Fred P. Widmann

Homicide

Friedrich Paul “Fred” Widmann
30 YOA
Waterloo, IA
Blackhawk County
October 11, 1908

Black Hawk County in Iowa

Waterloo in Black Hawk County

Patrolman Fred P. Widmann was shot and killed by burglars on Wednesday, October 11, 1908, while walking his beat. Widmann was the first Waterloo officer to die in the line of duty.

Widman was 30 years old and had served the Waterloo Police Department for two years. No suspect was ever apprehended and his murder remains unsolved.

Widmann’s niece, Eunice Wilson, used newspaper clips from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier to piece together an excellent account of the full story behind her uncle’s murder. Wilson published the information under the Iowa GenWeb Project’s Black Hawk County section. Read Eunice Wilson’s case summary.

Information Needed

If you have any information about Fred Widmann’s unsolved murder, please contact the Waterloo Police Department at 319-291-4340 or Iowa Cold Cases via our Contact form.

Sources and other References:

• Iowa GenWeb Project, Black Hawk County, Fred Widmann
• National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund: FRED P WIDMANN
• Officer Down Memorial Page for Patrolman Fred P. Widmann, Waterloo Police Department
• “Honoring the fallen: Ceremony honors police officers killed in line of duty,”  WCF Courier, written by Tina Hinz, May 13, 2010
• Iowa DPS Remembers Patrolman Fred P. Widmann
• “Fred Widmann, Waterloo Police Officer Killed in the Line of Duty 1908,” The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, written by Jeff Reinitz, Jan. 1, 2002
• “List of ‘case open’ slayings in Iowa,” The Des Moines Register, Sept. 8, 1974
• “Life Saved as by a Miracle,” The Waterloo Daily Courier, Dec. 28, 1908
• “State Offers $200 Additional Reward,” The Waterloo Semi-Weekly Reporter, Oct. 20, 1908
• “Fred P. Widmann Sleeps In Peace,” Waterloo Semi-Weekly Reporter, Oct. 16, 1908
• “Want Alleys Clean,” The Waterloo Semi-Weekly Reporter, Oct. 13, 1908
• “Burglars Kill Waterloo Man,” Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, Oct. 12, 1908