The New York herald., 1873-12-14
THE MURDERED ST. LOUIS CoACAMAN.
The Inquest Divulges the Fact That He Was
a Gentleman in Disguise and Had
Net Ruined His AEanced.

Net Ruined His AEanced.
The ST. Louis papers Of the 18th inst. contain fun
reports OF the evidence given before the Coroner
regarding the murder OF Boettcher, the coachmau,
by Benjamin +. Cronenbod, brother OF has fance,
details OF which appeared in the HERALD of yester-
day. The evidence shows that deceased was the son
OF a wealthy Prussian merchant, who accepted q
position coachman In the family, which he left
some time ago to enter into the liquor BUSINESS;
that the murderer and his victim good
terms until the day OF the wedding and nrst at
tempt upon Boettcher's life, when young Cronen-
bold received the following anonymous letter that
led to the rash deed -
Mr. BENJAMIN CRorSBoLp Cry
i 5 m % nc s Of s Cora s and
anence OF your snorant mother wi that Worthless,
wno aSes to sn va as u n m
rope. 1t devoves upon you, brave
ine only way open ior % doing weui be TO e said
and in cae he does not mind shoot hm aaw
by his first appearance at her and your home This much
respeced by them as young man worthy the nams you
Of which there great many in number provided
you doyour duty.
A point OF some interest brought out in the evil
dence was that the ceremony abruptly post
poned on Thursday evening was to have been
performed on the afternoon OF Tuesday, the day
OF the murder, at the Lutheran church, Ninth and
Soulard streets and the trip to town the party
mother. daughter and Boetticher-were about to
make, when young Cronenboll commenced firing
his pistol was for that purpose.
The following is the only important part Of the
testimony Of the young LADY,
The Coroner-Did Mr.. Boetticher ever treat you
or your mother with disrespect or in any manner
unbecoming gentleman
Witness-No, sir.
A Juror-Do you know OF any letters that were
sent him I? A. Yes; on Thursday morning he re-
ceiyed letter and he gave IT to me to read.
The Coroner-Dld you read itY
Mr.. Boe,tcher soon as he came into the house
to leave u.s. and, IL he did not mind, would shoot
| him down; the letter was without name.
The letter given above was placed in the hands
of the witness, and she identified it as the same
/ that she had seen.
| A Juror-What effect did the letter have upon
| himP
Wifness-As soon as he got it Re asked for pis-
to; our own pist0l-my iather's; this pistol Qhe
one used by Cronenbold and shown TO the witness)
is not my fathers; my mother mad taken 1t away
long ago because he intended to shoot several
other folks who came to the house; so told him
did not know where 1t was; on Sunday or Monday
he must have bought this pistol; he said so to an
other gentleman; the letter carrier brought the
letter have spoken Of
A Juror-Do you think your brothers anger was
excited by that letter.
The Coroner-Did he show anger previous to
thiss
showed anger a few weeks ago several times, but
1t account OF some one else.
Jne COr0ner-AgalnSt WnOmf
Witness-lt was q gentleman who came to the
house and wanted my brother to write mis- name
on something
The Coroner-Wi you state to the jurx again
whether you are positive that Mr.. Boetticner has
always treated your mother and yourself as
gentleman and as an honorable man snoud9
Witness-Ies, sir, always.
The Coroner-As one always shOuldf
Witness-Yes, sir.
The Coroner-You are sure in your caseS
WitneSs-Yes, sir.
The Coroner-He always treated your mother as
a q knOWf
WitnesS-feS, sir.
The young lady, after hearing her testimony
read, signed 1t IN nervous manner and was ex-
MRS. AUGUSTINE cRoNENBoLD,
dressed in deep mourning and heavily yelled, was
next called. Not understanding English, Charles
Lesser, Of the Anzeiger was sworn as interpreter.
given by her daughter. Deceased was rich,
but accomplished, Intelligent and man OF good
my son, with disrespect in any manner
Whatever; knew or any quarrel
between Boetticher ana my son; on the contrary,
they liked eacn other very much; since MS return
from Europe my son has been troubled IN mind,
probably from being insgated; ne was at times
melancholy, and from TINS was satisfied that his
mind not quite right; never knew him to
make threats to Kill any one BEFORE but | noticed
him to be excitable; know that he was instigated
and excited by tne anonymous letter which
he received three or four days ago from
tnat the maid servant came TO me and said MRS.
CronenDold your son has received letter without
a signature;'' begged my son let me read it.
but saw it was written in English, and my daugh-
ter read 1t and told me the ontents: my did not
like to give il to Cora he then threatened TO shoot
Boettcher II he did not leave the house when next
he came; looked upon the threat as Joke; the
matter discussed at the dinner table; his
statements were incohefent; we then
DISCUSSED THE SOURCE OF THE LETTER,
but no conclusion was arrived at as to It's author.
The witness dwelt strongly on the excitabc ma
ture OF her son. as shown on the evening OF the
proposed wedding and on the receipt of the letter
her son showed her letter which he had received
from Boettcher, but declined to readit saying that
he would do SO next day; she begged him to Pc
ruse 1t, as she knew 1t contained Boettcher's IN
tentions IN writing; Boetticner also thought her
s.n was not all right; her son did not open the
letter, and II Is still closed she knew the contents
OF the letter, because II was the result OF conver-
sation which they had on the subject and was
written in her presence; 1t was matter
OF courtesy on Mr.. Boettichers part ne
Henrichs which excited him; TINS letter
he burned, as Its contents were unpeasant:
this was the reason he postponed tne reaulng OF
the other letter; the anonymous iet.cI was re-
ceived on the morning OF the Weuung uay ueI son
had received medical treatment from Dr Engleman
and his son several times for his confused condi-
tion and melancholy temperament; my son was
worse Mt one time than another; tnlS was since MS
return from Europe In september; the witness,
ahont nine weeks ago, hid her late husbands pistol
because she AFRAID her son. knowing MS con-
dition would do some harm with it.
The testimony given on the following day Vh0
I1fll exploded the cruel charges made by the
murderer that the deceased coachman mad erected
the ruin OF the mother and daughter, while It also
showed that at times the accused has betrayed
signs OF emotional insanity. The trial Is exciting
great interest I'm the city, and one OF the local
Journals publishes woodcuts Of the parties figuring
in IL.
puNycuMrNT rnp TINT AmpurTv opTrYun