The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-21
CHARLES ZANOLI'S CASE
GOTHAM BARBER WHO is SUSPECTED
or POISONING SEVEN PEOPLE.
His Alleged Victims Insured for $3.50
Either a Second II. III. Holmes
or Strangely Unfortunate.

DarDer suspected or causing the death OF
seven, and possibly eight. persons. in order
to profit by the insurance on their lives,
will be brought to trial on Dec. 2S His case
is remarkable in many ways, and he will
either be proved one of the guiltiest and
most malignant criminal in the history Of
the courts or the victim of the most Curl
Gus series of coincident circumstances ever
developed. Four wives of this man whom
he married through the agency of adver-
tisements each died shortly after the mar
rage and in each case Zanoli profited by
Insurance on their lives. In addition to
these, one of his mothers-in-law, his little
girl and young apprentice in his shop died
after short illnesses, and in these cases, too,
Zanoli held policies of insurance on their
lives.
One of the strange features of the case is
that ZanoH never had any difficulty in coli
lecting these amounts from the insurance
companies, which are usually so watchful
for frauds. So far, even after the most
thorough investigation, the police have not
been able to secure any direct evidence or
murder The body of Jennie Summer, Zano-
lis fourth Wife has been exhumed and an
examination made to find traces of poison,
but the expert has not yet made his report.
The suspicious however, are held sufficient
for the arraignment of the barber, and he
is held in the Tombs Prison, and the
charge of murder will be placed against
him on Dec. 2S
The following list sums up the crimes OF
which Zanol is suspected, and shows the
amounts by which he profited
Mrs Peter Dorm, mother-in-law, died NOV.
1883, of "apopexy;" insurance. $22O
Lottie zanoli, wife, died NOV; ~; lSg gdoz os
oil fn 4.
"apoplexy;" insurance $500. 20 ,oo-
Lena Zanon, daughter, died Nov. 70, $780,
of cerebral hemorrhage. a., ~, -
Charles Schmidt, employe, uleu July LOS
1896. of ',hemorrhage. 20
Louisa Braune Zanoli, wife, died Dec. 10
1896 of "apOpleXy. . - n
Jennie SUMNER zanol, wife, died Aug. g.
1897. of heart failure. - 4,a
The total amount of insurance upon the the
lives of ZanoliS alleged victims was $o,eiV
Another woman, Barbara Hoffner; was 70
have been married to canon on the hisi ~
of the very day he was arrested, anu !. -
supposed she would have gone the way oL
the others Ever since his arrest canon iitas
stoutly protested his innocence OF muruer,
and declared his wives an diea 1l the
insurance on Schmidt, the BOY IN ms sii eII
under the name of Zanoli. but that Is an;
Once he is Sad 70 nSer with mel but this
was promptly denied by the person 70 M .;,ai
Ii was asserted he confessed Ihe lecnnesca1
eeTv and obtaining money under false pre-
terses. 80. v,o,,s racord.
He was born at Wiesbaden, Germany, lor-
tv-six wears ago. and came TO TINS county,
in 1876 He has always followed the , LIauu
of a barber, but the police as, as YET KNOW ~.
nnened q barber shop at 92 Rivington street:
4 woman known as Carolyn Doril, whoatA
the barber called mothsT-lnfrtaw, an uig illness
IF two days. The cause of death was apo
plexy Her life was insured ana CiialieS
ZanoI collected the insurance; -,
,ottie Zanoli' who is believed to have been
his second wife died at the same place on
Nov 10. 1894. She was i'll two Gays, Gays. o aot
too. was insured, and Charles canon see
The Insurance Marie Zanoli. who IS De-
lieyed to have been his third Wlfe, 9l 20 =. ~
the same place June IA, 1879 cause u ug IIer
husband collected the insurance. But TIE
sudden death of this wife in the same n lant
ner as the first caused SO muSH ,,'n,ad to
23OS Second avenue, opening a oaTper shug
there. 1t was there that Lena canon; cni 1e
by his second marriage, aieo ce pn hem.
orrhage. She was i'll two days. ZanolI Soi-
lected an insurance of SeVeral huuuIeu re SSo
lars on her life from IN {ne tben moved to 1857
tenth avenue and changed mis- name 70
Charles Braune. He employed several Jul
neymen BARRIERS, among them one ua tns
Charles Schmidt. Schmidt one day was TAR
en- suddenly i'll He was put 10 pea III LIZ La
little room back of the barber STOP h;p, he He
died JuIv 13 1896 The cause of death was
.insoiation'' and hemorrhage. He was SICK
eleven hours. ..od 20 zoo West
rrhirtv-sixth street, where he opened an
other barber shop and married ll ,rsle,,,, a
young buxon German gir1; Sne as Louisa.
Frame. She died Dec. Is, 1896, also pach
Of the barber shop. The cause OF oe s4 m wa
apoplexy: She was Ill TWO , oay1 life Charles
Zanoli or Braune again changed ms name
to Charles SUMNER, and moved 70 z4e hd 4S
One Hundred and hnrrt 2gserman girl she
was Jennie Summer. She died Aug. " 1885,
IF heart failure. She was SICK one uay.
All IF these wives were young, DuAom
,,,nnen aged from twenty-eight to thirty
civ Years. In the meantime the boy porn
Of one of these numerous marriages anu gnu
named like his father, Charles canon, Hau
heen nlaced in the Catholic orphan asylum
opposite the cathedral, but was remo ,.
from the asylum some months ago anu r1ra, MS
living with his putative father. BrauuS,
when the arrest was made Even Inns
childs life was also insured os4
The developments since the Gay Oh 49,
have not been conclusive me li ie l',a
"Atrophine, troppen, 2474, 5-17-9o. was
found scrawled on the back of a pnotogI,apn
among the BARRIERS beionglnsSs; Word
is a poison and troppen is the German we WIZ
for drops 1t is also declared Dy lhNesu
gators Independent of the police tnat pols eae
was found in trunk IN Zanodl na cu ms for
Seventh avenue, and sediment IN CUPS aoi
chemicals discovered among ms Delon5lnss'
It was learned yesterday that man sup
posed to be Zanoli had bought cyanide OF
potassium at the drug store OF Benn q
Stechmann, Second avenue the arus was s
purchased four times, on Dec. H. -, 10 anu
IS 1852 The quantity purchased was nall 4
dTachm THE first time he told the DRUGGIST
he wanted the drug to kill reaches. On two
other occasions he said he wanted tl IL s l9r Se
wanted II to clean jewelry. But none or
these poisons has. yet been directiy con
nected with the death OF any ~ ,,n4n az
supposed victims, nor can they De untll inc
result of the examination Of the remains OF
Tannie s,,hmer the fourth wife, is made
Dublic. 1t is asserted. however, that TINS
woman did not die of the disease alleged
in the death certificate.
- Zanoli is terribly wrought up over the
charges against him, and weeps almost con-
tinually in his cell. Whether 1t Is from the
Consciousness of guilt or because he feels
helnless in the face of so many suspicious
circumstances cannot, of course, be said
Yesterday his LAWYER told him to cease cry
ing as it would prejudice his case, and that
had the effect of bracing, the prisoner up.
II may be accurately said that SO far the
case is a mystery and Zanolis guilt is yet
unestablished.