Detective Harry J. Noble, aged 37, was a dedicated officer with the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Police Department. On April 24, 1911, while attempting to arrest two men for trespassing in the rail yards in Bellevue, Ohio, Detective Noble was shot in the back by one of the suspects, a 17-year-old boy. Despite being wounded, Detective Noble managed to return fire, wounding one of the suspects in the arm before succumbing to his injuries two days later.
The suspects, identified
as Crandall and Russell, were arrested and held in connection with Detective Noble's death. The younger suspect was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to an indeterminate term in the Mansfield Reformatory, while the older suspect, aged 28, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the older suspect managed to escape from prison in November 1912.
Detective Noble was a U.S. Army veteran of the Spanish-American War and was survived by his wife and four children. His death was a tragic loss for both his family and the law enforcement community.
Is there anything else you would like to know about Detective Noble's case?
