Episode 46 | Nightmare in North Dakota

The Deuce Conrad Show

One of the most horrific mass killings in North Dakota history occurred on April 22, 1920, at the Wolf farm near Turtle Lake. Neighbor John Kraft discovered the bodies of Jacob Wolf, his wife Beatta, their five daughters, and a neighboring chore boy, Jacob Hofer, two days after the murders. The only survivor was the Wolfs’ nine-month-old baby, Emma. The gruesome crime, triggered by an argument over a dog, was perpetrated by another neighbor, Henry Layer, who used a shotgun and hatchet to kill the family. Layer was arrested after behaving suspiciously at the crime scene and confessing under duress. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he died in 1925. Emma was raised by her aunt and uncle until adulthood. The Wolfs’ resting place is marked by a large monument inscribed with “Die Ermordete Familie” – “The Murdered Family.”