Town note
Lewis and Clark travelled through this area, following the Missouri River as far as they could by boat.
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FILE 412 / 5 August 2023 / 71 MIN / express
We're going to Bismarck, North Dakota... it's the capital of North Dakota... in southern North Dakota. about 0:03:36
Lewis and Clark travelled through this area, following the Missouri River as far as they could by boat.
about 0:04:51The area was a Mandan Indian settlement before other towns came in.
about 0:04:55Edwin Ferry Johnson, a Northern Pacific railway man, had the place called Edwinton after him for a while.
about 0:05:02In 1873 the railway named the city Bismarck in honour of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
about 0:05:41Lewis and Clark travelled through this area, following the Missouri River as far as they could by boat.
about 0:04:51The area was a Mandan Indian settlement before other towns came in.
about 0:04:55Edwin Ferry Johnson, a Northern Pacific railway man, had the place called Edwinton after him for a while.
about 0:05:02In 1873 the railway named the city Bismarck in honour of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
about 0:05:41The naming was intended to attract German immigrants and German investment in the railroad.
about 0:05:53Bismarck is the only US state capital named for a foreign statesman.
about 0:06:14"73,321"
No direction stated.
As told in 2023 about 0:03:50
"$57,660"
Comparison: "slightly above the national average". Direction: above.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:18
"$318,500"
Comparison: "slightly below the national average". Direction: below.
As told in 2023 about 0:04:26
3.0 / 5 · average of 4
“A resident loves the simple town that has become her home, full of the friendliest people she has ever met, many of them friends and family; the rolling hills, farmland and natural resources make it a place that produces much and consumes little.”about 0:06:28
“If you want to be an everyday person this is the perfect city; if you are afraid of death you will be comfy here, because there is little to do beyond work, school, practice, dinner and sleep.”about 0:07:19
“Most kids turn to alcohol and drugs in middle school for lack of things to do; people are closed minded, stagnant and hostile to growth, the food is bland and will give you diarrhoea, everything closes early on Sundays, and the religious people are hypocrites who frequent bars.”about 0:08:03
“I do not like this town.”about 0:09:03
Gordon Kent Erickstad was born in 1945 in Devils Lake, North Dakota. He left school in 1963, served a tour in Korea with the army, was discharged in 1967 and trained at Dakota Aerotech in Fargo as a helicopter mechanic. Barbara Marie Heckman was born four years later in North Dakota, went to school in Valley City and graduated from Dakota Business College in Fargo in 1969. She and Gordy met in Fargo that year and married in Valley City on 10 January 1970. Gordy rose to master sergeant and aircraft maintenance supervisor with the North Dakota National Guard; Barbara worked for the Bismarck Tribune and later in the deli at Dan's Supermarket. The family lived at Loreto Drive, in a comfortable neighbourhood, and by 1998 the couple were planning retirement and had bought a larger cabin at Lake Isabel for their grandchildren.
He was drinking and smoking cannabis by 13 and using methamphetamine, acid, pills and PCP by 16. His parents posted a $250 bond and wrote to the court promising to supervise him at home; a week later he was stopped again, for driving without a licence or insurance and possessing marijuana.
Their mother, Pam Stocker, let a group of teenagers and two adult men live in the basement. The basement was where the group drank, smoked cannabis and used methamphetamine.
Ryan thought it was a joke and went back to sleep. Gordy had 13 stab wounds to the head and neck and eight to his arms and hands, defence wounds among them. Barbara had nine wounds in her back and many more elsewhere, her throat slashed repeatedly, bruises and a fractured rib. The killers put both bodies in Gordy's pickup, drove them to a field near Selfridge about 50 miles south of Mandan, dumped them, washed the truck and went back.
Police searching the Sweet Avenue house found a bloodstained towel and latex gloves; Ryan, questioned over his truancy, handed over a bag of bloody clothes and shoes hidden behind a chair. A girl who had driven the pair to the house first lied, then led police to the bodies.
September 16-17, 1998 / the Erickstad home at Loreto Drive, Bismarck, North Dakota
As told in the episode, on 5 August 2023.
Accused
Accused
Public places are marked on the map.
crime scene
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