The lynching of Charles Bannon occurred in the U.S. state of North Dakota on January 29, 1931. Bannon admitted he killed a family of six and was removed from the jail in Schafer. He was then hung from a bridge, making him the last person to be lynched in the state.

Background

Charles Bannon, who was 22 years old, worked on the Haven family farm located just north of Schafer. The Haven family included the parents and four children, with the youngest being two months old. They had lived on the farm for more than ten years and appeared to have enough money. After February 9, 1930, no one from the Haven family was seen again. Bannon remained on the farm, telling neighbors that the Havens had left and he was renting the property from them. With his father, James Bannon, he cared for the animals on the farm until the fall. In October, they started selling the farm’s property and crops, which made neighbors suspicious. James Bannon then traveled to Oregon, claiming he was searching for the Havens. In December, Charles Bannon was arrested and charged with grand larceny. During the investigation, it was discovered that the Haven family had been murdered.

Bannon later admitted to being responsible for the deaths. He first gave a statement and then made two confessions, with some details changing slightly. He said he accidentally killed one of the children and then killed the others out of fear. He claimed his father was not involved, but James Bannon was also arrested in Oregon and later moved back to North Dakota as a suspected accomplice.

Lynching

Bannon was first held in the Williston jail, which was more secure than the jail in Schafer. However, he was moved back to the jail on January 23, 1931, for his trial on six murder charges. Bannon, his father James, Deputy Sheriff Peter Hallan, and Fred Maike, who was in jail for theft, were also present. On January 29, between 12:30 and 1 AM, a group of more than 75 men arrived at the jail in over 15 cars. They woke Sheriff Syvert Thompson, who lived nearby. As he went to the jail, he was captured and taken away. The mob broke down the jail door, took Deputy Hallan, and then broke into Bannon’s cell. Bannon surrendered, asking the mob not to harm his father. He was dragged from the jail with a rope around his neck and taken to the Haven farm. However, the person in charge of the farm threatened to shoot if the crowd did not leave.

Bannon was then taken to the Cherry Creek bridge, a new high bridge half a mile from the jail, built the previous summer. He was pushed over the side and hanged. Authorities said the person who tied the hangman’s knot had "expert knowledge." His body was later taken for burial in Williston.

According to the book End of the Rope by Dennis Edward Johnson (revised second edition, 2020, published by Crain Grosinger Publishing), several reasons led the mob to lynch Charles Bannon. One reason was that many in the community suspected Bannon was responsible for a house fire in rural McKenzie County in 1925, which killed the children of one family. The parents had gone to Watford City and returned to find their house burned and the children missing. Bannon had worked for the family. This suspicion was also reported in a July 10, 1988, article in the Williston (North Dakota) Herald titled "Fair Project Recounts 1930's Murder and Lynching" and a 1988 letter-to-the-editor by Audrey Amlien Allex titled "Mob Justice Means Whole Story Won't Be Known." Although some details about the number, ages, and gender of the children in the 1988 article and End of the Rope are incorrect, the McKenzie County Farmer newspaper on October 22, 1925, 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. The children were [Karen-]Julia, 14 years old, George, 12, Elmer, 8, and Jennie, 5; two boys and two girls.

Aftermath

The lynching caused Governor George F. Shafer to request an investigation. James Morris, who was the state's attorney general at the time and later became a Supreme Court justice, led the investigation. He described how the noose was tied, mentioned that a possible mark from the rope's maker was visible, and said the lynching was planned carefully, with the group controlled by three or more people. No one from the group was ever arrested, and within a week, Morris believed the attackers would never be identified. An investigation by the Federal Council of Churches that summer concluded that officials were responsible for placing Bannon in a situation where a mob could easily lynch him. A 1990 study reached the same conclusion and noted that authorities had not properly protected any victims of lynching in North Dakota.

James Bannon was later tried for the Haven murders. The trial occurred in Divide County, North Dakota, and he was found guilty. His lawyers lost an appeal to the state's Supreme Court, and he was sent to prison on June 29, 1931, to serve a life sentence. He requested parole in 1939, but Alvin C. Strutz, who later became a Supreme Court justice, determined that the community believed Bannon was at least responsible for covering up the crime. He was released on parole in 1950, at age 76.

After the lynching, State Senator James P. Cain proposed a bill to bring back the death penalty for murder in North Dakota. Supporters of the bill argued that the lynching would not have happened if Bannon had faced a death sentence. The North Dakota Senate rejected the bill with a vote of 28–21.

In popular culture

The lynching inspired the 2023 film End Of The Rope, which was directed by Charlie Griak and starred Nick Saxton as Bannon.