Why is the Gardner, North Dakota area so murdery, by episodes?

Gardner is a two-block farming community of 72 people at the eastern edge of North Dakota, butted up against Minnesota in Cass County, half an hour from Fargo. It was settled in 1880, got its post office in 1881, and was properly laid out in 1882 once the railroad arrived, which is a lot of paperwork for a place you can cross on foot.

Rank 119 overall and second in North Dakota, the Gardner area claimed two episodes and two murders across the state line: Gardner itself, and Moorhead, Minnesota, 22 miles away. No single bad night carries this hotspot. One murder falls in December 2001 in Gardner, the other in May 1997 in Moorhead, so the count is two separate cases on either side of the millennium, each with a single victim.

Two towns, two murders, two separate years, and 22 miles of state line between them. Notoriety is spread thin out here, like most things.