Arson in the Beatrice Daily Express, 1900&1920

Of all arson cases included in this dataset, appoximately 3/4ths of the cases reported included where the suspect was in the legal system. Cases are approximately split into three groups; arrested, arraigned/on trial, or sentenced. As arson did not have degrees during this time period as Nebraska had not adopted them until 1962 under the model penal code, juries at this time served sentences based on malicious intent, damage costs, and if the building burned was occupied, much like how the degrees of arson are seperated today. 

In a few cases in The Beatrice Daily Express, there were extralegal measures taken from mobs. In a case from March 31st 1903 entitled "Nego Firebug lynched." a black arsonist from Arkansas was kidnapped from the jail he was held in by an angry mob before being carried off.