Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-01-25
BOMBERGER is EXECUTED,
THE NORTH DAKOTA MURDERER
DROPS THROUGH THE TRAP.
He Gocs 10 His heath without
FlinchinE-His Week o by the
Fall-HistOry of the Crime for
; which He Was Hanged. H4

of six members of the Kreider family,
was ~strangled to death. fses ~ q.
Sheriff McCune with two deputies
drove to the door of the court house q
little after noon and in a few moments
he, with his prisoner and deputies, were
speeding away toward the scaffold, a
short mile away. Bombergcr locked with
interest ut the crowd gathered and also
gazed ct the scaffold.
As they drew near n hush fell over
the crowd, which numbered fully 1000
people. As the solemn party drove down
the incline and stopped ut the door of the
enclosure Bomberger did, not lose his
self control. The party assembled the
steps to the platform above, the prisoner
walking up the steps. His knees smote to-
! gether and for an instant his wonderful
nerve, which, till then, has stood by him,
seemed to waver. The trap had already
been put in position and evefythina was
ready for the final act. Sheriff Mcclure
asked the prisoner If he wished to make
any remarks. IA
Bomherger then made the. following
statement on the gallows: 'Gentiemen,
/ have a fey worixa ~ say to You be-
fcretI leave. you. Ut am sorry for the
crime switch / have committed, and i
hope none of you will follow in my loot
| steps. Furthermore, / wish that no
p eacher be allowed on the scaffold. Good
by, gentlemen" #[N
The deputy then put, on the. black cap
and the sheriff adjusted the moose and
stepped back to the lever and pulled it
ard Bomberger, the murderer, was
launched into eternity.
The body was turned over to a couple
of his cousins, the only relatives present.
As soon as the body was cut down the
souvenir fiends went to work at the rope
and enclosure. The day was calm and
everything moved off without a hitcn.
The body will be inferred within a
quarter of n mile of the scene Of his
crime, in fact, the little girl who rode
into town TO give the alarm passed over
the ground in which he win lie.
The crime was committed on the It'll
day of July, 1893, ut the family resi-
dence of the Kreiders, one mile east of
Cando. About Z o'clock in the morning
the citizens of Cando were startled by
the sudden appearance of Anna kreidcr
i'll their midst, very much excited, con-
veying the more startling news that Al
bert Bomberger, the hired man, had killed
her father, mother, three sisters and a
brother, and then started off on horse
back Scarcely believing the girls story,
the citizens at once began flocking to the
house, some in buggies, others in wagons
and some on foot. There they found the
girls story was true in every particular.
the father having been shot apparently
while asleep, the mother while preparing
the morning meal and the four children
UP stairs in their bed room, which pre-
Sented a sight never to be forgotten by
any one of the Mortified spectators. The
wound of each one of the six, which pro-
duced death, was instantly fatal, although
some of the children had more than one
wound, Daniel S. Kreider, the father,
was shot in the left corner of the mouth,
the shot penetrating the brain; the moth
er was shot in the throat, the shot tear
ing away the whole front of the throat,
and destroying all of the important struc-
lures of the neck; Beatrice was shot in
the left side of the head, every particle
of the brain matter being blown. out;
Mary received a slight flesh wound in
the left arm, but her fatal wound was
a stab in the throat, Us she lay wounded
upon the floor; Murbey was killed by a
gun shot wound in the back part of the
head. crushing the skull; while David
was shot in the jaw, the shot dividing, a
part passing over and Il part under the
jaw bone penetrating the brain. "
At the inquest il developed that the
father was the first one killed, the mother
next, and then the fnnd started I'D
stairs, and meeting Anna upon the land
ing at the head of the stairway. ordered
hnr I,sa L.. 49, ,-1s.l --.- -
the landing from the room occupied by
the younger children. He then stepped
TO the door of the children's room and
fred three shots in quick succession into
the room, killing Murbey and David and
wcrnding Mary, while Beatrice escaped
through The window, jumping to the
glCuEd, without at first being missed by
the mur'erer, who, upon finding that
Nary was not fatally wounded, went
down stairs, got the butcher knife, and,
coming back, stabbed the poor girl in the
throat. BY that time he discovered
that Beatrice was missing, and immedi-
ately, began search for her, and found
her at the barn in the act of getting a
pony to give the alarm. Bomberger
stopped her, and taking her into the
house allowed her to look at her parents
who lay dead there; he then marched
her up stairs, and upon her refusing to
go into the room. where Anna was he
pushed her into the room and fired upon
her, being in such close proximity that
the fire from the gun bprned her dress
sleeve on her left arm with which she
was apparently trying 10 ward off the
death blow. The murderer, turning 10
Anna, remarked .'she dropped like a
cat, didn't sheY' After the. killing of
Beatrice he went into the room where
Anna was and outraged her, then made
her 20 down stairs and get breakfast for
him, which he ate in the kitchen standing
over the dead body of Mrs. Kreider, or
only a few steps from it at most. After
eating the breakfast he compelled Anna
TO put b remainder of the food into
a,packet for his lunch, then ordered her
te get the ''old mans money and watch
H. also got from her the little money
that she had of her own, amounting to
$1.lo. After saddlfng the pony and get
ting ready for his start he took the Cir.
mto the barn and again outraged her.