John Radcliffe, a 61-year-old White/Caucasian man who served as sheriff of Vilas County, Wisconsin, was fatally shot during an attempt to arrest two fugitives near Conover in the summer of 1911. Online historical records differ slightly on the precise timing of his death. Court records place the confrontation on July 5, 1911, while modern law-enforcement memorial records list his end of watch as July 6.
In either account, Radcliffe was wounded during the arrest attempt and died from the gunshot wound shortly afterward.
The events leading to the shooting began in neighboring Oneida County. According to the later Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion, Antonio “Tony” Imperio was operating a house of prostitution for his brother and Philippi, or Philip, Roberti was associated with a woman who had been brought there. Contemporary allegations described the situation in the terminology of the period as “white slavery,” although later historical accounts caution that the phrase was frequently used broadly and sensationally in connection with prostitution and exploitation. Authorities obtained warrants for Imperio for keeping a house of ill fame and for Roberti on a related offense. When officers were unable to locate them in Oneida County and believed the pair was trying to flee toward Michigan, the Oneida County authorities contacted Sheriff Radcliffe and asked him to apprehend the men if they were found in Vilas County.
Radcliffe set out with John Hanson and G. L. Carter to find the fugitives. The officers located Imperio and Roberti together near a hotel in Conover and took them into custody. According to testimony later accepted by the courts, Radcliffe identified himself as sheriff, and the prisoners were repeatedly made aware that they were dealing with law-enforcement officers. Radcliffe temporarily left the two in the custody of his assistants while he communicated with Oneida County authorities. During this time Imperio and Roberti spoke together in Italian, and when Radcliffe returned, the situation became increasingly tense.
Imperio demanded that Radcliffe produce and read the arrest warrant. Because Radcliffe did not physically have the warrants with him, Imperio challenged his authority to detain them. As the officers attempted to maintain custody, Hanson ordered Imperio to surrender any weapon he possessed while Radcliffe began searching Roberti. Imperio suddenly intervened, drew a revolver and opened fire. Evidence presented at trial indicated that he fired approximately seven shots. Radcliffe was struck and mortally wounded. Hanson was hit by multiple bullets, while accounts differ over the extent of Carter's injuries, with some later histories describing him as narrowly avoiding serious injury and others reporting that he was wounded. Roberti, according to the prosecution's evidence, actively interfered with the officers who were attempting to protect Radcliffe. Investigators also presented evidence that Roberti possessed a revolver and that the two fugitives had a butcher knife among their weapons.
After Radcliffe fell, Imperio and Roberti escaped into the heavily wooded country surrounding Conover. The killing immediately triggered a major manhunt. Contemporary reporting described approximately 200 armed men searching Vilas County, with bloodhounds brought in to follow the fugitives' trail. Authorities believed the pair was attempting to reach the Wisconsin-Michigan state line. Rewards totaling hundreds of dollars were offered for their capture, and the intense public anger surrounding the killing created fears that the suspects might be lynched if caught by a hostile crowd.
Imperio and Roberti were eventually located in the woods and taken into custody. The Wisconsin Supreme Court later noted that the circumstances of their capture suggested that their attempt to escape had effectively ended. Historical accounts say authorities moved the prisoners between locations because of threats of vigilante violence, eventually securing them away from the immediate area before they were returned for prosecution. The case drew considerable attention throughout northern Wisconsin, both because a county sheriff had been killed and because of the prostitution and exploitation allegations surrounding the men Radcliffe had been attempting to arrest.
At trial, the prosecution argued that Imperio and Roberti had acted together in a plan to escape custody and were prepared to use deadly force if necessary. Imperio was identified as the gunman who fired the fatal bullet, but prosecutors maintained that Roberti knowingly assisted him by interfering with the deputies as the shooting began. The defense challenged the legitimacy of the arrest and maintained that the defendants had not understood that the men detaining them were legitimate officers. The jury rejected that account. The Wisconsin Supreme Court later concluded that there was ample evidence showing both defendants knew Radcliffe was acting in his official capacity and ruled that even a technical defect in the manner of arrest would not have justified killing him.
On December 23, 1911, Imperio and Roberti were convicted of first-degree murder after a jury deliberated for several hours. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment at the Wisconsin State Prison at Waupun. Roberti's conviction rested on the principle that although Imperio fired the fatal shot, the two men were acting together in their effort to escape. The Wisconsin Supreme Court specifically held that under the evidence it was immaterial which defendant had actually fired the fatal bullet because Roberti had knowingly assisted Imperio during the attack. Their convictions were appealed, but on April 29, 1913, the Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed the judgments and found no legal basis for disturbing either conviction.
The two sentences ultimately had different outcomes. In June 1915, Roberti's life sentence was commuted to fourteen years. The governor's published explanation stated that Roberti had been an accessory and portrayed Imperio as the leader who planned the crime, with Roberti acting under his direction. Imperio remained imprisoned much longer and was eventually paroled in 1928.
Radcliffe's killing deeply affected Eagle River and the surrounding Northwoods communities. His funeral drew a large attendance, and contemporary historical accounts remembered him as a longtime Eagle River resident who had also served in county government. He left a wife and six children. His son, William H. Radcliffe, was subsequently appointed to complete his father's term as sheriff. What began as an effort to capture two men wanted in a neighboring county became one of the most remembered early law-enforcement killings in Vilas County history, ending with both suspects captured, prosecuted and convicted for Radcliffe's murder.
