St. Paul daily globe., 1890-12-29
a Minnesota Farmer Commits
a Terrible Crime With
Knife and Revolver.
de Shoots Down His Wife and
Then SlasheS Her Into
Mincemeat.
His MurdepouS Weapons
Turned on a DefenSeleSS
Son and Daughter.
The Awful Nights Work Com
pleted by Deliberately TAX
ing His Own Life.
special 10 the Globe.

Special to the Globe
FERGUS FALLS, Minn., Dec. 2S.-The
chapter of horrors which has marked
the closing year in Minnesota is not yet
complete. and the tragedy which took
place last night few miles southwest
of Carlisle in some respects caps all 9TH
ers of recent date in its horror and ut
ter brutality. Yesterday the family OF
Carl Reher consisted of five persons.
To-day the father and mother are dead,
the son is lowering on the edge of the
grave, and one daughter is dangerously
wounded: and another great crime,
diabolical and deliberately planned,
has been added to the long list which
already distigures the annals of our
state. Carl Reher was a German, aged
nearly sixty years, who lived in a cabin
OIL the flats. as they are called, in Wilkin
county, about twelve miles from this
city. His family consisted OF wife,
aged fOrty-nine; son Henry, twenty
fiXe, and three daughters, aged twenty
two, sixteen and fourteen. Reher was a
Taciturn, Moody Man.
who was held in much fear by his
neighbors as person Of unbridled pas
Ginns and dangerous disposition. HIS
son Henry has served a term in the pen
ltentiary for horse-stealing, and is
known as hard character. For the
past three years there have been bitter
family Quarrels, which often resulted
In violence. Against any outside
interference, however, the family al
ways united as one person. In the case
Of the arrest of Henry Reher for horse
stealing, the others did all they could to
shield him from the law. A few weeks
after an unusually violent family broil
Carl Reher quit the house and went to
e Elizabeth, a German village eight miles
from here, where he opened shoe shop,
and has since worked steadily until last
night. Saturday night he got ride
with neighbor and went home. The
rest of the horrible story of last nights
crime was learned from the lips of
His Dying Wife,
and his daughters. Reher entered his
home on the flats at about o'clock in
the evening. All the members of the
family were there and Jumped up in
surprise at his unexpected appearance.
He walked to the table with apparent
unconcern and laid down several small
bags of candy and a large bot
tie of whisky. "These are Christ
mas presents for you," said he, ''and Pve
got some more. So saying, he stepped
into room at the back Of the house
used for a woodshed, and a moment
later reappeared at the door with self
cooking revolver in each hand, which
he leveled and began firing. The first
bullet was fired at his son and missed
its mark. The young man staggered
back and threw up his arm to protect
himself. The second and third bullets
struck him in the arm, which
was shockingly mangled. The fourth
bullet was aimed at the oldest
daughter and entered her shoulder.
The lamp was eXtinguished by the fifth
shot, which entered the body of Mrs.
Reher. By this time the whole family
was
I'm Frenzied Panic,
and all made rush for the door in the
darkness. Reher dropped his revolver
and drew a huge carving knife. AS
Henry Reher reached the door the
father plunged the knife into his sons
back, penetrating deep into his lungs.
In spite of his ghastly wound the
young man at once mounted horse
and rode two miles to the house of
Henry Schomann, the nearest neighbor,
who at once came to Carlisle and tele-
graphed to this city and Wahpeton for
surgeons. The three daughters got
safely out of the house and scattered to
hide themselves in the haymow and
Outbuildings. Mrs. Reher was left alone
in the house with her butcher. He at
tackled her fiercely with carving
knife, and stabbed her again and
again. She fell apparently dead.
and he went out to find his daughters
and finish his work. He did not sue
ceed and returned to the house. His
wife was gone: the youngest daughter.
who watched the scene
From the Haymow,
describes what next occurred. Her
father appeared at the door with the
dripping knife still in his hand. The
full moon lighted up the landscape
brilliantly and he saw his wife
crawling painfully on her hands
and knees fifty yards away. He ran
to her and again fell upon her with
fiendish ferocity, and plunged the knife
again and again into her PROSTATE BODY.
Then he returned to the house. Half
an hour later several neighbors well
armed arrived. The three daughters
were still in hiding. They had heard a
single pistol shot, but no other sound.
The nelghborS entered the house and
found Reher stone dead, with a bullet
III his brain and rope around his neck.
He had thrown the rope over beam and
put the moose around his neck. and as
the moose frightened had blown out his
brains. He lay there with his own blood
mlngling III a pool with that of his wife
and son. Mrs. Reher also Law on the
floor. She had crawled back to the
house and lay almost by the side of her
dead husband. She had only strength
to tell the story of the awful tragedy
and then died. Her body and limbs
were
Hacked Full of Holes,
any one of half dozen of which would
have been fatal. DR.. Thomas n. Nc
Lean, of this city, arrived three hours
later, and shortly afterward DR.. Trip
lett. OF Wahpeton, a'.d the two dressed
the wounds of Henry Reher and his
sister. The former had lost an immense
quantity OF blood, and his injuries