Murder in Marvin's Backyard
This must have been a "sensation" in small town Kimball, South Dakota. The year was 1962.
Murder in the Marvin Ryan yard, Kimball, South Dakota
We were intrigued with Marvin Ryan - especially after seeing the article regarding the murder in his Kimball backyard. We are not certain if he was related to our family, and if they are, they are probably not close relatives. This family settled in western Illinois, lived some time in Iowa (Art and other siblings were born in Iowa), came to Dakota territory where they resided in Elk Point, from there moved to Tripp, spent a little time in Brule County and finally settled in Gregory, South Dakota. Now that is a "run-on" sentence...and one I'm proud of. Because this family lived in Elk Point and Brule County suggests some type of connection, as our family linked to Ryans in both places in the early years. The Ryan family in the McCook/Elk Point area was related to us by marriage - the James and Catherine Ryan family of Allamakee.
Marvin was born in 1919. As an adult, he lived in Tripp, Wessington Springs, Kimball and Gregory. He married a woman of Native American heritage (Sioux), but appears to have been seperated from her before the time of his death. While living in Wessington Springs, he was arrested and sentenced to a year in the Sioux Falls Penitentiary. His crime seems minor in comparison to the financial scandals that have plagued Wall Street, but selling property you don't own, is a crime in every state. Marvin died in 1999 in Marion County, Iowa.
Orville Satterlee was killed by a native American woman named Lucille His Law. She was from Ft. Thompson, as were a number of guests of the Marvin Ryan's that evening. It appears that Marvin may have known of her and her family as both families lived in Tripp, South Dakota years earlier.
Orville was born and raised in Oacoma, just on the other side of the River from Chamberlain, South Dakota. He appears to have lived a normal, fairly quiet, life. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he met up with a woman who had a long history of violence, and as you read the articles, you may agree that "she was one piece of work."
Arthur and Matilda Ryan family of Gregory, South Dakota. Marvin Ryan seated between parents. Other siblings include Vera, Alfred, Gerald, Leona.
Orville Satterlee with cousin in his Kimball, SD, backyard during WWII.
