The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-27
LAKE ELMO TRAGEDY RECALLED
BY THE ARREST OFF ALBERT
+. BROWN.
AFFIDAVIT OF FORMER WIFE,
IN WHICH BROWN IS ALLEGED TO
HAVE TOLD OF THE
MURDER.
DETECTIVE STILL ON THE CASE.
John COIweII, of This City, Succeeds
in Throwing Some Light on
the Mystery.

the city Jail, at Saltwater, on charga
of being implicated in the assassina-
ton of Thomas Curtin, at Lake Elmo,
on the night of Aug. o. last.
The details of the tragedy, which
occurred at the pretty summer resort.
on the Chicago, st. Paul, Minneapolis
& Omaha railway, twelve miles east OF
st. Paul, are still fresh in the minds
of the readers of the G b e. Curtin
was the proprietor of the saloon there
and lived with his young wife and her
brother, William Kunde, in an ell part
of the building. On that eventful night,
he closed the saloon shortly before IL
o'clock and retired. He had several
hundred dollars in money in his pos
session, and, as an attempt had been
made to break into his place a couple
of weeks before he barred the doors,
securely as he thought, and placed his
revolver under his pillow for further
protection A few minutes later the
rumbling of a passing freight train
was mingled with the juggling of
breaking glass, and, awakened sud-
denly from his sleep, he listened in
tently and fancied he could hear other
noises in the saloon. After Whis-
pered word to his wife, he reached for
his revolver and started to get out of
bed. but just then, by the din~1ight
of the night lamp, he saw the figure of
a man standing between the draperies
of the chamber archway, his eyes
cleaning behind a black mask. The
intruder commanded, Keep still
therer and at this instant fired. Five
shots rang out, the lamp was eXtin-
gu;shed by the conclusion and the
room was filled with smoke. With
one agonizing cry Of ooh Gus" (his
wife) Curtin sank to the floor, a corpse,
his life-blood squirting over the very
garments of his wife, who was dazed
and almost bereft of reason by the
suddenness and horror of the attack
The murderer in escaping overturned
a stand and chair. Will Kunde,
aroused by the firing, FASTENED from
his bed room upstairs and in very
few minutes the neighbOrhOOd was
aroused. 1t was then seen that the
burglars had first broken into the
saloon and rified the money drawer of
its contents, about two dollars in
change, and not content with this, had
attempted to enter Curlin'S bed room
in search Of greater booty. The Wash
ington county authorities were notified
and a search was Instituted through
the surrounding country for the mis-
Creants, but without avail. On slight
circumstantial evidence, or rather mere
suspicion, two st. Paul young, nen,t
Harry White and Harry Rosenquist,-
were arrested, but after being, CON
fined in jail several days, they proved
an alibi and were released.
Just about this time a farmer named
Schultz, living three miles from Lake
Elmo and towards st. Paul, reported
a suspicious occurrence to Sherin
Smith, of Washington county. Late
en- the evening of the murder a stranger
had driven to his place and inquired
the way to the William Gardiner farm,
saying that he was going there to make
a horse trade. After being directed he
drove away, and Mr.. Schultz heard the
low conversation of two other men,
down by the gate at the road. Investi-
cation showed that no one called at
the Gardiner place that night, and on
the strength of this slight clue, the
county commissioners authorized Sher-
if Smith to engage the service Of
detective. t.
Detective John Colwell, of ST. Paul,
was employed and has been working
ON the case ever since. He learned
that Alfred F. Brown. a teamster
working in st. Paul and living at Post
Siding, had driven out towards Lake
Elmo on the. night of Aug. %, and
that it was he who had called at the
Schultz home-but by this time Brown
had disappeared. He was finally
traced to Spring Valley, Wis, where,
in the meantime, his wife had OBJ
tanned a divorce from him for non
support. Further investigation led the
detective to believe that Brown at least
knew something Of the crime; Sheriff
Smith was Notified and the two ar
rested the suspect and induced him
to accompany them back to Minnesota
without the formality of requisition.
He was locked uD in the Saltwater
Jail and still remains there. Browns
divorced wife had made affidavit to
the following statement
1 am the divorced wife of Albert F. Brown,
accused of completely in the murder of
Thomas Curtin, at Lake Elmo, on the night
of Aug. %, 1896. We lived near Post Siding,
and the facts of the crime were told me
by my husband after he arrived home in the
two companions drove out to the Schultz place
to deliver a note to a Schultz girl, but on
arriving there were met by Mr.. Schultz and
were afraid to deliver the note. They then
drove on to Lake Elmo and on the way the
other two said they knew Curtin had
money, and after some talk they agreed to
broke in and got what money was in the
money drawer, amounting to $1.65. One of
them went into the living rooms of the place.
but stumbled over chair, awakening Curtin,
who attempted to get up. He then fired
killing the said Curtin. The three then drove
back to st. Paul, and my husband arrived
home at 230 O'Clock in the morning. He told
me the above story and when got divorce
from him he threatened to have the other
two men put me out of the way if I ever
told it. I got my divorce from him on the
ground of non-support. This is just the story
he told me- so help me Cod ,e'~..'
Maud Lavinge,
Ex-wife of Albert F. Brown.
Since his incarceration Brown has
been subjected to the questioning
usually known as "the sweat box" At
first he denied ever having been IN
that part of the country around Lake
Elmo, but afterwards admitted he had
driven to the Schultz place. After con-
tradicting himself several times he
compressed his lips and stubbornly re-
fused to say another word. The
authorities have been unable to find
any trace of the two men alleged to
have accompanied Brown the night of
the murder -
WHTTEWASH FOR KNAPP