New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1891-09-02
VERIFY, AN UNEOLY PAIR.
An Aged Doctor and Niece Charged
with Numbering their Ille-
gitlmate Child.
Upon being Arrested, the Examina
tion DeveloIes that the Child
was Starved.

During the past week the people liv-
ing in Sleepy Eye and the vicinity Of
{ Golden Gate have been furnished with
! the particulars of an affair which is both
cruel and sensational in its details. It
will be remembered that at the spring
term of court an effort was made by
the grand jury to attach guilt to one
DR.. Brodda, of Golden Gate, and his
niece Augusta Kunz, who'll is claimed,
had lived together, apparently as man
and wife, for period of one year. In
April the woman, who is about % years
old, gave birth to twins. Everybody
believes that the old doctor is the faith
er of the children, but as both the man
and woman swore to the contrary, the
grand jury could take no action.
Ever since their appearance before
the jury, it is stated, the woman and
her uncle have been trying to give the
infants away. None of the neighbors,
however, would accept Of them, and
now it appears that in order to get them
out of the way they have adopted the
cruel and inhuman method OF starving
them to death. Neighbors who called
at the place frequently spoke of the
children as tit subjects for charity and
complained to the county commission
er of that district regarding the treat
ment given them by the doctor and
his niece. Money was appropriated by
the county for the purpose ofsupplying
the children with milk, but it does not
seem that it was ever devoted to it's
proper use. The infants took sick, and,
as the mother herself says, gradually
weakened. DIR. Welcome was sum.
moned by neighbors and stated that
nothing was wrong with the little ones
but lack of food. But Notwithstanding
his advice to give them more to eat,
| matters grew worse, and it is even said
| by neighbors that they were refused ad-
mission TO the house by the doctor while
| upon their mission of kindness.
Friday morning week ago, one of
! the infants died. A coroner's inquest
was held together with a postmortem ex-
animation by Drs. Marcellus and Well
come, and jury, consisting of such re-
putable citizens as A. H. Pickle, Aug.
Schultz, H. Heimerdinger, VIM. Dey,
Chas Strong and Geo Ross, came to the
conclusion that the child came to it's
death at the hands of Augusta Kunz and
August Brodda in w1lfully and inten-
tionallv depriving it of sufficient food
to sustain life.
| Thursday morning of last week the
so-called doctor and his so.called niece
were arrested. The following day their
trial commenced before Judge Gala
CHER on charge of murder. County
Attorney Robertson and Geo. W. Som
erville were for the prosecution and L.
G. Davis for the defense. The trial
lasted through two whole days and furn-
ished any amount of sensation. The
testimony is eventually the same as Civ
en- in the coroner's inquest. The ply
sicians and neighbors Ill testify to the
fact that the child must have died of
starvation, but the mother stoutly de-
MES all such assertions and insists that
she loved the children and gave them
nourishment and medicine. Further
more she testifes that Brodda is not
the father of the children, but that she
came by them while out picking berries
She does not know, she says, who the
father was. The doctors testimony is
in similar strain.
Monday afternoon both of the &C.
cused parties were brought to this city
by Marshal Greene. Sufficient evidence
was discovered to bind them over to
appear before the grand jury, and, as
no bail was granted, they will be COM
PEELED to spend the period from now
until January behind the bars of the
county jail under charge of murder. The
doctor is an old man Of sixty years with
long white beard and hair long since
turned gray. His companion, or niece
or daughter as some think, is woman
of only twenty-eight. ~.
| She takes the circumstances with no
| light feeling, and it is thought that if
kept apart from Brodda long enough she
will eventually make a complete confes-
sion. The old doctor has a wonderful
influence over her. however, and ever
| since the first effort was made to attach
criminallty to them she has protected
him with her testimony. The doctor
! on the other hand is apparently uncon-
cerned over the turn of of affairs. He
claims to have just as much shrewdness
as the lawyers, and says it will be diff
4 1t ~ r Z