St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-06
MADWAN'S VICTIMS
CHICAGO CONTRACTOR KILLS
HIS WIFE, FOUR. CHILDREN
AND HIMSELF,
MURDERED AS THEY SLEPT.
THREE OF THE VICTIMS STRUG-
GLED HARD BUT THEIR
FATHER HELD THEM,
SIX CoRPsEs IN ONE ROOM.
Suspicion That Accident Caused
the Tragedy Soon Turned to
Conviction of a Crime.

CHICAGO, July 5.-Frederick He'll
man, a well-to-do mason contractor,
murdered his wife and four children
last night and then killed himself. 1t
was at first supposed that Hellman
and his wife and children met death
by accident, but it developed at the
coroner'S inquest this afternoon that
the wholesale murder was calmly
planned, and that the man intended
to kill himself and end the existence
of the members of his family. The
dead man and his victims are:
FREDERICK HELLMAN, aged so.
MRS. IDA HELLMAN, aged 32.,
FRED HELLMAN Jr., aged IL.
IDA HELLMAN, aged 10.
WILLIAM HELLMAN, aged Z.
HEDWIG HELLMAN, the three
year-old daughter.
The tragedy took place in little
brick cottage at the corner of Cor
nelia and Wood streets. The motive
for the deed is unknown, but it is
supposed the act was that of a mad
man, as Hellman about ten years
ago had a sunstroke, from which he
never recovered completely. Sus-
by the fact that the house in which
the Hellmans lived was tightly closed
long after the usual hour for the
family to be astir. The mother and
| married sister of He1lman, who lived
next door, attempted to break into
the house, but were unable to do so.
They finally managed to force an
+, 10 4
been left unfastened, and made their
way to one of the bed rooms, where
the dead bodies of all the family
were found.
ASPHYXIATION.
The house was so full of gas that
the two women were nearly over
come and it was only after it had
been opened up that it was found
possible to turn off the gas, which
was streaming from an open jet.
The relatives and neighbors at once
circulated that the deaths had been
the result of an accident, and the
police when they came adhered to the
same opinion. The open gas jet was
| just above the bed in which the
mother and one of the children lay,
and it was supposed that one of
them had, during the night, acci-
| IDENTIFY hit the stopcock and knocked
| it open. At the inquest this after
noon, however, an entirely different
complexion was given the affair by
| Charles, brother of Hellman. He
| had not been summoned as a witness
and when he was asked to take the
| stand it was not expected that his
| testimony would be anything out OF
| the ordinary. He, however, produced
| a letter written by the murderer and
| suicide late on the previous evening,
| in which he clearly stated his pur-
! pose of killing himself, although he
gave no intimation of the fact that
| he was meditating the deaths of the
members of his family. He spoke of
the window through which the
women had crawled as the only
way in which his brother
could gain admission to the
| house, and said that he had left it
open for that purpose. The brother
had not received the letter until this
afternoon and came directly to the
inquest.
PLANNED IT FOR WEEKS.
Other circumstances also went to
show the deliberate intentions of the
man. The gas pipes were only placed
in the house two weeks ago, and it
is now the belief they were put there
for the purpose of carrying out the
deed so successfully accomplished.
The position of the bodies at the
time they were found indicated that
the two boys and older girl fought
desperately to leave the room after
the father had turned on the gas.
The mother and babe were lying on
| the inside of the bed, as If in peace
full slumber, but the two boys and
the older girl were in different atti-
| tudes, and the expression of their
faces were those of persons who had
struggled hard. The fathers hand
was firmly placed across the mouth
of the older boy, and there is an
abrasion on the throat of the other
lad as though he had been strangled.
Charles Hellman said that he could
see no reason for his brothers action
save insanity. He was devoted to
his family, and his business was in
fourishing condition, he not owing
a dollar. A verdict of murder and
suicide was rendered by the jury.
Hellman was a prosperous brick
layer and contractor, and lived in a
pleasant home. Last night he was
seen until about 10 o'clock handling
display of fireworks for his chill
dren, and about the hour named the
family retired.
Gagged IN GERMANY.