In a tragic turn of events on August 29, 2022, Richard Bracken, a 64-year-old Caucasian male from Leeds, North Dakota, was found deceased in a wheat field in rural Towner County. The scene, located south of Cando, North Dakota, was the site of a horrifying triple murder-suicide that claimed three other lives.
Richard Bracken, along with his nephew Justin Bracken, 34, and a local farmer named Douglas Dulmage, 56, were discovered with multiple gunshot wounds.
The men had been working the harvest for Dulmage at the time of the incident. An investigation by the Towner County Sheriff's Office concluded that the perpetrator was Richard's own brother, 59-year-old Robert Bracken of Cando.
Authorities determined that an ongoing and escalating dispute between the two brothers, Robert and Richard Bracken, culminated in the deadly confrontation. Evidence from the scene and subsequent autopsies indicated that Robert Bracken fatally shot his brother Richard, his own son Justin, and Douglas Dulmage before turning the gun on himself. Robert Bracken was found with a single self-inflicted gunshot wound, and a. 357-caliber revolver was recovered at the scene. Due to the nature of the event, with the sole suspect deceased, no arrests were made in connection with the deaths.
