On This Date in Minnesota History: January 28

January 28, 1921 – In a statement today, I. J. O’Connell, brother of Mrs. E. J. McCarthy, declared St. Paul Chief of Police Thomas E. Campbell ‘innocent’ of charges made against him by the woman. Chief Campbell was given a clean bill of health by Police Commissioner Smith yesterday following an investigation of the scandal that involved Campbell and Mrs. McCarthy.

Deputies took Chief Campbell to the county jail when they found him in a room with Mrs. McCarthy. The woman confessed to Commissioner Smith that it was frame-up. O’Conner in his statement today said, “My sister is not a woman of strong mind and no doubt this had been taken advantage of by some designing persons.” He said, “Her mind had been affected since she had scarlet fever when a girl.”

The Bemidji Daily Pioneer; “Chief Campbell Freed From Scandal Charge”; Jan. 28, 1921; p. 1.

St. Paul Chief of Police Thomas E. Campbell

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