The sun., 1897-08-22
A MYSTERY OF CHICAGO.
IuETn ERI,S TRIAL TOR WIFE MUR-
DER 10 BEGIN TOMORROW.

Ills wire " stIi Living bat in hiding.
CmcAGo Aug. o1.-Is Mrs Louise Bicknese
Iu,t.rrt 1.-Two or dead Upon this question |
rests hs solution of one OF the strangest cases in
American criminal annals, and perhaps tho |
taieo, the womans husband, Adolph l.. Luet- |
ear A sausage manu- ufacturer OF this city. whose |
trial fog murder begins on Monday. To provo |
that Mr. l.uctgert Is alive or Mt least to show |
th There 10 no proof OF her death, will DO the |
enort OF the defence. To show that she is dead |
And that Iuctgert killed her and destroyed tho
rsuains IN a vat In tho sausage factory by the |
agency Of chemicals is the aim Of the prosecu-
tion. Many witnesses. lay and expert, will be
called AMI the prospect Is that tho legal fight |
will be btter and prolonged.
Ipon he following facts both prosecution and
defence practically agree. so they may be fairly
termed the basis on which the case will DO
worked out. Mrs. Luetgcrt disappeared from
her home on Saturday night, May l. at 1890.
the last person at home TO SEQ her being her
l2.ycarold son Louis who bade her goodnight
et that hour. The sausage factory had been
closed down for some weeks. Nevertheless, on
the night OF May !, Luetgert, who was at the
time living at the factory on account Of quar-.
rels with his wife. had the fires made. and twice
during the night sent the night watchman.
Frank Bialk on errands. Luetgert spent most
OF the night in the front part of the basement,
where the watts are located, and he himself
turned on the steam. Several weeks before
O ll6orcr named frank Oberowsky had. under
oriers from LlctEert. broken up the contents Of
4 barrel Of stutr delivered at The factory, diff
iercnt from anything Oberowsky had ever seen
used in the manufacture OF sausage. This stuff
had burned his hands. leaving scars. Later
slimy substance was found in one Of the vats.
AMI some of this corrosive chemical. These
o.. .,.,C finp ria a rNpfn tn
Luetgcrt The defence intimates that they
merely indicate experiments along now limo
OF sage-making-.a sufficiently horrible suR-
gest' on Il looked at from the point Of view Of
Que who believes in LuetSerts guilt.
20 much FOR the admitted facts. They were
not asccrtaincd at once. On the morning after
his wifc's disappearance Luetgert walked over
from his rooms at the factory to the house. in
quired for his wife and learned that she was
not to be found. Until the following Tuesday
there sustained inquiry as to the where
atouts OF the missing woman. Then her
brother called at the house and asked what had
become of her.
II guess she's gone away on little trip"
said Luetgert. 1.-The children's savings bank
has been broken open and $40 taken.'
Hadn't we better tell the police to look out
for her !" said the brother.
What's the use T. replied the husband. i've
got private detective on the case. That's less
fuss than having the police and you get better
work done"
Not entirely satisfied with this, the brother
reported the matter to Police Captain Schuettlsr
two days later. and a description OF Mrs. Luct.
CERT was spread abroad through police channels.
Areward OF 5000 was offered for information
on the subject Luetgert suggested that his
wife had committed suicide In n dt Of temporary
aberratiou. and upon this theory tho police
worked for quite time. Quite by accident they
came across tho night watchman. Frank Bialk.
and learned from him that he had fired
up in the factory on the night that
Mrs. Luetgert disappeared. Taking this as
the most important clue they looked up
Other former employees of the factory and
learned from Frank Oberowsky OF the barrel Of
corrosive chemical which he had broken up. or
course they made minute search OF the
premises. In the bottom OF one Of the sausage
boiling vats they found. as mentioned above. q
brown slime and traces OF the corrosive chemical.
They also found in the vat. SO the police state
tbut his the defence denies emphaticallyl, bits
OF bone. an artificial ooth such as Mrs. Luetgert
had, and two gold rings, which were afterward
identified as rings which the missing woman
wore. Thcre had been effort to wash out the
vat. A passerby on the night OF 3Iay l had
beard muttled scream. Luetgert and his wife
had been on bad terms and he had It Is alleged,
expressed u wish TO get rid OF her.
from these data; that E@etsert tnSSY had Erod Uqi his
9 %iie 10 the factory in pursuance OF carefully
r hG & had hse sent ese
man away taken the body to the vat and there
srsoySsd Il rHon H. lhs theory Lustgsrt was
II Vas true, he said, that ho had done some work
with the vhts on the night Of May ], but this
rings and the Tooth in the vat. they We're put
thrre by the police to bolster up their case. Mrs.
PToo to that eject Would be fdRrthsominS. RIh ' In
oS opS S.stement he was as backed not only by his
the mi issing woman as well.
A. the preliminary hearing the course OF pro.
cedure OF both sides was outlined. The prose-
Luetgerts had not lived together Mrs. Luet.
ger. ger! was va Jealous. To one Of his friends Luet.
she has bitter tongue. Sometimes it has
o Tss that .sss d. here
as they pressed ia upon ue throat. 'n ni' nnS'f'
As further mott ait Is alleged that Luetgert
hsd , Improper relations with Mrs Feidt. and
ened to make trouble for him.
Here the lawyers for the defence objected to
offered that crimS had been committed. 1t Is
essential sssn,, n case OF murder to produce ths
erdense % a sas %Gs to Of ss sseS sS
va, S tAS end Fran. Bsk the night
tender. he testified that about April ~ he hae
assisted Luetgert in filling ono Of the Nats a
me factory with some chemical. He did no
know where the stun came from. He was lef
oy LpetRert to watch tho vat until the waite
cal entirely dissolved. He never had seen an!
similar solution used in the factory.
On the night OF May /. about quarter befor
t9 he Was sent by Luetgert to q drug store fiv
eloeks away to make q small purchase. Whel
no returned he found the door ne ordin arily use'
closed and locked, 30 he used the elevator to Re
INTO the basement, and Luetgert, who met hin
1.-THE elevator, took the bottle. which cont atne
tn!srye tonic. ant sent the fireman back 70 tn
~ss sSsr sent to tho The drug store; which kept hin
nlnutes. Later 10 saw Iuetgert in the base
ment twice and swole that he was ther
es late as o'Llo,t in the morning. but coul
not say what he was doing there. Ne receiy ed in
Struotions to hank the fre under tho boiler an
Isaysi!. When he returned the next mornin
laborer named Fiegel. who was emplOyo
about the stables, told him that ON Sunda
porning he had been asked by Luetgert TO hel
pm rake cut the furnace to get some coal
horse.
Sunday evening when Bialk visited tue fac
tory he found garden hose which he had neve
seen in tho factory before, attached to hydrau
hAR and fT Ia u 4. ~