The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1872-03-21
VOLUME 24-NUMBER %
Deferred Articles.
QUADRUPLE MURDER NEAR DAT ON.

QU4DRUPLE MURDER NEAR DAT on.
4 Nan Murders lis Wife and Three
Children -lFFesE OF the Murderer
Insanity TFom Spiritual Excitement
Probably the CaESe.
DAYTON, March lO.-At O'Clock
this afternoon Coroner Bennett was
notified of a quadrupie murder in Mad
River Township, six miles northeast
OF this city, on the Valley pike, and
/ at once proceeded to the scene of this
most horrible crime, soon followed by
! Officer Salisbury and large number
Of citizens The officer nad not pro-
| ceeded over two miles when he over
/ took the Coroner, who had met the
murderer who was then in the eustO-
/ dy of some farmers, who were bring
/ ing him to town to deliver him up to
/ the authorities. The Coroner reeOg-
niZed the prisoner to be Leonard
Marquardt, whom he had known for
years. He Immediately turned the
[ prisoner over to the officer, who at
once started for the city with his
charge, III spring wagon, which he
I pressed into service.
/ By this time the report became cur
rent in North Dayton, commonly
called Texas, where the murderer and
the family were well known, and
where large crowds OF excited men
had gathered, and as the wagon near
ed them containing the murderer,
shouts Of "Kill him." "Shoot him, -
''Stone him to DEATH" were made,
or1 r~f~Tar,aa 1nIr~ r-ae u b.r
the GOODNESS and frmness Ofthe officer,
who succeeded in landing his pTisO-
ner safe in the statiOn-hOuse. The
report in the city soon became gener-
al, and the absorbing topic in all cir
cles tonight is this most atrOciOus
crime.
After the Coroner delivered the pris-
Oner into the officers, hands he eOntin-
ued on his way, and upon arriving at
the house, Immediately impaneled
jury. After the swearing in of the
jury they adjourned till 9 O'Clock to-
morrow morning.
Your reporter at half-past five
o'clock started for the scene of the
murder. Arriving at the house, he
found his way through large crowd
Of nervous and excited people into
log house, where upon the floor lay the
lifeless body of Mary Marquardt, the
wife, apparently thirty-five years old,
her body stripped naked, and bear
ing finger marks on her neck, death
having probably been caused by
strangulatlon. The floor was be-
smeared with blood, and from the
confusion of the furniture a terrible
struggle must have ensued. Leaving
this heaTt-siekening sight and cross
ing q small field into q narrow strip
Of wood, one of equal horror presents
itself. Within a space OF two hun
dred feet lay the bodies of three chill
dren, the smallest q boy baby, not
over five months old, lying on its
back with its skull broken in, and
Judging from the muddy ground where
it Law it evidently died without q
struggle. Farther in the woods lay
the body of boy some three years
old, and ten steps from that the body
of little girl, not over seven years
old. The two latter bore no signs OF
violence though it is believed they
were drowned in a drain which runs
through the field, or strangled to
death. Near these bodies hung the
clothes of the mother.
In the midst of the excitement
which prevailed here it was impOssi-
BILE to obtain anything reliable as
to when or how the murder
was committed. II is said that
there were three children vino made
their escape and are Kindly cared for
by some neighbOrs-
Coroner Bennett had the bodies re-
moved 10 tine house, which he locked
up, and adjourned the jury to meet aU
the school house near by at 9 O'Clock
in the morning, where a thorough ex-
animation Of the bodies will be made,
and the exact causes of the deatt5
will be known. Your reporter return
ed and proceeded at once to interview
the murderer. Upon entering the
station house where he is confined,
we found him seemingly enjoying
his supper, consisting Of crackers,
bologna and water. The following
conversation ensued:
Reporter believe your name is
Leonard Marquardt? How old are
you?
PrisOner-Yes, sir; i'll live till the 18th
of this month 1 will be thirty-six
years old.
Reporter Where were you bOrne2
Prisoner-In Germany; 7 came to
this country eighteen years ago.
RepOrer-How long have you been
on this spree?
Prisoner-I am not on a spree; new
er been drunk in my life. Gentle
men, I want you all to understand l
am not drunk; / am not crazy /
merely done as they directed me to.
NV wife and / carried our three chill
dren into the woods last night, and
was going TO heaven with them, but
the spirits told Us to go back, and Ma
~ and I done so, leaving the chill
dren in the woods.
Reporter-Why did you kill your
wife,
Prisoner-I did not kill my wife;
I merely choked her playfully, and if
she is dead, I know she Is in heaven,
for she was q good woman, and loved
me, and 1 loved her.
Here he burst into tears and wept
bitterly.
Reporter-Why and how did you
kin your children
Prisoner-I did not kill my ehildrn;
I know nothing about them | tell
you 1 only choked Mary tmeaning
his wifel.
Here he again wept bitterly, and
then showed US a scar on the back or
his neck, and said his wife attempted
to cut his head of because the spirits
told her to DO so. This he said was
done several days ago.
When asked what time he did this
he said he didn't know what time
'for the spirits told me to do 81, and
1 had taken my clock and both our
IOOking-gIasses to the woods and de-
stroyed them by fire, so [ couldn't
tell what time it was done"
The general impression Of those
who were present at this interview IS,
that he is labOriDg under insanity,
caused by excitement over Spiritual
ism. 1t was very evident that, had
he not been reEOved from the imme-
diate vicinity Of the crime before dark
aud before the crowd had become 50
large aud enraged, be would have
been hung tn a tree without judge OF
jury. The affair bas caused the great
est excitement ever known IT this