More details on two eastern Idaho murders dating back over a century ago
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IDAHO FALLS — When someone tells me a story but doesn’t have all the details, sometimes I’m left wondering how does it end?
If you’re like me, I’m sure you’ve felt that way once or twice while reading the weekly “Looking Back” feature published on EastIdahoNews.com. The feature, which looks back on what life was like during a certain time period in east Idaho history, has been around for almost two years.
Over this timeframe, readers often commented on particular stories wanting more information and are curious about how the stories end. It can be challenging to find more details on certain past events, but there are stories that were covered by local papers from start to finish.
Two Looking Back articles readers requested follow-ups on were about murders. You wanted to know more about these cases. Here’s what we found out.
Boy murderer walks free
Do you remember Floyd Sandusky? On Feb. 1, 1923, the Blackfoot Idaho Republican said he confessed to killing his father.
If you recall, the father had been in prison for six years for stabbing his wife 28 times “in an effort to kill her.” Floyd was only 10 years old at the time.
Looking back: Boy hunts down and kills father and spider eggs hatch in first-grade classroom
The father was eventually released from the Idaho penitentiary and made his way to the family’s home in Pocatello.
“When (the father) returned home last week and began making trouble, and as Floyd says, ‘threatened to kill them all,’ he took a shot at his father,” the local paper explained. “The bullet merely cut through his nose.”
The story goes that the father hopped on an eastbound train but Floyd “also got on and hunting him up, he shot him five times.” The murder took place on a train near McCammon.
Floyd surrendered and said he shot his father in order to protect his mother against more attacks. The paper said he was being held on a murder charge.
After further investigation, EastIdahoNews.com found an article in the Blackfoot Idaho Republican on May 31, 1923 talking about Sandusky’s trial that took place the week before in Pocatello. The date the murder actually happened was also announced to the public, which was Jan. 18, 1923.
“It is said to have been a dramatic trial, the mother telling the jury of the way her husband had treated her and the children,” the paper said. “When the jury retired, they just took time enough to vote and sign the verdict and return to court.”
Sandusky was acquitted “as soon as the matter was given to the jury.”
Young man kills father while ‘temporarily insane’
In a more recent Looking Back, an article was shared about a well-known citizen and rancher in Lorenzo who was murdered and his 23-year-old son was arrested.
The Blackfoot Idaho Republican reported on May 20, 1910, about the murder of Tim Brown. He had been traveling with his son but Tim was later found decapitated next to his wagon “some distance above Roberts,” and the son was gone.
In the Looking Back article, it explained the son was finally “captured” and he told his mother, “I’ll tell you after awhile why I did it.”
Other news outlets reported on the story as well, and gave more insight into the horrific crime and what happened to the son.
On May 19, 1910, The Rexburg Standard reported Tim, who was about 50 years old, was returning to his home near Lorenzo from Mud Lake where he had “freighted a lot of goods.” He had two wagons and six head of horses with him when he decided to set up camp for the night. This is the same place where his body was found.
Not only was Tim well-known, but his son was too. People said the son would have been the last one suspected of the crime if it weren’t for the fact he was the last one with his father and had disappeared.
He was caught in he desert and taken to the Fremont County Jail in St. Anthony. Brown gave a “full statement” to Fremont County authorities about the murder and admitted to killing his father.
The Pocatello Tribune stated the son was apparently “subject to epileptic fits and it’s believed he committed the crime while temporarily insane.”
“He said his father called him a name that is not generally swallowed in the west unless the other man has a gun,” the Idaho Falls Post Register explained. “He was mad and killed him with an axe.”
Following the killing, he “scooped the brains out of his father’s head with his hand,” and then unhitched the horses and fed them bats.
“The murder was so atrocious” the Idaho Falls Post Register wrote. “The story of the murder is coupled with so many peculiar incidents that the only conclusion that can be reached is that it was the work of a madman.”
“It is believed the young man is not mentally responsible,” The Pocatello Tribune added.
On May 26, 1910, the Idaho Statesman announced Brown was “examined as to his sanity, and it being decided he is a degenerate.” He was committed to the asylum in Blackfoot.
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