The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1874-04-11

The Murder of the Steltzereide
Famfly-Eive Persons BmtehsredE sdr
Ever Recorded.
The following particulars regarding the
murder of the Steltzereide family are from the
st. Louis Globe of the 22d:
The murdered family numbered five souls,
and consisted of Fritz Steltzereide, aged
seventy-five years, his son Carl Franz Steltz-
eriede, aged about twenty-eight, and his
sons wife and two children, one of them an
infant eight months old, and the other little
girl aged three years. They resided on q farm
about four miles south of the town of Center
vile which is distant from Beleville, Ill EIGHT
miles, in q southwesterly direction. The
house is one-story frame, facing the east and
is set back from the road. 1t contains three
rooms,E one of which was occupied by the
young man and his wife as a sleeping apart
ment, the adjoining room being occupied by
the old gentleman. It was in these two
rooms that the terrible butchery took place,
and the floors, which were uncarpeted, were
literally flooded with the blood of the victims.
THH DISCOVERY
was made about 5 o'clock Friday afternoon,
by Mr.. Benz. Schneider,a "a neighboring farmer,
who called at the house of the Steltzereides TO
inquire about some seed potatoes which be
had purchased and which had not been de-
livereds Failing to arouse anyone by calling,
he entered the yard and approached the front
door. Finding it was unlocked, he opened 1t,
when, to his horror, there upon the floor was
the dead body of young Steltzereide, lying
partly on its right side, near q table, with q
ghastly wound in the throat and the head all
beaten to jelly. He evidently made
4 SEVERE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE,
and his hands and body were fearfully cut,
and the middle finger of one hand was cut
off. The horror-stricken farmer gazed around
f1af
discover itself 10 explain the horrid sight,
when suddenly his eye rested on the bed,
and there, sleeping the cold sleep of
death, lay the mother and wife, with her two
innocent children-the infant clasped in her
arms, as if to protect it. The skull of the Wo-
man was crushed in, and her throat cuts Inc
children were both killed by blows upon the
head Schneider had seen enough to satisfy
him that terrible crime had been commit
ted. and, with cheeks blanched with terror,
he posted with all speed to the nearest magfs-
trate aud gave the information. 1t was not
until after the arrival of the authorities that
the discovery was made that the old grandfa-
ther was also a victim to the knife of the inhu-
man butchers. He was found upon the noqr
i'm his room, his hair, silvered by the frosts
of seventy-five winters. dabbled with blood
which flowed from CHASTITY wound in his
throat.
THE CRIME
was evidently committed at night-sometime
during Thursday night, it is supposed--as the
bodies. when found, were in their night
clothes, with the exception of the young man,
who had on a pair of pantaloons. That the
object pf the murderers was robbery Is proven
by the disordered state of the chests aid
drawers, which were broken open and the
contents scattered around the rooms IL IS
known that Steltzereide had lately received
S130 iii cash, the price of some wheat, sold Dy
him, and this is missing; but whether this IS
all the money taken is not known. The faIni-
ly were In comfortable circumstances, being
the owners of the farm upon which they We're
living. and having sum of money in bank.
THE SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY
was visited on yesterday by hundreds OF the
friends and acquaiptances of the unfortunate
family Sheriff Hughes, who was at the
scene of the tragedy all day yesterday, re-
turned late last evening, and in CONVERSE
ton with your reporter he informed him that
he had two under arrest to await the result
of the Coroner's inquest. One of them. q
brother-in-law of young Steltzerelde, named
Boeltz, is strongly suspected OF being con
cerned in the murder, as it is known
that he has had several qdarrels with the
male members of the murdered family, and
that feud of long standing has existed be-
tween them. The Sheriff is also of the opin-
ion that the crime was not committed for the
purpose of robbery, and that the ransacklng
of chests and drawers was merely blind TO
diyertEsuspicion. BE also found in drawer
in thefold mans room S5 900 in notes, and
two certificates of deposit, one in the Belle
vile Savings Bank for $3.50, and one in The
PEOPLES Bank for $3.50. John Afkhen, the
party under arrest with BoeltZ, at one time
lived with and worked for Fred. Stelzereide.
THE SUSPECTED PARTIES.
The conduct of Boeltz before the corpse OF
his brother-in-law, it is said, was of the most