On this date in 1885, Mrs. Dill awaited trial in the Richland County jail. The Wahpeton paper reported that a search of the Dill farm had turned up the missing August Dill, buried in the cow stable under a pile of manure. Mrs. Dill, her sons, and a hired man were arrested and taken to Wahpeton. Mrs. Dill confessed, saying she alone was the murderer and had placed the body there without help.
The case of Mrs. Dill made headlines across the region. She was found guilty and sentenced to life with hard labor at the territorial prison in Yankton. A St. Paul paper dubbed her “The Dakota Territory Murderess,” though she posed no threat to the public. Isolated on the farm and speaking only German, Mrs. Dill relied on English interpreters for her court statements. Domestic abuse and self-defense were not presented as mitigating factors.
Her husband had been missing since January 26. Relatives grew suspicious and eventually searched the Dill farm. According to Mrs. Dill’s testimony, August Dill had been in a foul mood over a debt owed to a machine agent. Wielding an iron poker, he began beating her, grabbing her hair, and smashing her head against the wall. She broke free, grabbed a gun from the hired man's coat, and shot him. She tried to revive him, but he was dead. She then dragged him to the barn and buried him. Ten days later, relatives arrived and discovered the body.
Mrs. Dill was described as a small, frail woman, her expression reflecting great suffering. Petitions for her release were signed by influential figures in Wahpeton before and after the trial. The hired man charged as an accomplice died in the Wahpeton jail a few weeks later. Mrs. Dill’s sons were convicted as accomplices but received light sentences. One son died shortly after his release.
In April 1891, Governor John Burke pardoned Mrs. Dill. The petition for her release was signed by the court officers, the foreman of the convicting jury, and many citizens of Wahpeton familiar with the case.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- A Startling Crime, Confessed. The Wahpeton Times, February 12, 1885,Page 1
- A Murder Trial at Wahpeton. Press and Daily Yanktonian, Yankton, Dakota Territory May 9, 1885
- Sentenced for Life. St. Paul Daily Globe, May 10, 1885
- The Dakota Murderess. The Warner Weekly Sun, May 22, 1885, Page 1.
- The Dill Case. Richland County Gazette, May 15, 1885, Page 1.
- The Mankato Free Press, May 15, 1885, Page 1.
- A FEMININE FELON. On Her Way to Sioux Falls – She Explains to a Reporter.
- St. Paul Daily Globe, May 16, 1885, Page 1
- Mrs. Dill Pardoned. North Dakota Globe, April 30, 1891, Page 1
