MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.., SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1957
Gunman Confesses 'I shot Canfield; Roger Shot Fossum'
By Worth Bingham
Minneapolis Tribune
Staff Writer
James O'Kasick, 20, 3909 Thirty-eighth avenue S., Saturday admitted shooting patrolman Ward Canfield Aug. 17 and named his brother, Roger, 26, as the killer of Patrolman Robert Fossum.The testimony came from O'Kasick in a second, floor emergency room at General hospital, where he was wheeled in about 7:30 P.M. O'Kasick said he and his brothers, Ronald and Roger, 26, had been hiding in the woods since the policeman's murder four weeks ago. HE SAID the three were on the way to hold up a Red Owl supermarket when they were chased by the two patrolmen.
Here's the story of the hospital confession:
O'Kasick was taken from the ambulance at 7:30 P.M. and wheeled onto the elevator. Surrounded by hospital attendants and detectives, he was rushed into a small emergency room. There attendants stripped the semi - conscious man and placed him on an operating table. O'Kasick had a blood-soaked bandage around his chest, covering his self-inflicted wound. HE WAS GIVEN a hypodermic, injection in the left arm and a bottle of blood plasma was suspended over him. His breathing became spasmodic. One of the six doctors in attendance took his blood pressure. It was 120 over 70.
At 7:45 P.M., O'Kasick was given another hypodermic in the right arm, and rubber straps were attached to his ankles and wrists for an electrocardiagram. Then, at 7.48 P.M., Detective Capt. Joseph Rusinko made -- his first attempt to learn the man's identity. O'Kasick didn't seem to understand what was being said.
AT 7:50 P.M., his left leg twitched, and a long electrocardiagram tape began to speed from its wooden box. "The bullet must have missed his heart. All the T-waves are upright," a doctor said as he read the tape.
At 7:52 P.M., the plasma bottle was shifted to O'Kasick's right arm and a blood sample was taken.
Rusinko asked Dr. G. E. Hughes if he could speak to the patient again.
CAN YOU hear me?"
O'Kasick nodded. He nodded again when asked if his name was O'Kasick.
"Are you a Catholic?" Rusinko asked. O'Kasick shook his head negatively.
At 8:05 P.M., his blood pressure was taken again. It was 105 over 70.
Q--Didn't I have you back in Phillip Henry high school? What's your first name?
A-- J-J-Jim. I didn't shoot him. Mymy my brother.
Q--Is Ronald your brother?
A--Yes, I no shoot, I was with . . .
Q--Was your brother with them? Take your time, Jim.
A--I shot Canfield, I didn't want to, he was waving a shotgun.
Q--Let's get this straight. Were you one of the three involved in the shooting of Patrolmen Canfield and Fossum Aug. 17?
A-Yes, Ronald, Roger and I.
Q--Do you know who fired the shots at Fossum?
A--Roger shot Fossum.
Q-Where have you been since the shooting?
A-- In the woods.
Rusinko removed his coat and hat. Everyone in the room was perspiring. It was 8:20 P.M.
Q--Where are Ronald and Roger?
A--Are they dead?
Q--I'm asking you, Jim.
A--I saw Ronnie get shot.! I didn't see Roger.
Q-Could you tell me who shot the deputy (Sampson, at Anoka) in the ankle?
O'Kasick shook his head. Then he launched into a garbled story of the afternoon's events, which became confused with the Fossum-Canfield shooting.
HE SPOKE for about a minute. At the end he said:
"We got in the car and Ronald was driving, he didn't know Canfield was under the car. I want you to tell me if Fossum did (coughs) did Roger shoot Fossum when (coughs) when he was down."
"Yes," Rusinko said.
Q--Were you in on the small loan hold-ups?
A-- Just one, Knight's pharmacy.
(O'Kasick later told detectives his brothers held up several Twin Cities drug stores during the last two summers.)
"I KNOW you think we did it on purpose . . . Fossum and Canfield . . . I could have shot it out today . . ." O'Kasick said.
"Why didn't you?" Rusinko said.
"I think even though you won't believe it, but God knows . . ."
"Let's go, I think we have enough for now," Rusinko said.
Ronald O'Kasick Roger O'Kasick