The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-10-22
LUETGERT MAY GO FREE
jury IN FAMOUS TRIAL FAILED no
AGREE IN Il VERDICT.

Acquittal-Luetgert Makes an Affidavit
Protesting His Innocence Considers the
Result of the Trial Victory His Wife
is Still Alive, He Says.
Chicago, Oct 21.--The Associated
Z Press tonight obtained the one great
3 feature missing in the famous Luetgert
trial-the sworn testimony of the de-
fendant himself, Adolph L. Luetgert.
Standing tonight in the gloomy Jail
adjoining the grim looking grey stone
4 building in which his remarkable trial
Y had at last been brought to a finish,
Y the burly sausage manufacturer cap
4 ped the climax of the extraordinary
q events which began with his sensa-
tional bankruptcy and alleged fright
full diabolism of boiling his wife to
death at midnight in a vat in his fac
tory cellar
Tonight closely following the final
result of the trial which has attracted
& worldwide attention, Luetgert made
IN under oath a statement for the Asso-
ciated Press concerning the fearful
Y crime charged against him, the first
4 sworn statement yet made by him, and
ID the first statement of such kind ever
known in newspaper annals. The affi-
N davit was put in writing in the legal
& form and is certified to by notary.
Ex-Judge William A. Vincent, the
Il leading counsel for the defendant in
n this celebrated case, the man to whose
=. r or rNt-f
n beyond all doubt owes his great legal
81 victory, gave consent to the affidavit
NJ being made
n The scene in the Jail when Luetgert
4 took the oath was as dramatic as the
81 circumstances were unique. In the
" Cimly lighted Jail corridor Luetgert
& standing erect and grasping the iron
IN bars that still kept him from liberty,
I'll lifted his right hand and soemnly as
IN sented as the notary administered the
n binding form. The gruesome surround
N ings were a reminder in some degree
II of the midnight occurrences in the fac
81 tory cellar that have become familiar
s to the hundreds of thousands who have
IA followed the details of the great trial.
II Few if any of the curious prisoners
n and turnkeys who were spectators had
M Luetgert, the notary and a representa-
Al tive of The Associated Press conferred
# together for few moments and then
Il Luetgert without hesitation made the
@ affidavit and signed it in ink with the
4 hand that is alleged to have commit
NJ ted one Of the most fiendish crimes on
III record.
n The affidavit explicitly declares Luet-
N4 rya inpooanpe The dOpnu1ant in full
Il is as follows:
~ ending to-day, is victory for me because
# of the disagreement of the jury, but / am
very much disappointed, H. and very cry much H.,
v did not kill my wife and do not know
II where she is, but 1 am, sure that it is only
Aa q question of time until she comes home.
E l did not go upon the witness stand be-
H caus my lawyer, Judge Vincent, was bitter
n T. opposd to my doing so and because he
$ advised me it was not necessary.
III | am grateful for the tremendous change
"a In public sentiment in my favor, and time
II will demonstrate that l am not only an
II Innocent man, but very grievously wrong
Signed: ADoLPH L. LUETGERT.
Subscribed and sworn to before me. this
21st sjsned day Of October N NJ F. F. SULLIVAN. aS21
Notary Public.
Chicago, Oct. N-Ihe jury in the
Il case of Adolph l.. Luetgert, the sausage
maker who has been on trial, charged
II with the murder of his wife, reported
this morning that it could not agree
upon verdict, and was thereupon dis
charged by the court.
The Jury stood nine for conviction
VI ard three for acquittal, as follows: For
conviction, Jurors Shaw, Fowler, Fran
II zen, Bibpy, Mahoney Heickhold, Bar
\ ber, Hosmer and Body; for acquittal,
Jurors Harley, Holabird and Behmiller.
Judge Tuthill called the jury into the
court room at 10:45 O'Clock. He asked
Foreman Heickhold if the jury could
agree, and the foreman replied "By no
II possibility" The same question was
put to each of the jurors in turn, and
VI they all replied that they did not think
X an agreemnt possible.
The court asked the prisoner if he
v had anything to say, and he replied
y that he would leave the matter to his
lawers. States Attorney Deneen then
moved that the jury be discharged, and
the court discharged it,
The Luetgert trial has been one of
the most noted cases in criminal his
toy Adolph Louis Luetgert, who had
been wealthy manufacturer of sau-
sages, had recently failed In business,
III losing much of his fortune was arrest
ed May II, charged with the murder of
his wife Louise. Mrs. Luetgert disap-
peared from her North Side home May
/, but the fact was not reported to the
Is police until her brother started an in
~ yestigation a week later.
According to the theory Of the prose-
cution the murder of Mrs. Luetgert by
q her husband was a horrible one 1t
was asserted by the state that the
sausage maker, having tired of his
III wife and desiring to marry Mrs. Chris
"A tine Feldt q wealthy widow, had en-
n ticed the missing woman to the base
q sment of his factory on the night of
~ May l. and then after a terrible strug-
f gle, killed her with a club. After the
IN murder, according to the prosecution,
iLuetgert placed the body of his wife in
4 one of the huge sausage watts and with
a quantity of caustic potash, boiled
u the body until it had almost entirely
z disappeared, sitting by the vat through
s out the night, alone and on guard.
Soon after the police took charge of
the case the sausage vat was drained
and several bones, two rings and some
Il corset steels were found. Upon this