Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-11-07
A Consummate villain.
A PENNSYLVANIA FARMER POIsONS FOER
CHILDREN.


MIA, after a career of crimes such as is
seldom recorded. Shaffner was a far
mpr, owning and living on a small tract
of land about ten miles from Harrisburg.
He is about 80 years of age, of small
stature, and exceedingly repulsive in APP
pearance The first murder which he
committed in point of time, but the last
discovered, was that of his wife Sarah,
nee Setter, with whom he had lived
for nearly twenty years before he COM
menced the trade of pOisOner. On the
4th of September, 1869, Sarah, his wife,
died suddenly. Susan Cassel, who fig
ured in these horrible tragedies from the
beginning to the close, was an inmate
Of his house and his familiar companion
at the time of the death of Sarah, his
wife. He seems to have balanced for
some time in his mind whether he should
take Susan for a second wife, but, nine
months after, he married Nancy Good,
whose chief attraction to him was the
possession of $4,000. In this way he got
the new wife with the coveted money,
and retained his old companion, Susan
. Cassel. In the spring of 1870, John
Sharlack, the secOndsvictim, went to his
house and made the fatal acquaintance
of Susan Cassel. On the 18th Of Au-
gust in the same year he married her,
| Susan remaining in the house of Shaft
ner and receiving her husband as a
casual visitor. Through the sOlicita-
tiOns Of Susan and Shaffner, John Sbar-
lack had an insurance effected on his
life for $4,000 in the ncighbOring town of
Annville, Lebanon county. On one of
. SharlOck'S visits to Susan. in February.
1871, the host administered to him "a
dose of arsenic. of which he kept a CON
siderable supply on hand. During Shar-
lacks brief illness Shaffner was assidu-
Ous in his attentions. regularly admins
tcriDg the poison and waiting with cruel
intcntness its fatal effects. On the 18th
of February. Sharlacl died, and on the
10Th was buried. That no time might
be lost, Shaffncr started to AWHILE two
days after the funeral for the insurance
money of $4,000. After some delay the
money was paid to Susan. who turned
it over to Shaffncr. At this time there
. We're some negotiations about a similar
insurance on the life of Shat1ner's sec
oud wife. But the unhappy woman.
with the fate Of Sharloch before her
. eyes, had IA prcsentiment that there was
foul play in the insurance business. and
steadily objected to the arrangement
Nancy Shaffner was the last victim.
She was an amiable and worthy woman.
from all ACCOMPLISHMENT too good for
Shaffner and his associations. After a
hard struggle he succeeded in driving
Susan from the house on the death OF
John Sharlack. But she was already
doomed. After waiting for some months
so as not to crowd the deadly work, and
throw open too wide a door for the sus-
Picions of his neighbors. the poisOner re-
sumed his trade On the 9th of June.
1871, Nancy was taken suddenly i'll.
On the Sth. Shatfner called in a physi-
clan. who treated her for cholera NOR
/ bus. Day by day Shatfner pursued his
fendish work. administering the poison
while rcmorselcssly and cruelty watch
ING the terrible sufierings of his victim
I until her death on the morning Of the
nth Of June. In both the cases Of John
Sharlack and Nancy, the prisoner fin
iShed his work in preciselYsiX days from
the time Of administering his first dose.
On the day after the death of Nancy.
the wife. Susan SharlaCk again made her
appearance at ShatfncT's house, and took
her place rs its mistress. But, now that
Shatfner was in 4 position to enjoy life.
dreadful rumOrs soon began to spread
among his ncighburs and destroy his com
fort The sudden death of three persons
i'm his house within SO short time, in
the same manner. and under such
strange circumstances. awakened SuS-
piCiOn. The murmcrs soon arose to a
clamOr for his arrest, and the eXhuma-
ton and examination of the bodies.
On the Both of September the body of
Nancy Shattner was eXumed in the pres
cuce of her pOisOner and a number of
ncighbors. Having learned that the
body was to be taken up. the ghOul went
to the grave some nights before. broke
open the coffin, thrust his hand into the
mOldy face of the corpse, and convinced
himself that the crime could not be dis
covered Feeling sure of this he pre-
served the most stolid composure while
standing in the graveyard on the morn
ing of the Both, watching the eXhuma-
ton. Some days after. the bodies of
his first wife, Sarah, and Of John Shar-
lack were cXhumcd On chemical anal
ysis, the stomachs of all Of them were
found to contain arsenical pOisOns. That
of the first wife, of whom he made the
shortest work, contained the most arse
mic. On the 10th of October, Emanuel
Shatfner was arrested and committed for
trial.
He was tried and convicted of the
murder Of his second wife, Nancy, and !
condemned to death, but appeal was
taken to the supreme court, and new
trial ordered to be granted him. On the |
l4th the prisoner was brought into court
and pleaded guilty of murder in the
second degree to the three indictments
for the killing of his two wives and
IN &c 1
by the district attorney, on the ground |
that it was Saving money to the coun-
ty" by avoiding a long trial The court
thought that this looked like "com- |
promise" with the murderer. but allow |
ed the plea to be entered, as the confine- |
ment would be of such length as to pre-
vent the prisoner from doing further |
harm. He then, without delay, pro-
ceeded to pronounce sentence of i'm |
prisonment for IS years in the peniten- !
tiary-12 on each indictment. The |
whole thing was done with such sudden !
ness as to affect the spectators with the |
most profound establishment.
In addition to the three victims whom |
Shaffner cOntesses that he murdered. |
there is another deed of blood clearly |
traced to him-that of a soldier who |
placed his bounty money-S400-in |
Shaffner's hands for safe keeping, and |
who died under very suspicious circum- |
stances shortly after his return to claim |
it. While undergoing confinement at !
Harrisburg, Shaffner pretended to be |
very sanctimonious, assumed a high NOR
al tone In his conversation, and was par |
ticularly fond of reading tract entitled |
"A Brand Plucked from the Burning" !
On being sentenced to the Eastern Peni- |
Tertiary he Immediately began prepare
lions for the change in his abode, being |
especially anxious to bring with him to .
Cherry Hill collection of seeds, where
with to carry on farming operations on |
the small scale permitted by the garden
attached to his cell.
RESOLUTION on TIE DEATH OF JoHy |