Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-24
THE LUEroERr CASE.

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\ maker. will be tried again for the murder
OF his Wife The case has already eos'
the state some $4,000. and for sensatioh-
alism and gruesomeness ranks Win 'ha'
I NJ the murder OF Dr. Parkman by Pro-
lessor Webster. the Holmes atrociues'
and the GuIdensuppe case. AS resaru'
the theory of the prosecution and In re-
spect of the evidence the state depended
upon. the trial OF Luetgert Is perhaps
more suggestive Of that Of webster thah
OF any other in the history OF AMERICAN
criminal prosecutions.
Professor Webster, after killing MS
friend Parkman, burned the pouy in
furnace. In the ashes were fouhu some
teeth, one OF which was filled WIN soio'
and was positively identified as having
belonged to Parkman by the dentist WIN
did the filling. This piece OF evidence
was mainly, II not solely, Instrumental
In bringing Webster TO the gailows.
There was other crcumstantiai evidence
against him. such as the emanation OF
malodorous fumes from his iaporatory'
etc. hut II IS doubtful II he would ever
have been convicted but for the testimony
of the filled tooth.
Tho theory OF the prosecution In the
Luetgert case was that after killing MS
wife Luetgert disposed OF her body by
placing Il In vat In his factory. ana
disintegrating It with a boiling solution OF
crude caustic potash, and then aimed
to burn what bones remained, In one
of the boiler furnaces. That boiling
process in which crude caustic potash was
used was being conducted by Luet-
CERT at his factory about the time his
wife disappeared was not denied by me
defence, but 1t was claimed that the
prisoner. who had ceased for some time
to manufacture sausage, was expert
menting in soap-making. 1t was shown
by the prosecution that Luetgert was
not on good terms with his wife, that
he was infatuated with another woman,
and that he appeared utterly Indifferent
to his wife's disappearance; and various
other suspicious circumstances were
proved. But the evidence. the prosecu-
ton put the most store by was a lot
of small bones and two rings found
in one of the watts. the rings being
cemented together and bearing the I'M
tials IL L." presumably those Of
Louisa Luetgert, the prisoners wife.
When, however, the bones came to be
examined by the experts in order to es-
tablish whether they were human bones
or not, there was as much diversity OF
opinion and almost as ridiculous a row
as characterized the proceedings Of the
Society Upon the Stanislaus," from
Harte:
Then Brown, he read a paper, and he
reconstructed there,
From those same bones, an animal that
was extremely rare;
And Jones then asked the Chair for a
suspension of the rules,
TIL he could prove that those sama
bones was one of his lost mules.
Then Brown, he smiled a bitter smile,
and said he was at fault
1t seemed he had been trespassing on
Jones's family vault;
He was a most sarcastic man, this quiet
Mr. Brown,
And on several occasions he had cleaned
out the town.
Now hold 1t is not decent for scienti-
fic gent
To say another Is an ass-at least, to
all intent
Nor should the individual who happens
to be meant
Reply by heaving rocks at shim to any
great extent.
Then Abner Dean Of Angels raised a
point of order-when
A chunk of old red sandstone took him
in the abdomen,
And he smiled kind OF sckly smile, and |
curled up on the floor,
And the subsequent proceedings interest
ed him no more. -
As to the rings, the evidence was
more satisfactory. But not nearly so |
Testimony Of the tooth" in the Webster |
case, and this, connected with the fact |
that several persons testified to having |
seen Mrs. Luetgert alive since the date |
OF the alleged murder. and that there |
was no positive proof that the animal |
remains discovered in the factory were |
human remains, raised clearly a 'rea-
sonable doubt" at law, II not in the pub |
lie mind, as to the prisoners guilt. Un- |
less therefore, the State can get some |
new evidence, 1t would seem hardly pro- |
bable that it would be able to secure |
a conviction, even should a new trial be |
decided uuon.
The case has excited great interest in
Chicago, and has given rise to Luet-
CERT and an anti-Luetgert faction. BY |
some of the former, 1t is still contended
that Mrs. Luetgert will finally turn up.
but from all accounts, she is not, or
was not. the kind of woman who would |
be likely to play a role In harmony
with that contention. II. however, she
does turn up. she will have the satisfac-
ton of knowing that she has gotten even
with Luetgert for all Of his neglect and |
ill-treatment Of her, and, doubtless. the |
dime museum man who is trying to en-
gage the husband would be glad TO
make a contract with the wife. also.
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