City Marshal Charles Batterson

Charles Batterson

Marshal Batterson was assaulted and beaten to death while assisting the county Sheriff at the jail. Marshal Batterson was acting as jailer for the night. As he slept three inmates escaped from their cells and attacked him and beat him to death. The three escaped but were all eventually apprehended.

Two of the inmates were captured while breaking in a hardware store in Vermillion a few days later. Marshal Batterson's killer was captured in San Antonio, Texas, on June 13, 1902. He was returned to Kansas, convicted of first degree murder, and sentenced to life. In 1910 Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs ordered his release.