In October they began selling property and crops, raising suspicion among the neighbors, and the father left for Oregon, allegedly to search for the Havens.
[1] Bannon was first housed in the Williston jail, which was more secure than the one in Schafer, but had been moved back, on January 23, 1931, for his arraignment on six murder charges.
One of the reasons for the lynching, as noted in the book, was that many in the community suspected that Bannon was responsible for a house fire in rural McKenzie County, in 1925, that killed the children of one family.
The speculation as to Bannon’s responsibility in the house fire was also reported in a July 10, 1988 Williston (North Dakota) Herald[3] article entitled “Fair Project Recounts 1930’s Murder and Lynching” and a subsequent 1988 letter-to-the-editor of the Williston Herald, in response to the article, entitled “Mob Justice Means Whole Story Won’t be Known” by Audrey Amlien Allex.
[4] Although there is incorrect information regarding the number, ages and/or gender of the children in the July 10, 1988 newspaper article and the recollections in “End of the Rope,” the Thursday, October 22, 1925 edition of the McKenzie County Farmer newspaper reported that the fire occurred on October 19, 1925, and that the children lost in the fire were those of Mr. and Mrs. John [Ingeborg] Amlien.
He commented on how the noose was tied, noted that a possible manufacturer's mark was present in the rope, and stated that the lynching had been carefully planned, with the mob controlled by three or more people in charge.
He asked for parole in 1939, but Alvin C. Strutz, another future Supreme Court justice, found that the community believed he was at least guilty of the cover-up.
[1] The lynching became the basis for the 2023 film End Of The Rope directed by Charlie Griak and starring Nick Saxton as Bannon.