In the late summer of 1906, a 44-year-old White male named Hermon Myron Personius served as a policeman in Valley City, North Dakota. On the night of August 28th, word came through that a train robbery had occurred and the train was heading toward their jurisdiction. The train's operator had managed to alert another operator down the line, who then notified the Valley City police to be on the lookout for the suspects when the train arrived.
Responding to the alert, Policeman Personius,
along with the chief, another officer, and a civilian, went to the train depot to intercept the incoming train. As the train pulled into the station, the lawmen began a systematic search of the numerous cars, looking for any signs of the robbers. During the search, Personius successfully located and apprehended one of the suspects, turning him over to the other officer.
Continuing his search, Personius moved on to another boxcar. As he shined his light into the dark interior of the car to get a better look, two gunshots suddenly rang out from the blackness. The bullets struck Personius, and he fell, mortally wounded. The shooter took advantage of the ensuing chaos and darkness to flee the scene, vanishing into the night.
In the aftermath of the shooting, an investigation was launched to find the person responsible for the officer's death. A man was initially charged with the murder of Hermon Personius, but he was later freed when he was able to provide a solid alibi, proving he was elsewhere at the time of the incident. The man that Personius had caught at the scene was later sentenced to 15 years of hard labor on December 28, 1906. However, the individual who fired the fatal shots from the boxcar was never identified or apprehended, leaving the murder of Policeman Hermon Myron Personius an unsolved crime.
