William "Bill" Oswalt is a former police officer from Bemidji, Minnesota. He inherited the position of Chief of Police of the City of Bemidji Police Department on the death of Vern Thurman. Following the deaths of Lester Nygaard and Lorne Malvo, Oswalt resigned as Chief. He was succeeded as Chief by Molly Solverson.
Early Life[]
Bill went to high school with Lester. Judging by their interactions, it is very likely that the two were very close friends since then. He recalls the times Lester fainted from seeing dissecting mice and female students going through their menstrual cycle. At some point he got married with a woman named Sally.
Season 1[]
"The Crocodile's Dilemma"[]
On the night of January 19, 2006, Bill investigated the murder of Sam Hess at The Lucky Penny strip club with Chief of Police Vern Thurman and Deputy Molly Solverson.
Later when Ida, Vern's wife called the police department to talk to Vern, Bill told Vern he had a call.
Bill arrived to the Nygaard's residence second after Molly when they are called for back-up.
"The Rooster Prince"[]
Due to Vern's death, Bill has become the new Chief of Police. He is seen attending a service for Vern at the Thurman residence . He tells Ida he has put together a schedule to help her through the remainder of her pregnancy. Molly suggests they talk to Lester about the incident, but he disagrees. His theory is that this is all the work of a drifter of some sort, but that is all that is heard. He is eventually talk it by Ida. He and Molly go to visit him at his house, where Lester makes up a story which Bill quickly believes. Satisfied, he drags Molly out and leaves. Later, Bill calls Molly into his office to tell her they're going to focus on the drifter rather than harassing Lester. Molly protests, but he insists that he needs everyone to line up behind him, including Molly. She does not listen to him, as she visits him in the pharmacy. Hearing about it from Lester the next morning, Bill goes to Lou's Coffee Shop to tell Molly she is off the case, and is being out on the frozen man investigation.
Episode Appearances[]
Season 1[]
- 101 - The Crocodile's Dilemma
- 102 - The Rooster Prince
- 103 - A Muddy Road
- 104 - Eating the Blame
- 105 - The Six Ungraspables
- 107 - Who Shaves the Barber?
- 108 - The Heap
- 109 - A Fox, A Rabbit, and A Cabbage
- 110 - Morton's Fork
Trivia[]
To be added.
| Season 1 characters | |
|---|---|
| Main | Lorne Malvo • Molly Solverson • Gus Grimly • Lester Nygaard |
| Recurring | Ben Schmidt • Bill Budge • Bill Oswalt • Bo Munk • Burt Canton • Chaz Nygaard • Don Chumph • Gina Hess • Grady Numbers • Greta Grimly • Ida Thurman • Jemma Stalone • Kitty Nygaard • Knudsen • Linda Park • Lou Solverson • Max Gold • Pearl Nygaard • Stavros Milos • Vern Thurman • Wally Semenchko • Webb Pepper • Wes Wrench |
| All characters | |