Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-03-20

o!o oAVOAo VI ~ WSS AOt In.
agined by them.
Houtvet, in company with two men,
went to the house and found Annette
Lawson lying dead in her night
clothes, with her head badly bruised
and mangled. apparently with nm axe.
From appearances, it is probable that
she endsavored to escape, but was over
taken and killed outside the house, and
the body dragged into the kitchen.
She had three wounds in the vicinity Of
the right ear, one under the right eye,
one on the frontal bone over the nght
eye; one under the left eye, one on the
left ear, one on the left temple, and one
back of the left ear,--all with the
sharp edge of the axe. The brain
could be seen through the wounds at
the right ear.
The men looked further and saw the
body Of Karen lying on the bedroom
floor, in a semi-nude state, in a pool
of blood. She was clothed only in a
chemise. The feet were Strengthened
out, RS if she had been in great agony.
A white handkerchief was tied tightly
around the neck, the kaot being at
the back of the head, probably
to strangle her after he had hidden un-
der the bed. Outside was a pool of
blood, and marks of struggle in the
snow, and there were finger marks
of blood on the doorway. She had five
wounds on the back of the head, one
breaking her skull, two on the left
temple, two on the forehead over the
right eye, one left of the right eye.
Her tongue was protruding. The
wounds were not sufficient to cause
death, which must have ensued from
strangulation.
Karen was Is years of age and nm.
married, and Annette, two years her
junior. was married.
Before the Coroner's Jury Mrs. Hout-
vet testified that she had gone to bed
on Wednesday night, and her sister
Annette slept with her, while Karen
slept Oh the lounge in the kitchen: in
the night Karen cried out, "John
scared me-" thinking the man in tho
house was John Houtvet; 81 heard
some one pounding her; the door of
the bedroom was fastened by some one
on the kitchen side with stick; I
shouted, the stick came out of the door
and opened it, reached out and cot
Karen by the arm, and was struck
with chair: I pulled Karen into the
bedroom with annette and mo told
Annette to jump out of the window
and she did SO; told her to run, but
she was so frightened that she could
only get to tho corner of the house 1
was holding the door of the bedroom.
and the person in the kitchen was try
ing to force his way in; when he could
not get in he went out around the
house and Il heard Annette shout.
Louis, Louis !" he went back to the
door and got the Ak and came through
the window; saw him strike ller
three times; I could not see the face,
but could see the figure of the man, and
I knew him to be Louis Wagner. 1
jumped through the window, taking
my skirt, and ran down by the hen
house; I tried to get Karen to come too
but she said she was too tired; ran
to the dock, but could find no dory
there; I then went out on tho island
and hid behind the rocks; We went to
bed about 10 p. NJ, and when hid be-
mind the rocks the moon was just SET
ting : stayed there until after the sun
rose, fearing Louis Wagner was still on
the island; I went down to the north
side and swung my skirt as q
signal for help; came up on the
point and shouted, and Mr. Ingle-
bretzen heard me and came over from
and took me to his house,
where I arrived at o'clock a. m. We
were all good friends Wagner never
made any advances to me or to others
that know of: the only time I saw
Wagner was when was looking through
the window when he struck Annette
I saw her lying on the ground when L
jumped cut of the window when Twas
running away I heard Karen shouting,
the voice sounding out of door; I did
not hear Wagner speak at ALL"
Mr.. Houtvet had $45 in a trunk, $40
of it being in pocketbook. The $40
was taken by Wagner, also IS from
pocket book belonging to another man,
and some scrip from another, which
shows that robbery was the incentive.
The murderer landed beyond the house.
Had he not done so Mrs. Houtvet could
have got away and let Am on the
island, where the fishermen would have
made mince meat of him i'll the morn
ing. He, doubtless, feared that he
might lose his boat and gave up hunt
ing for her, and rowed off without her
knowing it. Coming to the city he i'm
medlateiy disguised himself by having
his whiskers shaved of, and then pro.
ceeded to Boston, where lie was arrest
ed during the evening.
Mrs. Houtvet is in worse condition,
and great fears are Entertained by her
friends that sue will not survive the
terrible ordeal through which she pass
ed. A high fever set in today, and
her feet, which wore frozen, are in such
condition that it is probable that am
putation will be necessary, in which
case she cannot live.
A shirt stained with blood has been
taken from vault at the house of Mr..
johnson, in Portsmouth, N. H., and
identified as belonging to Wagner, who
boarded there.
A GENTLEMAN, favorably known in
high circles in Philadelphia, named
jacob Stone, was relating to a Sabbath
School his travels in the Holy Land,
AMI o,,no,r .>tbc~ <h;Doo toll tho ooh III