Deputy James Art Wilson

End of Watch : November 16, 1923

DEPUTY JAMES A. WILSON
Beltrami County Sheriff's Office
Died November 16, 1923

On Thursday, November 16th, Deputy James (Art) Wilson was sent to the John Sanders' home near Kelliher for a dispute. (Kelliher is 50 miles north of Bemidji.) The suspect, Leonard "Wolf Man" Portano, 35, gave the following account: Portano had gone to the Sanders' home to settle a dispute over some property with Mr. Sanders. They had reached an agreement about returning the property and were going to sign an agreement in front of some witnesses when Mr. Sanders changed his mind. Portano stated he then saw a man sneaking through the brush with a gun. He told Sanders to tell the man to go away. The man was Oscar Timmy, who Portano thought was framing him to get him into more serious trouble with Myrtle Sanders' parents. (Apparently both men were attracted to the 15-year-old Myrtle.) Timmy then joined the argument. Portano thought Timmy would get the best of him, so he warned him to stay out of the argument. When Timmy did not take the warning seriously, Portano shot in his direction, but since he did not aim, he did not think he hit Timmy. Timmy was injured, however, and left to get help and have his wound tended to. Portano claimed Sanders then threatened him with a knife so Portano took Sanders into a shack nearby and tied his hands, telling him he would release him when he got his belongings back. Portano left and Sanders got loose, grabbed his knife and ran into the woods. Portano found him two hours later and dragged him back to the shack and tied him to a bedpost with his hands behind his back. Portano then shot Sanders in the mouth with his rifle. Portano saw Herbert Sanders, John's son, with a wagon containing his belongings and went to the Sanders' house. He spoke with Myrtle who told him that Timmy had left in a car. She asked Portano where her father was, so he took her to the shack and showed her. Around noon he went back to the Sanders' home where he got into an argument with Mrs. Sanders and he shot and killed her, too. Then he ambushed and killed Timmy as he drove home from Kelliher.

Portano then saw another man sneaking along the side of the road and sent Myrtle to tell him to go back. Thinking he saw the man motion as though he were going to shoot, Portano raised his rifle and fired to scare the man away. The man dropped down, but Portano thought the man was only pretending to be shot, so he approached with his gun still aimed at the man. Deputy Wilson had been killed by a shot to the head. Portano claimed he did not know that the man he shot was Deputy Wilson, whom he had known. J.O. Bean, who had been with Wilson prior to the shooting, said they had split up and were going to approach Portano from different directions. He said another shot had been fired in his direction, with the bullet piercing his cap.

At 6:00 p.m., two woodsmen, who were employed by Portano, went to the Portano shack where they found a note Portano had written listing the people he had killed. Myrtle was found in the shack and refused to talk with authorities, fearing retaliation from Portano. She apparently was the cause of all the trouble involving Portano and saw all the killings.

After the murders, a posse was formed to search for Portano. He had gone into the woods in the morning to the farm home of a Mr. Carlson to find lodging. Mr. Carlson directed him to the Lundquist farm, three miles north of Kelliher. At 7:30 a.m., Deputy Dan Rose and Sheriff Julius R. Johnson found him hidden in a pile of hay in the Lundquist barn. Deputy Rose poked his rifle in the hay and ordered him out. He came out without a fight. Portano had a rifle and three revolvers with him when he was found. He was handcuffed and transported to Bemidji. During the transport, he cursed and denied that he shot the officer. The residents there were so irate over the killings they were going to take the law into their own hands. The residents barricaded the road when the prisoner arrived. The officers made it past them and took Portano to jail.

Portano and Deputy Wilson apparently had been friends for 10 years. When giving his account of the story, Portano often broke down. He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in Stillwater Prison. He would only be prosecuted for the other three murders should he secure a pardon for the Wilson murder.

Deputy Wilson was survived by his wife and son, Leonard. His funeral was held on Sunday, November 18th, and the Kelliher Theater.

Sourced from: The book "We Will Remember"
With permission from Lisa Lovering, Author and Board of Director
MN Law Enforcement Memorial Association
L.E.M.A. 2009

Emil Engstrom

Frank Milanoski