stated to Dr. Bell that he was awakened by the sound of a pistol shot in the room below. He descended the stairs and first came upon the body of his wife, whom he did not know had risen. A light was burning in the bedroom adjoining, and he found Fred lying dead upon the bed, having taken his own life as he supposed.
Mrs. Lane states that she was awakened by her husband at about midnight, who had risen without her knowledge; that he stooped over the bed and kissed her and bade her goodbye, and immediately raised the pistol to his head, fired and fell dead upon the bed. Dr. Bell states that he found Fred lying upon the edge of the bed, stomach downward, with the face turned outward to the edge of the bed, the right arm hanging down, a gaping wound in the right temple, and the revolver with which the deed had been done lying on the floor beneath his hand, with one chamber empty. The wound had bleed freely but there was no blood except on the bed where the body had fallen. Nothing in the position of the dead man, in fact, failed to corroborate the statement of Mrs. Lane.
After the shooting, Dinsmore went to the house of Supervisor Tussing and informed him what had happened and Tussling at once went to Lane's house. Other neighbors gathered and Dinsmore was placed under arrest by a constable, but not taken into custody. The deputy sheriff did not make any arrest, considering that appearances did not warrant him in taking that course, especially as Dinsmore was already in the custody of the constable.
Coroner Hodges of Shelton was notified and went to Odessa on a freight train about noon, accompanied by Dr. Bell. It was the intention of the coroner to hold an inquest on the two bodies, and also to have an autopsy performed on the body of Mrs. Dinsmore to ascertain, if possible, the cause of her death. There is considerable talk in Odessa, and while it is unfavorable to Dinsmore, it is probably natural.
Dinsmore is said to be a man about 35 years of age and had been married about six months. Lane was about the same age, and was the father of three children, the oldest of which is a girl eight or nine years old. Dinsmore is described as a giant, physically, about 6'2" tall, and has a reputation for moroseness. Lane is said to have been rather jolly and good natured. He has been running a corn-sheller and is said to be one of the better class of laboring men.
Source: The Kearney Hub