Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-09-25
WHOLESALE ASSASSINATION.
Butchery OF nm Entire Fan,,,v
Father u nd Son on thu. No NF.,es1

Father "a MI SON on the scaMoi,i.
On tho 81 Of August two men, father
and son, were taken by the public exc
cutioner of Bavaria to tho scaffoll
erected on the public square Of the
city of Ambcrg, and undrcssed until
they had nothing on but their under
garments. The names of the two cul.
prlts were Joseph and XAVIER Marcher.
Both looked terrified, and the hostility
which tho assembled spectators dis.
played toward them seemed to add to
thor detection. Young Xavcr Marcher.
when the execntioner rudely pushed
him towayd the block upon which he
was to lose his head, turned deadly
PALE and large beads of perspiration
gathered upon his narrow forehead.
The executioner evidently understood
his business, for no sooner had Xaver
Marcher laid his head on tho block.
than he severed it with a well.aimcj
stroke from the body. Old Joseph
Marcher had been mute, and seeming
~ ha't,stuPefied spectator of the terri.
Die end OF his son, and when the exc.
cntloner beckoned to him to kneel
down, and lay his head on the block,
ne seemed not to understand him. The
execntioner then dragged him to the
block, and half a minute afterward he.
too, was q headless corpse, and his
blood mingled with that Of his son.
Horrible to say, the crowd. which
had hitherto watched the bloody tra,
edy in the most profound silence, burst
into a fierce yell of triumph when the
head OF the old man rolled into the
basket. Yet, the enormity of the
crime, for which these two wretched
men suffered the extreme penalty of
the law was such that pity for their
fate could hardly have been looked
for. Old Joseph Marcher had long
been resident of the small borough of
Thalmassing. Formerly wealthy, he
had lost nearly his entire fortune, and
became very dissipated. He had two
children, the younger of whom was
Xaver, the young man who was be.
headed with him. The elder was q
married daughter, who was in excel.
lent circumstances and had three
daughters, aged respectively one, Eve
and nine years. On the 18th of July
old Marcher said to his son, who, like
him, was worthless, dissipated fell
low: eff we had the fortune uf your
sister Theresa, we would be all right. y
Xaver, the son, took the fiendish
hint, and few minutes afterwards the
two villains determined to kill the
husband of their sister, the sister her
self, and her three small children, in
order to become their heirs. That
night, about II O'Clock, they went to
the house of the devoted family, and,
while old Joseph Marcher stood guard
at the front door. ,Xaver, the son, then
forced his way into the house and
killed the father and mother and the
two youngest children with heavy
club. The eldest, Cresantia, a bright
eyed girl of nine, was only stunned by,
the blows, and on the following day
she had revived sufficiently to inform
the neighbors of what had occurred.
The two murderers were arrested. and
Immediately confessed their crime.
The authorities had the utmost diff:
Guilty in saving them from the fury of
The populace, but the proceedings
against them were so summary that
they were sentenced to death on the
Both of July and executed four DAYS