River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-01-01
REFERS RAGE.
An Infatuated German Living Near Car
Isle, Mimi, Kills His Wife, shoots SON

An Infuriated German Living Near Car
Isle. Mimi. Kills His Wife, shoots son
and Daughter. and Takes His Own Life,
CARLISLE, Mimi, Dec. 29.-Saturday
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. Carl iseher
was a German aged nearly go
years, who lived in a cabin on
the flats, as they are called, in Wilkins
County, about two miles from this vii
lage. His family consisted of a wife,
aged 40; the son Henry, aged 25, and
three daughters, aged p, 10 and
| ii. Reher was taciturn, moody
man, who was held in much fear
by his neighbors as a person of
unbridled passions and dangerous dis
position. His son Henry has served a
term in the penitentiary for horse steal
ing and is known as a hard character.
For the last three years there have
been FREQUENT family quarrels, which
often resulted in violence.
Reher came home about o'clock
Saturday night from Elizabeth, where
he ran a shoe-shop and after some
pleasantly about Christmas presents
drew two self-cocking revolvers and be-
gan shooting at his wife, son and
daughters. 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 ana third bullets struck him
in the arm, which was shockingly man
gled. 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 in a frenzied panic, and all
made rush for the door in the dark
ness. Reher dropped his revolvers and
drew huge carving knife. As Henry
Reher reached the door the father
plunged The knife into the sons back,
penetrating deep into his lungs.
The three daughters got safely out of
the house and scattered to hide them
selves in the hay-mow and outbuild-
ings. Mrs. Reher was left alone in
the house with her husband. He
attacked her fiercely with a
carving knife and stabbed her
again and again. She fell APP
parently dead, and he went
out to find his daughters and
finish his work. lie did not succeed,
and returned 10 the house. His wife
was gone. The youngest daughter who
watched the scene from the hay-mow,
describes what next occurred. Her father
appeared at the door with the dripping
knife still in his hand. The full
moon lighted up the land
scape 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 neighbors entered
the house and found Reher dead, with
a bullet in his brain and a rope
around his neck. He had thrown the
rope over a beam and put the moose
around his neck, and, as the rope tight
ened. had blown out his brains. He
lay there with his own blood mingling
in pool with that of his wife and
son. Mrs. Reher also lay on
the floor. She had crawled back to the
house and lay almost beside her dead
husband. She had only strength to tell
the story of the awful tragedy and then
died. Her body and limbs were badly
cut. Henry Reher, the son, will prob
ably die of his wounds