Douglas County Past: Maple man disappears after ring purchase; contraband found in murder suspect's cell
Nov. 4—Nov. 1, 1924
Investigation by Superior police officials fails to find trace of Maple man
Despite a persistent search conducted by Superior police under the direction of Detective Ole Peterson since Friday noon no trace of John Lund, 31-year-old Maple man who disappeared from his home Monday and is believed the victim of murder, has yet been found.
Young Lund, who came to Superior that day to buy an engagement ring for his sweetheart, is known to have arrived in Allouez. Since that moment there is no trace of his movements.
It is the receipt of a mysterious letter from Ashland, unsigned, by Lund's sweetheart, Martha Hokkala of Maple, Thursday afternoon which led police do believe that Lund was murdered for the ring and the remainder of $200 which he carried on his person.
In the letter was a bloodstained slip of paper which Lund had taken with him Monday to measure the size of Miss Hokkala's ring. A short note is interpreted by police to mean that Lund is dead. "He's in a good place all for his money and a ring," it said.
Put Buuts on witness stand
William Buuts, age 36, on trial in superior court for the murder of Mrs. Emil Ylitalo, Lakeside, the night of July 6-7 last, took the witness stand this morning. He is the first to testify for the defense, in which attorneys hope to prove Buuts not guilty on the grounds of insanity at the time of the homicide. The state rested its case this morning.
Buuts said he could not remember his actions on the night of the crime after he had "returned from Allouez drunk." He remembered, he said, that he got back from Allouez and that he got into his house, "I don't remember anything from then," he said.
Nov. 1, 1999
Big-play Tigers run by Beavers
MAPLE — Big plays Saturday afternoon at the Gordon L. Nelson Field in Maple helped the Northwestern Tigers defeat the Cumberland Beavers 20-3 in a WIAA Division 4 Level 2 playoff football game.
The biggest play of the day was the newly installed reverse to senior speedster Lukas Jipson.
"We've actually had that play in for the last three weeks," said NHS Head Coach Ray Kosey. "We're going to do whatever works and I think it caught them by surprise. Any time you can get Luke in the open and (Cody) Fech (Fechtelkotter) out in front making the blocks, that's a good football play."
The key to the play was getting Fechtelkotter to pull from his guard position, and on both TDs he made monster blocks to free Jipson just when the play looked like it was dead in the water.
Tiger runners place high at state
Northwestern's Trisha Weyandt and Rena Johnson placed 10th and 38th, respectively, with times of 15 minutes, 24 seconds and 16:05 Saturday in the girls 4,000-meter Division 2 race at the WIAA cross country meet.
"It was a very good field," said Northwestern cross country coach John Woodbury. "Trisha went out tough. She was 14th at about a mile, and then she started passing people. She was the top freshman in the state."
Nov. 2, 1999
Contraband that could aid in escape is found in Rivera's cell
Douglas County jailers found suspicious material that appeared to be contraband to aid in an escape while they conducted a routine search of the cell block that houses 22-year-old Alejandro Rivera, the man who claims to be the local leader of the Imperial Gangsters.
Rivera, who has been jailed since July, is one of three charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Carl E. Peterson, 45. Peterson's body was discovered in the early morning hours of July 5, wrapped in a tarp in a boat being towed by two young men, one being Peterson's son, Patrick A. Peterson, 18. The third man charged is David L. Williams, 19.
On Sunday, while Rivera was in a different part of the jail with his attorney, jailers searched G. Block, where Rivera has been residing. According to the investigative report, Jailers found a "great deal of gang paraphernalia that seemed to center around a pink panther." They also located extra jail issue items such as tubes of toothpaste, combs, towels and shampoo.
The screws that should have been holding a vent in the day room had been removed, according to the report, and toothpaste was instead holding the vent in place. A sharp metal object was recovered from the vent, one end of which had been sharpened, according to the report. A second sharpened piece of metal was found in another vent.
In addition, jailers were told by another inmate that Rivera planned to escape and take hostages.
Maple's Klugow drops her rematch in Thunder Bay
Aly Klugow and her two Horton's Gym teammates fell victim to split decisions Saturday night in the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition, held in Thunder Bay, Canada.
Klugow, a senior at Northwestern High School, lost her match to Alecia Hayward in the featherweight division (125 pounds). Hayward has won all three of her matches against Klugow.
Also, Duluth fighters Wayne Putnam and Fred Martinez fell to Ryan Savage and Danny Duchesne, respectively, in their welterweight (147) and light middleweight (156) bouts.
Fighters with West Duluth's Horton's Gym will be in action at the Norshor Theatre Thursday night. Superior's Adam Van Alstine will be on the card. The first fight is set for 7 p.m.
Nov. 3, 1924
Horse, cattle burn at Lake Minnesuing
BENNETT, Wis. — In a fire which early Sunday morning destroyed the barn owned by Sophie Hanson at Lake Minnesuing, five miles from here, a horse, 12 head of cattle and 35 tons of hay were destroyed. The blaze, origin of which is unknown, was not noticed until it had gained considerable headway.
Nov. 3, 1999
Superior to get new schools
The Shamrock was lively last night. Enthusiastic supporters of the school bond referendum were so loud that Superior Superintendent Jay Mitchell and the school district Human Resources Director Monica Tikkanen had a hard time hearing their "informant" (school board Deputy Clerk Joan Parenteau) at the city/county complex as she sent in voting results via cell phone.
In the end, 73 percent of voters in the school district said yes to the new schools, while 27 percent opposed the plan.
The school bond referendum, which calls for two new schools — one middle school and one elementary to replace Blaine, Pattison, Central and East — will cost $47 million, with the state picking up 75% of the tab.
Nov. 4, 1924
Deportation case dropped
The deportation case against Pierre Baete, his wife, Marie Baete, and a son, Alphones, has been dropped according to Cadigan and Cadigan, attorneys for the defense who received a letter yesterday from government officials in Washington, D.C. ordering that the warrant of arrest be canceled.
The Baetes, who came to Superior in March, 1907, live at 4228 East Second street, Allouez. On November 19, 1922, they, with a smaller son, Peter, now 19 years old, sailed for a visit to their native county, Belgium.
They stayed a little over the six months' time allowed by law and were forced to debark for the return trip on a Canadian vessel sailing from Antwerp July 4, 1923, and landing at Winnipeg.
The family was arrested after having crossed into the states at St. Clair, Mich., on March 23, 1924 and proceeded to Superior.
The three were arrested on the charge of illegal entry and on the ground that the quota of immigration allowed for the year from Belgium had been exhausted. Peter, who was born in the United States, was not arrested and was told he might remain here.
Articles and pictures courtesy of retired librarian Judy Aunet with Superior Public Library.
