River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-03-02
a FATHER ACCUSED.

The PrattIe of HIs Children Leads to the
Arrest of an Iowan Charged With Kill
ing His Wife aud Babe and Setting
Fire 20 His Home.
OTTUMwA, Ia. Feb. "a. - Early
Wednesday morning the house of
AdOlph Neise, an employee OF hide
ana fur establishment in this city, was
seen in flames. Before help arrived
Neise's wife and her I-vear-Old babe
had persisted in the burning Conf
cile. People extended their sym
patty TO the man, who has seemed TO
be OF very Indust ious habits and very
prOvident, but later in the day ugly
rumors were circulated, and were
so insistent and the source seemed
so reliable that the coroner sum
mOnei a jury and began search
ing for facts What first aroused the
suspicious of the neighbors was the
childish prattle of the three little chill
dren. whom Neise had taken out of the
house and whom he had left with
a neighbOr, Mrs. Pease. The chill
dren are 8 aud years old, and, after
their fright. talked considerably more
TO Mrs Pease than was good for their
fathers interests The dead wOman's
life had been insured by her husband for
s.. 600 and the little folks had made in
eliminating reference to il. The inveS-
tigatiOn is still in progress. but enough
Is known 10 leave no room for doubt
that the woman was first murdered and
then the torch applied TO the humble
home To cover up the crime.
The first that was known of the fire
was when Neise knocked at the door
of Mrs. Pease, a neighbOr. He was ac-
cOmpanied by his three children. He
told Mrs Pease that his house was on
fire and he wanted to leave the
children there. Ills appearance was
suspicious, for while his wife ana
child were burning TO death in the cot
tage he was at neighbours hOnse and
hi had on his pantalOOns, Overcoat and
his feet care fully ineased in OvcrshOes
He said % Mrs. PeaSe: MY wife Is
buruiul mp" and then started back,
hut did not seem 10 BE- in any great
hurry.
Gurley Baker was the first man on
the scene and also the most important
witness before the coroner's jury. lie
said that after Neise had returned
from Mrs. Pease's lie carried ont three
arm loads Of goods from the
burning building and tried the
kitchen door After ali of this he told
those who were c0ngregated, among
them Chief of Police Williams. that
his wife and baby were in one room
of the house. Baker and Neise
rushed To the window of Mrs.
Noises room and looked in. but the
fire was 80 hot and the flames so near
that they could not attempt TO rescue
her. Baker said that he could see that
the bed and carpet around the bed
We're on fire, but there were no other
flames in the room.
The story of the children was elected
between their sObs. To cover his acts
Neise had evidently coached the little
ones what To say. Harry. the eldest,
was thrown off his guard and
said that they knew about
the fire before their mamma
was burned; that they saw into her
Jo0m where the fire was before the
flames had reached her bed. and that
the floor was sprlnlxled with something
that looked like water; that their
father had covered all their faces
up SO they could not see fur
Their The oldest girl also said to Mrs.
Pease that her father had told her the
morning before the fire that If
the house was burned up and
her mamma was burned up they
would have lots of money To build a
new house and would have a new
mamma The autopsy revealed the
fact of foul play previous TO the burn
ing The physicians testified that
while the brain was intact a portion of
the skull had fallen away. showing
that il had been fractured a
large blood clot established the
fact that she had been struck by some
weapon. The baby was found, not
near its mother, where il would natu-
rally be, but IN another portion of the
room
The dead woman was Neise's second
wife Her maiden name was Martha
NOlz. and when his first wife was sick
about eighteen months ago he sent for
this Martha Nolz to come and nurse
her The first wife died and in less
than siN months afterward he married
Martha
i men a SlSleE OF MS second VIE aTl-
peared on the scene. She was
huxom and very pretty, and when
she and Noise met il was love at
first sight She had never been mar
ried She came from fatherland
in August, was welcomed by her sister
and given a home until she found en-
plOvmeut- Soon her actions with Neise
went beyond sisterly affection. The
wife told her sister never to come under
the roof again. The sister was arrested
Wednesday night She cannot talk
much English She sat all night with
out changing her pos tion and acts like
one bereft of reason. 1t Is believed
that she will make confess on. Thurs
day night the woman attempted to
commit suicide by butting her brains
ont
When the coroner had heard the chill
Greu's story Wednesday night he or
dcred Ncise under arrest. II was not
long until the news spread abroad
ana the sheriff heard such reliable
rumors of mob being formed
10 lynch the man that they re-
moved the prisoner. Neise had an in
surance policy on his wife's life for
$1,000. lie acknowledged that he made
no effort to get his wife aud child out of
the flames. n IL was too late