Feature Article on crime. Topic: LAW
& ORDER
By Rich Wallace in October, 1999
THE GOOD OLD DAYS? |
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The "good old days" weren’t all that great as far as crime in Shelby County, Ohio is concerned, Society president Rich Wallace told Sidney Sunset Kiwanis Club members last month. "With the terrible recent crimes we have recently had in our area, some people think our society is becoming unglued." "But, in 1922-23, in a quick succession of crimes within a year, a local man beat his family almost to death, a friend stabbed another to death on a southbound train in the county, a drunk shotgunned to death a priest in a Minster church, a 17-year-old shotgunned a couple in Turtle Creek Township, a 10-year-old girl was raped by her stepfather, a local minister, and a doctor in Loramie Township attacked his roofer because the shingles weren’t being laid straight. He hit him with a hammer and then shot him to death." Wallace, a Sidney attorney, noted that the Shelby County public today takes little interest in local trials, even those for major crimes. "But, in 1884, local citizens complained about the new courthouse because the courtroom held only about 150 spectators. They were accustomed to packing the courtroom in the old building with 300 to 400 people for trials," Wallace said, noting that the present common pleas courtroom, much smaller than its original dimensions, might attract only 15 spectators for a major trial. |
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