New-York tribune., 1891-08-29
A CRAZY HUSBANDS CRIME.
uE KILLS HIS WIFE. HIS TWO CHILDREN
AND HIMSELF.
HORRIBLE SLAUGHTER IN A TENEMENT-HooSE
EIGHT BULLETS TO DO THE WORK

The slaughter Of a whole family IN bie Ven'
bouse No. 32I East One-hundred-and-slA'n7s
,aied TO disturb fifteen other families there la'c
THURSDAY night. and the terrible crime was no' ui0-
covered until twelve hours later. Johh p'No,i
n house-painter who occupied 'front.' rooms VI 'i,0
third floor. shot his wife and his two Ii'tic GIL,
aren. discharging five shots from reVo''ei VI
,arre calibre before he had completeu tioS' 49,"
Sers Then he partly reloaded the We"Pon CIV
fred three bullets into his own head ~ ""N VIC
about l o'clock. on Thursday nigh' "no" '-
deadly work was finished. Fully TWO uo@en WV,
nants OF the house lay in their pedS anu
,o the firing but not one OF them rose ~ "i'1>e
INQUIRIES or TO arouse their helsnpoi' W.
asleep. One German woman, VINO was 'ne - =.
es. neirhbor of the Baxters, ana was a""No -,
her bed across the hall, on the same noor' coun.''
tbe seven shots and did not disturb heI Seepilis
husband and children. Probably no hie coulu
have been saved if all the tenants h"u i"'"e"
"a the scene of bloodshed, but thelr lhulieiehcc
ros almost as remarkable as the crime ltSeil Ahey
slant through the rest of the mght "l'nouo
tboucbt of the four bloodstained cofpSee Oh lhe
third floor. ,,.-;u to,oi,;o.
When morning came the fifteen living lalhlleS
arose and went about their ordinary "orA lor
the day without asking or answering any ques-
,ions concerning the shooting. Inc men AelV
tho house after getting their breakfasts NooouS
remarked upon the silence in the rooms Whefe 'le
Raxters had lived, although MIS- baxter h'u
been known as thrifty housewife VINO Went
about her work early. Carl Muller' s'oliu
German laborer who also lived IN lrohU rooinS oh
tro +bird floor. went TO his work at daybreak.
ma. uifo who had counted the seven shots on
Thursday night before she went to sleep, stayed III
tho rooms with her two small daughters Two
I,isbmen whose families lived in rear rooms on
tho same floor. exchanged gossip on the landing,
hut took no note of the fact that the Baxter
children were not playing about their mothers
door. II was 10 a. m. when Mrs. Langan, liv-
ino on the second floor, went upstairs TO bor-
row q sheet of writng-paper and knocked at
the closed door of Mrs. .BaXter'S kitchen. There
was no response One of Mrs. Muller's little
girls appeared at the opposite door and Mrs.
Iangan asked if Mrs. Baxter had gone out. The
child said she had not seen any Of the DaxteTs.
THE CRIME DISCOVERED.
Mrs Langan went through Mrs. Muller's kitchen
and front room to the nIe escape helcony which
runs across the front wall of the house on a
level with the windows. On the balcony were
several boxes in which eeraniuns were growing.
Stepping over one box, Mrs. Langan looked in at
one of the two windows of the BaXters' front
room. The shades of the windows had been
drawn down on Thursday night and were still
down, but the woman could see through a narrow
space between the bottom of the shade and the
windOw-Sash as size knclt the balcony. There
so little light in the room that at first Mrs.
Langan could distinguish nothing, but as her
eye became accustomed to the inner gloom, she was
able TO make out the outlines of Mrs BaXters
Io1tr 1l,a a. H.
toward the window. Mrs. Langan uttered a cry
of horror and nearly fell oft the balcony as she
sprang to her feet. She went in haste to Mrs
Madden, the housekeeper, and told what she had
SEEN Mrs. Madden ran out and called in Police
man William Lawlor, of the East Eighty-eighth-st
squad, who was on his post in Northumberland
sixthst. Lawlor put lis shoulder against
the door leading to Mrs. Baxter's kitchen
and broke it open. Several women fol-
lowed him into the rooms, which
had been the home Of the BaXters In front of
the small kitchen was the Sitting-room, with
two windows overlooking the balcony, and bu-
reau between the windows. There was carpet
on the floor and on the carpet lay the bodies of
Baxter and his wife. The corpses were at right
angles TO each other, the woman's feet almost
touching the MANS right arm. Each head lay
in pool Of blood. The body of Mrs Baxter was
fully dressed, even TO her Shoes and it lay partly
on the right side. Mary Baxter had been pretty
little woman, twenty-eight years old. with trim
figure, light brown hair and eyes and clear COM
pleXiOn. As the shades were raised to let in the
light, il was seen that death had not destroyed
the cOmeliness of her face. She had been shot in
the back of the head, and the bullet in her brain
doubtless had destroyed her life in an instant.
THE MURDERER's WORK.
Baxter had fallen on his back. and his corpse
lay in that position with the feet close together
and the arms outstretched. Close to his left hand
lay the revolver with which the bloody work
had been accomplished. lie was thirty years old
short and well built, with brown hair and heavy
blonde mustache. When he killed himself he
had on only his shoes. trousers and undershirt
There were three bulethols in his head, in the
centre of the forehead and two over the left ear
Back of the kitchen were two small bedrooms,
in line with the other rooms Going into the
first bedroom Lawlor was confronted by q scene
that brought tears to his eyes and chased the
color from his face, accustomed as he had been
by years of service in the police force, TO sights
Of death There on the bed, which nearly filed
the small chamber, were the blood-stained corpses
OF two children, beautiful girl Of six years, and
DoS lOur yeaB old. Katie, the little girl, had
plump figure, white skin and light-brown hair,
like her mothers. She had been shot in the
left cheek, and some blood had flowed from the
wound. Her body lay on the right side, in an
attitude OF repose. and her eyes were closed. 1t
was evident thai she had been killed instantly
in her sleep. Smuggling close to her back so
that both heads were on the same pillow, lay
the body of her little brother John. His face
was upturned and had an expression of pain.
Probably he had been awakened by the shot that
killed his sister, but his eyes had quickly closed
again IN death. One bullet had gone int4 his
head, between the nose and the left eve. and
another had penetrated the skull at the right
temple where the sunny hair had been darkened
by fountain of blood One of his chubby hands
rested on his sisters shoulder and the other
ciutched his night-dress Mrs Baxter usually
had slept in the bed with the children. and there
was a space at the front of the bed for her