The "good old days"
weren’t all that great as far as crime in Shelby County, Ohio is concerned, Society
president Rich Wallace told Sidney Sunset Kiwanis Club members last month. "With the
terrible recent crimes we have recently had in our area, some people think our society is
becoming unglued." 
"But, in 1922-23, in a quick succession of
crimes within a year, a local man beat his family almost to death, a friend stabbed
another to death on a southbound train in the county, a drunk shotgunned to death a priest
in a Minster church, a 17-year-old shotgunned a couple in Turtle Creek Township, a
10-year-old girl was raped by her stepfather, a local minister, and a doctor in Loramie
Township attacked his roofer because the shingles weren’t being laid straight. He hit
him with a hammer and then shot him to death."
Wallace, a Sidney attorney, noted that the Shelby County public
today takes little interest in local trials, even those for major crimes. "But, in
1884, local citizens complained about the new courthouse because the courtroom held only
about 150 spectators. They were accustomed to packing the courtroom in the old building
with 300 to 400 people for trials," Wallace said, noting that the present common
pleas courtroom, much smaller than its original dimensions, might attract only 15
spectators for a major trial.
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