Omaha daily bee., 1889-02-17
THE DEED OF A DEMON
Horrible Quadruple Tragedy in a
Minnesota Town.
HE WAITED FOR HIS VICTIMS.
Mother and Two Daughters Muir
dered BY a Relative.
A CARNIVAL OF BUTChERY.
The Awful Ending of a Friendly
Gard Party.
BY HER DYING cHlLDREN's BEL
Joe Chcmclck Fatally Wounds Two
Nieces, shoots Their Mother Dead,
and Then Puts a Bullet
Through His Head.


G%REENvlLLr, Mimi, Feb. l6.--tSpecial
Telegram to THE BEE. Shortly after mid
night n young Bohemian named Joe Chem
elek, fatally wounded two daughters of his
half brother, M. l.. Chemelck, shot their
mother dead at the bedside of her dying
daughters and then sent Il bullet through his
own brain. About & o'clock last evening
Frank Chcmelek and Joseph Chemelek went
to the residence of NJ. l.. Chemelck, n half
brother of the latter, to spend the evening.
About IL o'clock Joe Chemelek picked up his
hat and went out doors. Walking to his
fathers house, which was near by, he took a
double barreled shotgun from the rack and
returned to M. l.. Chcmelek's where he
secreted himself in a grove near the
house. About midnight Mary Chemelelt
aged sixteen and her sister Rose, aged
eleven, stepped out of doors. She had been
out about a quarter of an hour when two
pistol shots were heard. The father rushed
to the door and opened it. The two girls
stood on the steps with blood streaming
down their faces.
1--WE HAVE BEEN SHOT"
exclaimed Rose, "by Joe Chemelek,n and
fell in a faint. She was taken upstairs and
placed on her bed. Mary, who was not 50
badly injured, managed to climb the stair
way and lay down by her sister. The father
then started for assistance.
AS soon as he had left the house Joe
Chemelek entered with the shotgun in his
hand and went upstairs. Taking deliberate
aim at Mrs. Chemelek, who was sitting be-
side the bedside of her daughters with her
back to the door. he fired. The entire charge
took effect, and falling to the floor she ex-
pired instantly. Her
FACE IS ALMOST ENTIRELY BLOWN AWAY
so that she must have turned her head Just
as the shot was fired. Rose was already in
the agonies of death, but Mary had sufficient
strength to spring from the bed. Chemelek
drew a revolver and attempted to shoot her.
She sliced his arm, however, and after a
struggle, succeeded in getting away, down
the stairs and out the door. Chemelek, who
seems to have been very much under the in
tluence of liquor, attempted to follow, but
hearing voices in the road, turned aside into
a pasture.
The girl, though barefooted and only hall
clad, made her way a half-mile through the
snow to a neighbours. She reached the door
and knocked. When the door was opened
she fell to the floor a corpse. Chemeleck, in
the mean time, had only gone a short dis
lance in the pasture, when, placing his re-
volver to his right temple, he sent a
BULLET THROUGH HIS BRAIN
and fell forward on his face. When found
his right land still clutched his revolver,
while under him and held Ii in his arm was the
shotgun.
The motive for his crime is a matter of
conjecture. The indications are that it was
committed in a drunken frenzy. Some think
he had an in the person of n man
named Joe Fell. Fell and a man named
WEIGH had a law suit. Fell was an intimate
friend of Chcmelek, and in the suit Mary,
one of the murdered girls, gave damaging
testimony against Fell.