Sheriff Herman Thomas Lange

Herman Thomas Lange

Sheriff Herman Lange died the day after being shot by a subject who had shot and killed another man the previous evening.

The intoxicated subject shot the man during an argument and then fled the scene. Sheriff Lange had arrested two other men from the house where the shooting took place and was in search of the suspect.

At 5:30 am, as Sheriff Lange stopped upon seeing a man walking on Highway 52 near Braysville, he was shot in the abdomen when his badge was seen by the suspect. Sheriff Lange was able to return fire and wound the suspect before he fled into the darkness. Sheriff Lange was taken to Bethesda Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, for surgery where he died the following day.

On March 11, 1930, the suspect was captured in Perry County, Kentucky, and extradited to Indiana. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. In 1933, the governor granted clemency and commuted the offender's sentence to life in prison. He was later released from prison after serving 14½ years of his sentence.

Sheriff Lange had served with the Dearborn County Sheriff's Department for one year. He was survived by his wife, who was appointed as sheriff to serve the remainder of her husband's term, 14-year-old daughter, mother, and three brothers. Sheriff Lange's wife was the first female to serve as a sheriff in the state of Indiana.