Sheriff Albin Hedstrom made a notable arrest in February 1926 when he apprehended Day Zaila on a charge of grand larceny. Zaila was in possession of three horses, a wagon, and a load of flax, all of which had been stolen. Unable to pay his bail, Zaila was remanded to the Burleigh County Jail, but he was determined not to stay there.
On the evening of March 3, Sheriff Hedstrom thought he heard a suspicious noise coming from a cell on the second floor. It sounded like someone was tampering with the bars of a cell, so he immediately went to investigate. He found all the prisoners in their cells and no signs of suspicious activity.
The next day, Mrs. Hedstrom, the matron of the jail, told her husband that she too had heard a suspicious noise on the second floor. Suspecting one of the prisoners was attempting to escape, Sheriff Hedstrom was determined to put an end to it. On this date in 1926, he and Deputy Ted Hedstrom quietly made their way to the second floor of the jail. During the day, the prisoners were allowed out of their cells and could walk around the corridor. The sheriff and deputy discovered Zaila in his cell, diligently sawing a bar on the window.
Zaila heard them approaching. As he ran out of his cell and down the corridor, he threw something into the top tier of cells. The door at the end of the corridor was locked, and he was quickly returned to a different cell. A search of Zaila’s cell revealed that one bar had been sawed almost in two. A second bar would have to be removed to create enough room for him to escape. There was also a lightning rod cable near the window, which would have allowed him to slide down to the ground and make a successful escape.
Officers found a razor blade with notches that had been turned into a makeshift saw. Zaila was added to a list of previous prisoners who had attempted to escape and failed. According to Sheriff Hedstrom, there had never been a successful escape from the Burleigh County Jail.
Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Bismarck Tribune. “Prisoner Saws Bars at County Jail.” Bismarck ND. 3/4/1926. Page 1.
