St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-11-20
WHOLE FAMILY BUTCHERED.
Murderer Kills His Invalid
Mother, Sister and q
Brother.
HE CREMATES THE BODIES,
And Himself PeriSheS in the
Flames With His Vic
tins.

this morning about two miles from
Wellsville. At thai place lived Thomas
Portercheck, his mother.two sisters and
brother, all Bohemians. 1t appears
that Thomas POrtercheck complained
yesterday evening that his head was
hurting him, and said lie believed his
neck was broken, and refused TO 20 to
bed. AT O'Clock this morning he Sc
cured an ak and killed his widowed
mother, his sister and his brother.
While he was murdoring his mother,
sister and brother, his other sister. Mary,
made her escape by jumping through
the window. She stood on the outside.
and looking through the window, saw
her maniac brother Saturate the room
with coal oil, set it on fire, and then
cash himself with knife in the throat.
He sank down. and all four bodies were
consumed in the burning building. BY
the time the neighbors got to the un-
fortunate man the house was all aDlaze,
too late to rescue the bodies. This
morning the four bodies could be seen
still burning in the ruins. The mother
was al invalid. and had been confined
to her bed for twelve years. The muF-
derer suddenly became insane.
Later Details
of the butchery are as follows: 4
mother, two sons and daughter SO
dead, and their bodies are in burned
building, charred beyond recognition.
The only one of the family of grown
people who escaped death is a sister.
She escaped by jumping through
window. Thomas POrtucheck. B y
hemian. unmarried. lived on farn two
miles from Wellsville. with his BROTH
an invalid widowed mother eti
two sisters, the latter az a
about fifteen and nineteen years ~
spectively. A younger brother aged
about twenty-five years and Thomas
occupied Cne room, and the two sisters
slept in the room with their mother.
who has been unable to leave her bed
for the last twelve years. About 3
O'Clock this morning the elder sister
was aroused by hearing a moan and
heavy blows i'll her room, where the
light was burning. She opened her
eyes and saw her brother Thomas with
an ak in his hand just striking blow
on his mothers defenselesS head.
He turned and stood between his sister
and the door. With fearful scream,
she bounded TO the window and through
1t, carrying the sash with her. She
stopped and looked into the room that
she had just left. The maniac struck
the lamp from the stand, scattering the
coal Oil over the floor and lighted il, and
then opened the door and stepped Just
outside the threshold. Standing in the
light of the blazing room he
Cut His Throat With a Knife,
stabbed bimself in the abdomen and
fell into the doorway, with his head in
the flames. The frightened sister rushed
as fast as she could to carry her story to
the nearest nelghbOr, a quarter of a
mile distant, aroused him, and told her
tale. He at once summoned the neigh
bOrs, and by the time they arrived at
the scene the inside of the building
was mass of flames. The bodies could
be seen in the blaze.
Whether the maniac killed his sister
and brother will never be known, but it
is supposed he first dispatched his
brother in his own room with the ak
and then entered the other.
The murderer was a quiet and inOf-
fenSive man but was not generally sup
posed to be bright. He was, however.
thought to be harmless. His sister no
tlced nothing unusual with him except
that he was irritable and spoke harshly.
He complained of severe pain in the
back of his head and said that it felt
like some one was boring into his brain
behind his ear.
None of them could speak English
we'll and had but little communication
with their neighbors.
There is another brother who is mar
ried, who moved to st. Louis some
months ago.
There is no doubt but that the mur-
derer was temporarily insane.