Anton Covlin and Alec Panasuk were neighboring farmers in Dogden, North Dakota. In September 1917 the two men got into a dispute over horses. Witnesses from each family told different stories, but could agree on one thing, Alec Panasuk died.
Anton Covlin and his fourteen-year-old daughter Julia were arrested for murder. Anton, an immigrant from Russia, had arrived in North Dakota with his wife Fannie in 1900. Their daughter Julia was born in 1903. It was not Anton’s first brush with the law. He was arrested in April 1910 for assault. Three months later Anton and Fannie were arrested for obstructing an officer, but were found not guilty. In 1911 he was charged with petty larceny. In 1912 he was arrested again, charged with assault and battery, and found not guilty.
Then came the argument over horses. Alec Panasuk’s horses had wondered onto to the Covlin farm. Fannie Covlin caught the horses and was walking them to town to turn them into the pound. Alec followed her and offered $5 for the return of his horses. A struggle ensued and Anton went to his wife’s rescue. At one point Alex Panasuk had Anton Covlin pinned down, and Fannie Covlin jumped into the fray. Daughter Julia Covlin heard her father call for help and ran from their home with a shotgun. According to Mrs. Panasuk, Anton Covlin took the gun and shot her husband in the neck. Julia claimed that she shot Alec to save her father. Anton and Fannie also claimed that Julia fired the shot.
Anton and Julia were put on trial in January 1918. Anton, Julia, and Fannie Covlin all testified that Julia did the shooting. Mrs. Panasuk testified that Anton killed her husband, and that Julia was taking the blame to save her father from prison. A neighbor who witnessed the event wasn’t sure who did the shooting.
On this date in 1918, newspapers across the state reported the verdict of not guilty. The Covlins profusely thanked the jury in Russian.
The Covlin family moved to Minnesota in 1920. Julia became a schoolteacher, married in 1926, and had four children. She died in 2000 at 96 years old.
Dakota Datebook by Trista Raezer-Stursa
Sources:
- Author Unknown. “Anton Kovlin is Not Guilty,” Grand Forks Herald, January 25, 1918, pg. 3.
- Author Unknown. “Anton Kovlin, Accused, Takes Witness Stand,” The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, January 22, 1918, pg. 1.
- Author Unknown. “Bound Over,” The Washburn Leader, July 1, 1910, pg. 1.
- Author Unknown. “Dogden Correspondence,” The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, April 27, 1910, pg. 8.
- Author Unknown. “Dogden,” Grand Forks Herald, November 28, 1911, pg. 7.
- Author Unknown. “Girl Admits Firing Shot,” Grand Forks Herald, January 23, 1918, pg. 3.
- Author Unknown. “Kovlin Case on at Fargo,” Grand Forks Herald, January 18, 1918, pg. 3.
- Author Unknown. “Local News,” The Washburn Leader, October 11, 1912, pg. 5.
- Author Unknown. “Loyal Girl is Willing Sacrifice,” The Bismarck Tribune, November 15, 1917, pg. 1.
- Author Unknown. “Man Killed at Dogden Last Sunday Evening,” The Washburn Leader, September 21, 1917, pg. 1.
- Author Unknown. “McClean Co. Calendar is Nearly Finished,” The Bismarck Tribune, December 28, 1910, pg. 5.
- Author Unknown. “Mrs. Panasuk Says Kovlin is Murderer,” Grand Forks Herald, January 22, 1918, pg. 3.
- History Book Committee. Butte, North Dakota: 1906-1981, 1981.
