The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-10
LIFE TAKEN BY A LUNATIC.
HIS VICTIM SHOT DOWN IN ALLAN
TA'S BUSINESS CENTER.

Police Searching for Him When the
Tragedy Was Enacted-He Had IA
Few Hours Before Defied Arrest
by Arming Himself With "a ReVOl-
Yer and BarricRding Himself in
His ROOm-Escaped by Means of "a
ROpe-ThOught His Victim Had
Stolen His Soul.
Atlanta, Ga, Oct. 9.--B. H. Osborne, a
madman who had escaped from his faith
er's house, where he had been under
guard, waiting trial for lunacy, shot and
killed Theodore Schrader on the street
this afternoon.
Schrader was foreman of the engraving
| department of a lithographing company.
! and up to a few days ago Osborne was
his apprentice. Neither bore the other
any malice, but Osborne, who was once in
the asylum, conceived a hallucination
| concerning his soul and on account of a
trifing remark of displeasure by Schrader
in the course of their work, connected
him with it. A week ago, during the en-
gagement of Prof. Lee, the hypnotist,
who is now exhibiting in Savannah Os-
| borne, who is q years old, was a regular
attendant He nightly went upon the
stage as a subject, and from the accounts
of those who witnessed his performances.
was a good subject.
Some days after the departure of
Prof. Lee, Osborne began to
! act queerly, and soon relapsed
into his former mental trouble to such
an extent that his relatives decided to
have him returned to the state asylum.
His hallucinat!on was that his soul had
been removed, and that someone else had
it in his possession. He constantly talk
ed on this line. which is attributed to ex-
citement over Prof. Lees hypnotic per-
formances.
Osborne's father applied to the ordi-
nary for writ of lunacy last Tuesday,
and the hearing was set for this morn
| ing. At the appointed hour, the father
! and others of the family went to the
court house, the demented man being left
behind under the surveillance of his
brother The family thought it would
| be best to make out the case before the
| ordinary without the presence of the af-
| f1icted son, as he is inclined to be violent
| at times. He especially resented the
| idea of being sent back to the asylum.
Il will never be able to find my soul If
| / am sent away" he would say.
The ordinary deemed it advisable to send
for Osborne, and bailiff was dispatched
| for him. When the bailiff arrived at the
7 house at the corner of Chapel and Stone
wall streets, he found THAI the madman
had secured a loaded pistol and was bar
ricaded in his bedroom He declared wild
/ ly that he would not be taken away, and
before risking an encounter with him by
1 break ing open the door, the bailih went
! out to telephone the sheriff's office for
! assistance. He left guard at the front
! door while he was gone.
The madman secured a piece of rope,
/ and, tying it about the leg of the be1-
stead, let himself down from the WIN
| dow. He was well away with the deadly
| pistol in his possession when the bailff
returned with reinforcements from the
! sherifs office, and though the city was
we'll searched for Osborne all day no
| trace was found till the kill
ing was DONE at O'Clock
1t was not until after the madman was
under arrest in prison that he was fully
/ identified. The moment the killing was
done his brother was closeted with Chief
of Police Connolly, giving a detailed de-
scription of Osborne, so that the whole
police force might be put on the lookout
Osborne had come into the city and was
standing on the corner of Alabama and
| Floyd streets, in the center of the whole
sale section, evidently in waiting for the
appearance of his victim, who was en-
ployed a block distant He also knew the
hour at which Schrader would quit work
and that he would pass that corner on his
way home
In his hallucination he imagined that
it was Schrader who had his soul, and
by killing him he thought he would get
1t back. When Schrader appeared, the
madman, without a word of warning,
drew his pistol and emptied it's contents
at him. Two Of the bullets took effect
one passing through the heart and produc-
ing instant death. After the killing, Os-
borne made no attempt to escape, but
stood quietly by his fallen victim until
taken in charge by police officers. At the
station house, when asked why he had
killed Schrader, he would reply incoher-
enty: "Have you got my soul? Go away
If you haven't got my soul; will not talk
to you"
Schrader was an expert engraver He
came to Atlanta from st. Louis last Jan.
uary, and had been in the employ OF the
Atlanta Lithographic Company since thar
time. He leaves a wife and one child.
Osborne Is a brother of ]. b. Osborne
the populist labor agitator, well-konwn
throughout the state. He was sent TO
the insane asylum three years ago, after
having made an attempt to commit sui
eide by taking strychnine in the vestibuie
of the Christian church. He was picked
up there in great agony, and the drug
pumped out of him. He was released from
the asylum about two years ago. The
| physicians thought he had been cured.