Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1879-04-29
a Well Planned Suicide.

1 u
Dr.. G. j. St. Louis, who was convicted OF
poisoning bis wife 10 May, 1878, shot himself
| 10 bis prison cell, at Omaha, Neb., on Frldsy'
April 18th, which was the day appointed tor
his execution. 1t was reported at the time
that tho wound was not fatal. and Gov. Vance
respited him uutl May l6.h, but he grew
rapidly worse and died on the 20th. % Thuts'
day Father Greeubaum visited him to offer the
consultations of the church, but found st. Louis
| 10 wild state of mind. Hs was seated ou ths
side of his bed drtsJed in an underaalrt aod
drawers, with handkerohl:f arouod his neck.
he raved about messages oomlog the wrong
| Yay By telegraph, aud as the night drew on
beosme moro wild aud frantic. Soon after mid.
night he became somewhat qulcter. aud the
reverend Father undertook to prepare him Tor
his death, which be avoided With evaslvs ans
Wers, He talked Of his trisl aud the lalu5!l,3
done hin. ,
At | O'Clock oa tfilaY moroog Dt. 81.
Louis seat for lha sister Of his wife, Mrs. John
Gletzso. Bsfore shs came he took seat at
table and c1nmeccci to write to his father aud
mother. He only wrote few lnss a.d stop
ned, and then went and lay down on his bunk
uotl she came. - Mrs. Glez,n he talked
very earnestly and palhc,icaly about bis fate;
his orphaned children ard bis aged father and
mother. lie requested Mrs. Glelzso to have
his BODY buried beside his wife, snd gave her
all his private papers and oil his money ABOUT
$3.50.
Atter Mrs. Glslzsn Left. the pr,psrations for
the execution Wero commenced. D'. ~. LOUIS
was to be taken to Waboo to be executed. Ito
asked if no must go, aud ralI2d to sittlng po
stion. Wheo al ID if he wanted his boots. hs
repIi,d Yes" Just at this Instant ST. L?uis
suddenly drew revolver from beneath the b,d
nnilt and in the twiukling Of sn eye placed 1t
to his head and fred. Officer Gregg lcaped to
| his side at one b,uod. but was too late. The
prisoner had laid his plan we'll, and the deed
was accomplished wtbin two seconds. He
| drooped back on the bed without utterlug a
eroao. The wouad that produced death is said
70 be the same as caused the death of President
| Lincoln. When Sheriff Johnson arrived:
dispatch was received from Gov. Vance order
| ing delay of tho execution.
Fearing the prisoner would attempt to o)m
nit suicide strict watch had been k,pt on the
him. 1t is supposed the pistol was gwen
| St, Louis abou. - O. clock Tuesd,y nl2h ht IL
was small pistol and could have been handed
the prsooer wbon shaking hands; Two per
s,ps were arrested on suspicion OF fIrnlshus
The weapon 10 the doctor. lie left statemen.
10 which he sought to demonstrate his inno-
cepc,, Tho crime for which ST. Louis wad
condemned to die WAS c)mmlEted 10 lS11.-
| About the middle OF May, 1877, Mrs St. .L,uis
who was tho doc.or's second Wits, vas suddenly
taken III, She recovered aud was almost We'll,
when an item appeared in the ltcll paper to
the effect that during severe thunder shower
a fash Of lightning had penetrated toto tho
siok roon aud had caused Mrs. st. Louis TO
suffer relapse. She grew rapidly worse. aod
her death resulted On Juo, !.
| Durine the last days OF her illness she and
her obildron were neglected by St. Louis. who
spent most Of his time 10 the conpanonship tt
Mrs. Boomer His unnatural behavior excited
suspicion, aud Walter s. Haines, Professor Of
Chemistry 10 Russ College, Chicago, was sent
lf,r. He made 40 autopsy twenty one houEs
after Mrs. ST. Louis death, and reported, as
the result Of his analysis that he had iound
evidences OF arscoio 10 the System. from tho
presence of which death had PROBABLY resulted
At the iruuest the Doctor testified to hodlns
q 959 orains of arsenic, and it was farther
broupbt out that an attendant had noticed st.
Louis putliog powder 10 bis vile medicine
He vas found guilty of murder OF the icquest.
Tho iury at bis frs. trial disagreed. bis defence
heng that bis wife died from the shock by
tliehtoiug. 10 April be vas tried again and found
onilt7. aud sentenced 10 bo hanged April l8:h,
1879 Dr. St. Louis was boru 10 Wiscoosilo,
and was 30 years old. He was educated tor
| the priesthood, bu. ran away from his study,
and went to Sioux City, whtra he married OK
the age of ~. His wifo died, and he went 70
Montreal and studied medicine. Darlog the
war he enlisted in Chicago regiment. 10
1864 be met with an accident, got an honorable
discharge, and received pension from the gov
ernmeut up to his death. He married aga!t
: ia 1869, and published Catholic paper IL
Milwaukee for q year. Soon after moved to
Fremont, Neb. Ho was handsome map
| light build, medium height and dark complex
| ion. His second wife, and the Que bo mur
) dered, was small black eyed, thin faced Wo-
man, of positive temper und vivac,ous aooer'
Thew seemed 10 live happily, AID on the da'
} of bis wife's death sent series or verses u
| the local psp.r. 10 bo published 10 h's vile
obituary. .-----
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