The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-14
A MURDER AT KISSEL'S
JAMES WILDER, A NEGRO, ASSAS-
sINATES OTTO MINGER.
A Fancied Grievance Growing Out of
Crap-Game Ffght-The
Slayer Mt Large.

the list of those which have occurred re-
Gently about this city. James Wilder, ne
gro bully, shot and killed Otto Minger,
young engineer and electrician, employed
at C. Fred Kissel's beer garden, at the cor
ner of Twenty-sixth street and Capitol ave-
nue.. A more cold-blooded murder has
never been committed in this city There
was not even the heat of passion to bring it
about. Revenge for an imaginary wrong,
which in itself was Of trivial nature had
it existed, was the only cause for the deed.
Otto Minger was sitting on the front steps
of the building occupied by Kissel's bar
room, on the Capitol avenue side, few
minutes after o'clock yesterday morning.
With him were his younger brother, Lee
Smith, a colored man, and another man.
Suddenly James Wilder came around the
corner from Twenty-sixth street, and, with
out a word, opened fire on Munger. The
first shot struck Minger in the abdomen.
He jumped up to run into the saloon, a
second shot was fired. and this cut through
the felt hat which Minger wore.
Wilder turned as his victim fell in the
doorway, and ran west on Twenty-sixth
street, pursued by Kissel and several
others. A hunting dog belonging to Kissel
almost played part in capturing the muir
NOOAA AAA-AAb
at his heels, and might have tripped him,
had not Wilder turned and fired a shot at
the dog The bullet grazed the dogs hip
and sent him yelping back to his master.
The police were notified, and bicycle pa
trolmen Wallace and Holtz were dispatched
in pursuit of the murderer. They say that
the delay in notifying them probably al
lowed Wilder to escape. They went to his
home at 1922 Berlin avenue, at the corner
of Twenty-eighth street, and found that he
had been there, changed his clothes and had
gone only a few minutes before. The pa
trolmen think they tracked the man to
Broad Ripple although there is some be-
lief that he went to North Indianapolis.
Two colored men, answering his description
were traced to these points The murderer
was not overtaken, however, and is still at
large. 1t is the opinion of the police that
Wilder headed for Chicago, and that he re-
manned in hiding yesterday to catch
night freight train.
CRAPS AND FIGHT SUNDAY NIGHT.
The murder was the result of an episode
Sunday night. A party of colored men had
been shooting craps in the Fall creek bot
tom west of Kissels. They had a key of
beer, and were all under the influence of
the liquor. In the party We're Samuel Bald
win, Lee Smith and Wilder. Smith and
Wilder seemed to be friends, while Baldwin
was comparative stranger, and when he
picked up a half dollar which Wilder
claimed, the trouble began. 1t seems that
Wilder and Smith both fought Baldwin.
The trouble was patched up and the men
walked up Capitol avenue and stopped in
front of Mulliss grocery, opposite Kissels
place Here the fight was renewed and was
carried on furiously that it attracted the
attention of people at Kissel's.
Finally Baldwin ran from the men,
slipped into the garden through a rear gate
and hid in the cellar. Smith and Wilder
started to go in at a front gate in pursuit
of him. Kissel saw the men and ordered
them away. They walked off, but came
back again when they saw Otto M1nger
opening the front gate. Munger ordered
them to stay out and tried to close the
gate, but Wilder insisted on entering. He
caught hold of the gate and pulled it open,
and as he did so Munger released his hold
on the gate, gave Wilder push which up
set him, and closed the gate before the me-
gro could come at him again.
Shortly after this Wilder called at the
office of DR.. Hart, on North Illinois street.
loose had to be extracted. He told the doc
tor that he had had trouble at kisseIs
with 'Dutchman," who had hit him with
q billy" He declared that he would get
even with the man who hit him. Yesterday
morning a plasterer by the name OF Hol-
man met Wilder at Monument place. and
Wilder asked MIN to go with him over to a
gunsmith's shop. He did so, and Wilder
had some repairing done to pistol: He
then bought box of cartridges and loaded
the revolver. When out in the street he
told Holman that he was going out to Kis-
sells to Kill Otto Minger
Holman claims that in an effort to warn
Minger, he rang up the garden by tele-
phone and told the person who answered
the phone of what Wilder had told him. 1t
seems, however, that the message was never
delivered, and no one at the garden re-
members receiving it.
DIED ON THE OPERATING TABLE.
Munger died yesterday afternoon about
$50 o'clock on the operating table at DR..
Fl. 0. Pantzer's sanitarium. Drs. House
ard Hart were at first called and made an
effort to locate the bullet, but found that it
had gone too deep to be removed without
an operation. 1t was discovered that the alb
dominal cavity, as we'll as several intes-
tines. had been perforated, and there was
profuse internal hemorrhage. 1t was de-
cided that naught but slxillful operation
could save Mingers life and he was taken
to the sanitarium. Life was ebbing fast
from loss of blood when he reached there.
The contents of the intestines We're mixing
with q large quantity OF blood which Moved
from the severed arteries Before the ar
teries could be located and the hemorrhage
stopped, Minger was dead. DR.. Painter
said the wound probably would have been
fatal under any circumstances. Sometimes,
by performing an operation Immediately,
sewing up the perforated inteStineS and
stopping the hemorrhage, such cases are
rot fatal, but in this case he thought too
much poison had entered the system to
have saved the life of the patient, even had
the operation been successfully performed.
Minger was a popular young man, the son
of Frederick Munger, baker, living at 1886
North Senate avenue. He had been in the
employ of kHssel for about nine years and
acted as electrician having charge of the
electric light plant from the time it was put
in, little over a year ago. He was faith
full employee, was sober and Industrious.
Wilder is a desperate negro, who prided
himself on being bully He is a gambler
and was rarely ever known to work. The
police say he has given them some trouble
Kissel says he is a rowdy and tough.
Mingers story of the trouble between
himself and Wilder at the gate, Sunday
night is that given above He made a
statement shortly after he was shot yester-
day. in which he said he had not even
struck Wilder The latter he said, was
drunk and was easily pushed out of the
gate when he attempted to force an en-
trance Minger said that Wilder lost his
balance and fell. If he was injured it was
from the fall. Lee Smith. who was with
Wilder, tells the same story of the affair
He says that Wilder struck hitching post
as he fell