STRANGER SHOT TO DEATH AT LAKOTA
TWO GAMBLERS AT HOBO CAMP QUARREL OVER SUPPER AND ONE SHOT THE OTHER THREE TIMES, THEN SHOT HIMSELF.
Special to The Independent:
Lakota, N.D., Sept 9.—Two well dressed strangers, believed to be gamblers following the hobo camps, engaged in a quarrel in the jungles near this city this afternoon about five o'clock, over the scrambling of rotten eggs. One of them, the smaller of the two, pulled a 44 calibre revolver and shot the other three times, killing him instantly. He then turned the weapon on himself and made a dangerous wound thru {sp} the left nipple. The bullet struck a rib and this saved him from instant death. He became unconscious immediately but later came to his senses and admitted that he had done the shooting, but did not give any reason. He was taken on the No. 1 to the Devils Lake hospital, where he may recover. At this date nothing has been learned of the identity of either. One wore a big sparkler and both appeared prosperous.
It has since been learned that the tramp who did the shooting is Fred Mitchell, of Providence, R.I. Mitchell, who turned the weapon on himself after he had riddled his companion with bullets, may die. The bullet has not yet been located. It is believed that it struck the rib, followed it around, lodging in the back.
Three men, all tramps, saw the shooting. They claim the men had quarreled over the scrambling of stale eggs in a skillet. The man who was killed had done the cooking. The men appeared to have forgotten their quarrel, but after drinking during the day resumed their quarrel in the afternoon.
Recent developments in the case lead to the supposition that the murdered man was Frank Fisher, son of George Fisher, a millionaire, living at Tuscon, Ari. The young man has been wild and detectives have had their eyes on him. He was last traced to the vicinity of Lakota.
Ward County Independent, 9/11/1913
INCARCERATED IN 3 ASYLUMS.
Fred Mitchell, North Dakota Slayer, Committed in Three States.
Lakota.—Fred Mitchell, who recently shot and killed Frank Fisher in this city, is a former inmate of the Rochester, Minn., asylum for the insane, being committed from Minneapolis in 1909 and remaining there about a year. He has also been an inmate of the Mendota, Wis., asylum and the Miles City, Mont., asylum. He was in the Miles City hospital in 1907, and in the Wisconsin asylum in 1908.
Mitchell, fighting with Frank Fisher, another member of a "pot gang" near this city, shot and instantly killed Fisher, riddling his body with five bullets.
Several minutes later, after seeing that Fisher was dead, Mitchell stood over his victim and fired a bullet into his own body. The shot glanced on a rib and encircled his body, lodging in the fleshy part of his back.
Turtle Mountain Star, 9/25/1913
