Looking Back: Two girls get arrested then quickly marry Twin Falls boys; and charred remains of man found inside home
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Nov. 9 to Nov. 15 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BURLEY — Two Burley girls were arrested, then quickly got married to two Twin Falls boys, the Burley Herald reported on Nov. 12, 1925.
The girls, Goldie Cooper and Nina Marston, it’s not clear their ages, left a dance in Burley and drove to Pocatello. They made the drive with Claude Jones and Lawrence Hanson, both boys from Twin Falls.
When they got to Pocatello, they checked into a hotel. The article doesn’t explain exactly what happened, but Pocatello officers ended up at the hotel and arrested the girls on a charge of delinquency.
The probate judge in Pocatello sent them back to Burley to remain in their mothers’ custody until they were tried before Judge Wright.
A hearing was scheduled, but in the meantime, the girls went with Jones and Hanson to Twin Falls and got married.
“This in a way took the case out of the judge’s hands,” the article stated.
At some point later, the married couples drove through Burley en route to Pocatello. While doing so, a sheriff and police chief followed them as a warrant was out for their arrest.
“At this writing, the girls, or married women, are in Pocatello, virtually under arrest, awaiting the outcome of habeas corpus proceedings instituted by the husbands of the two girls,” The Burley Herald explained.
Not only that, but a damage suit against the sheriff and police chief for $10,000 each was filed by the two newlyweds.
“It is not likely the suit will be pressed after the cases against the young people are dropped,” the paper stated.
The damage suit would be predicated on the ground that married women cannot be delinquent as charged in the complaint, the girls’ attorney G.L. Tyler, of Pocatello, said.
1926-1950
RIGBY — An 18-year-old man was accidentally shot multiple times by his hunting companion while hunting pheasants, the Rigby Star reported on Nov. 11, 1926.
Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Jones’ son was with his friend when the incident happened on the Jones farm.
Jones was struck from about 20 feet away in both his thighs and abdomen.
He received medical help quickly, and it was reported that he was “recovering nicely” following the accident.
1951-1975
BLACKFOOT — A Blackfoot man was burned to death in a fire that destroyed his small farmhouse, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Nov. 12, 1951.
The blaze broke out at the home of John Dechank, 67, a retired farmer. Neighbors discovered the fire and called firefighters for help around 4:25 a.m.
The blaze was extinguished, and investigating officers found a stove in the ruins, still hot. Fire chief Fred Vogt said the fire was probably caused by the overheated stove.
Coroner Al Trolin said there would be no inquest. He and deputy sheriff Melvin Miles found the charred remains of Dechank in a heap of ashes near the front door, indicating that Dechank had apparently become overcome by smoke before he could get out of the house.
Dechank was a widow. He left behind his two sons, two daughters, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A 25-year-old Pocatello man was placed under citizen’s arrest for alleged malicious injury to property, the Idaho State Journal reported on Nov. 15, 1976.
Bruce Shaw was arrested after an altercation at a local bar where Allen Tindore was reportedly thrown into the bar’s glass window. Carol A. Jones arrested Shaw, according to police reports.
Tindore suffered a minor head laceration and a cut lip. Damage to the window was estimated at $300.