Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-09-29
LUETGERT DEFENSE PUTTING DOC
TORS on THE STAND.
EXPERIMENTS WITH POTASH.
HUMAN BODIES NOT ENTIRELY DIS
SOLVED BY 1T.
Another Man swenrs He Saw Mrs.
Luet.ert Alive After May MARY
siemmering TO he Prose
cuted-Luetgert to Tes-
tify Thursday.


there will be ideniais thrown at the evi-
dence of the medical and chemical wise
men who testified for the state in the Luet-
CERT case. The defense put its first witness
in the expert line on the stand to-day, ana
he will be followed by a long string OF
others. The witness Of to-day was Dr.
Z. L. Reise who boiled two bodies IN
caustic potash In the vat III Luetsel.s
sausage factory. and obtained results dlt-
ferent from those who boiled bodies IN
caustic potash on behalf of the state
Another witness of the day was Arrna-
dale Opdyke. a peddler, who. testified mat
long after the murder is said TO have been
committed. he saw Mrs. LuetSert= in the
neishborhood of JanesSlle, Nis- Witness
said that there was no chance OF MS peif!s
mistaken, and he identified the photograph
of her which he was shown in court IN
the most positive manner. Two girls were
placed on the stand to impeach the testl-
mcny of Emma Schimpke, who said that
she saw Luetgert and his wife enter the
factory on the night on which the muir
der is said to have heen committed.
There is a strong probability that Mary
SieInmering will be called upon 10 answer
a charge of perjury. In her testimony she
gave evidence rejecting on the manner
in which she had been treated by Inspector
Schaak and Assistant States Attorney Nc
Even before the trial, and as she gave
sworn. evidence i'll the stand directly con-
trary to the sworn evidence she gave at
the preliminary hearing. the assistant
states attorney says that he will bring
a charge of perjury against her.
The court proceedings opened to-day with
the appearance upon the witness stand of
DIR. Clarence Rutherford, the Luetgert fam
tlv physician. He testified as to Mrs. Luet-
gert's physical condition. stating that she
was In fairly good health. Attorney Pha-
len inauired as to the womans mental con-
dition States Attorney Deneen objected
to the question unless the witness qualined
as an expert upon mental diseases. Dr.
Rutherford could not do this, and after
stating that he visited the Luetgert family
twice each month and never saw any un-
pleasantness in the family he was released
from the witness stand. -
An interesting witness was Armadale OPP
dyke. fruit vendor from near Janesville.
wis. opdyke was positive. He said that on
May 8 he was in the vicinity of Lake Zu-
rich. near GAINESVILLE. with horse and
wagon On the night of May he can1ped
out, sleeping in his wagon. In small grove
near him he saw two women. They were
living on the ground and said they were go
ing to remain there during the night. OPP
dyke said he carried an armful of hay from
his wagon to the women sand they made a
bed OF IL. L he WltHesS poSiilNSiy diiu uii-
conditionally identified photograph of
Mrs Luetgert as one of the women he saw
in the woods near Lake Zurich the night of
May g. He was absolutely sure that one of
the women was Mrs. Luetgert. On cross
examination he acknowledged that his iden-
tification was based purely upon the re-
semblance of Mrs. Luetgert's picture to one
of the women.
Maggie Shaughnessy, Of 124S North Robey
street. was put on the witness stand to
strengthen the impeachment evidence
against Emma Schimpke. Witness was
with Emma Schimpke and Rosa Gleech at
!. the dance in Westig hall, opposite Luet-
gert's sausage factory. the night of May l..
She said she saw Luetgert in the barroom
of the place. and that she and Emma
Schimpke left the hall about o'clock and
went home. Consequently, Emma Schimpke
could not have seen Luetgert and his wife
at II o'clock.
Marcus Heinneman added the weight of
his evidence to that of others who have
told how Mrs. Luetgert had frequently said
she was going away from home because
Luetgert had failed. On April rs, witness
said, Mrs. Luetgert told him she was going
away.
DR. Bernhard L. Riese was called to the
stand to tell of experiments he mad made
in disintegrating human bones with IL per
cent solution of caustic soda or potash. DIR.
Riese first experimental in the middle vat
the one the body of Mrs. Luetgert is alleged
TO have been disintegrated in. He said that
the first experiment was made with the
body of woman five feet two inches tall
and weighing ninety pounds. The crude
potash was emptied into the vat, in the
manner Luetgert is alleged to have placed
the potash in the same receptacle on May
!, and the steam was turned on. Within a
few minutes the body was put in the vat
and the vat covered with gunnysacks. The
boiling process was continued for several
hours, with the result that very little of the
flesh was left The physician described the
color of the liquid. 1t resembled vinegar.
On the surface of this liquid was fatty
substance, the twentieth part of an inch
deep. The expert said that the teeth of the
subject extending from the gums were not
injured. but the roots of those teeth which
had been covered by flesh were crumbled
and in some instances brittle
The skull, femurs and the large bones OF
the arms still remained intact. or nearly
so. The hair almost entirely disappeared
In the vat, at the beginning of the expert
ment were thrown two gold finger rings
= The doctor said he had some difficulty in
getting them out of the vat as the aikali
water burned his hands. IL was found that
the solution had not affected the rings. DIR
Riese also testified that he had expert
rnented with hairpns and a corset-the la
ter one from Mrs Luetgert'sr wardrobe
] Different kinds of haiipins We're lsed
Those which were japaned came out of tbs
rubber hairpns were tested, and il was
found that they We're utterly destroyed bS
the solution. a nara rubber button was
placed in the liquid. but it was not destroy.
ed. This was owing, the expert explained
to fits structure.
The second experiment, with the BODY o.
man, was much the same, with the eN
cepton thnt the vat was left uncovered
The process did not require much longer
despite this fact.
The effect Of this testimony which. ii
fact, bore out. TO considerable degree, tht
claims of the prosecution, was 10 establish
= IN important point the defense has ksp
IN view from the beginning. Frank Odor
ofski and Frank Biatk testified that III,
floor of the basement near the middle va
was covered from grease which, had iiowet
from the vat. DR.. Riese testified that th,
residue from both OF the bodies boiled i,
TIE vat was very little The fat did no
inch, the physician said EN-Judge Vim
cent declared this statement substantiatet
the story of the defense that LuetCert wa
making soap In the vat. and that the greas
in the soap boiled over and flowed or III
floor.
Ida Larson, who was at the dance Il
Diversey hall, opposite Luetgeft's factor
stand to iInpeach Emr1a Schimpke relativ
TO the latter seeing Luetgert and his wifi
walking toward the factory at II o'clocl
that night, She declared that Emm
ScliTnpkC was not "a the hall or near il a
II o'clock. She added also that Luetser
bought beer for some of the girls VIII
were dancing that night.
Luetgert viii probably go on the stan
in his own behalf Thursday.
Arkansas sheriff Indicted.
NIena. Ark. Sept. 2s-(Special.l The gran
Jury. now in session in Sebastian county
tTNN.nv