Sheriff Fred August Patrikus

Fred August Patrikus

Sheriff Patrikus succumbed to a gunshot wound received five days earlier when he was attempting to arrest an escaped convict from St. Cloud Reformatory in Minnesota. During the arrest, Sheriff Patrikus was shot in the abdomen. The suspect, 25, had escaped a week earlier. He had served nine months of a five year sentence for grand larceny. He was apprehended, convicted of second degree murder, and sentenced to 25 years.

Sheriff Patrikus had served as Sheriff for three years and was survived by his wife.

Photo provided by the Billings County Museum.