40 years ago: Alert tellers help catch forgery suspects

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 14, 1975:

  • Tellers at University State Bank this week recognized an attempt to pass a bogus check and had notified police in time for three persons to be apprehended on forgery charges. Authorities arrested the three, who were all from Denver, on charges ranging from possession of a forgery device to forgery and aiding and abetting forgery. All were held under $10,000 bond. Detective Wayne Schmille said the three were accused of attempting a split-deposit con at the bank. One of the three opened an account with a small deposit and later returned with a larger check and attempted to withdraw a large cash amount. The larger check was the forgery, Schmille said.
  • A July 28 preliminary hearing had been set for Betty L. Bond, 36, accused of shooting her boyfriend to death in a quarrel over an electric fan. Bond had been arraigned on a charge of voluntary manslaughter and released on $10,000 bond. She had been arrested by Lawrence police following the shooting death of Vincent Smelser, 43, at her home, 430 Missouri. Authorities said Smelser had been living there for about a month.