From the Files of the Kosciusko County Historical Society

Editor’s note: This is a retrospective article that runs a few times a month on InkFreeNews.

Information for this retrospective series is courtesy of the Kosciusko County Historical Society. For more history of Kosciusko County in the news visit yesteryear.clunette.com.

May 7, 1979 — No suspects have been apprehended in the murder of a Marion man and the wounding of another in a bloody clash among several members of two northern Indiana motorcycle gangs on a southeastern Kosciusko County farm Saturday night.

Lonnie D. Brannen, 28, of 38th Street, Marion, died of gunshot wounds to the stomach at Wabash County Hospital Saturday night. Steven G. White, 26, of 4829 E. CR 100S, Marion, suffered gunshot wounds to the left side of the face and pelvis. He is in fair condition at the Wabash County Hospital today. They are both members of the “Outlaws” motorcycle gang from Marion.

An estimated 200 to 300 young persons had gathered at the Hoosier Haven Campground, also known as Camp Liberty, on the banks of the Eel River, for an all-night rock concert and motorcycle race. Youths from different Indiana towns began arriving at 7 p.m. on the J.P. Freeman farm, one mile north of Liberty Mills at the intersection of Eel River Road and CR 600E in Kosciusko County.

The majority of the concert-goers were members of the “Caretakers,” the “Outlaws” and the “Invaders” motorcycle gangs, which are based in Goshen, Marion and Valparaiso, respectively. They came to listen to “The Gods,” a rock band reportedly from the Warsaw area.

May 5, 1966 — Nine “piggyback” cars of an Erie-Lackewanna Railroad freight train were derailed about 3 a.m. today at the south edge of Akron near Ind. 19, causing an estimated damage of $1 million.

Sheriff Willard L. Clark of Fulton County said there were no injuries but a potential danger existed in the area from spilled acid, which was evidently in transit. Clark warned residents and spectators to stay away from the area. The type of acid and the amount spilled in the wreckage is not known this morning.

May 3, 1955 — Prosecuting attorney Philip Harris reported at 1:30 p.m. today that an affidavit against Mrs. Gladys Blubaugh, in relation to the alleged arsenic poisoning of her husband, Francis, of Silver Lake, was being prepared in his office. 

Although the exact charges had not been determined, Harris said they would be filed this afternoon.

*Additional information found in a May 5, 1955, article from The Daily Banner, Greencastle, Putnam County: A woman who police claimed fed her fourth husband enough arsenic to “kill three men,” was held today without bond in Kosciusko County jail. 

Mrs. Gladys Blubaugh, Silver Lake, was accused in an affidavit charging her with poisoning in in attempt to kill her husband, Francis, 58, who was reported recovering in the hospital. Police said the poison had been administered in varying amounts for the past three to five years, and Blubaugh apparently had built up a partial immunity to the arsenic. He had been hospitalized several times, but always recovered from his mysterious ailment.

– Compiled by InkFreeNews reporter Lasca Randels