The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-04-17
Some of the Unsolved, Peculiar
Murder Mysteries of Indianapolis
Kinney. Local Not
Absolutely the Theory That Murder Out"
aveE Justice

suspicion was not directed against any one
work on.
Now come to one of the most famous
poisoning cases that ever occurred in this
country continued the captain. This
case attracted attention all over the United
States, and we'll it might for it was
rounded with more mystery probably than
any case that has come under the notice OF
the local police.
ION Feb. p. 1893, Mary c. Rooster died
from poisoning. On May "a. of the same
year, Clara Rooster died from the same
cause, and on the twenty-ninth day OF the
same month Frank l.. Rooster succumbed
After this no more deaths occurred in the
family for six months, but at the end of
this time Mary NJ. Rooster died. She was
the last of the whole family, with the ex-
ception of the husband, and all of them
had died from the same cause.
of course, the exact cause of their
deaths was determined after they had all
The poison had been administered in ex-
ceedingly small quantities. and ii was a
hard matter for the physicians to deter
mine just what had caused death in all the
cases.
after time. however it was reported
TO the police and we went to work upon IL
with the result that Anna Wagner, the
servant girl in the family, was arrested be-
! cause suspicion pointed more strongly to-
ward her than any one else.
Her trial was long one and after
hard fight on the part of her attorneys she
was acquitted. No one else was arrested.
Now. some one was responsible for those
murders, but just who it was, of course.
was never aScertaincd, and in all probable
ity the case will remain mystery.
Then here We have another case which
illustrates clearly that murder will not al
ways out, and it is that of William Kline,
of Brightwood. He was found on the morn
ing of June 80, 1893, in bed with his head
crushed.
kline was employed at night at the
Brightwood railroad shops. When found
his head had been crushed with Ratchet,
but the author of the crime was not
known. Several persons were questioned
by the detectives, but there was not
enough evidence against any of them to
cause their arrest.
There is hardly any limit to cases where
murderers have escaped entirely from the
police" Captain Kinney went on to say.
Zone of the most notorious cases of this
kind occurring in this city was the killing
of Merchant Policeman John l.. Waterson,
on the night before Christmas. 1898.
''Waterson was a colored man and had
| run beat in the northern part of the city
| for a number of years. In fact, he had
gained quite reputation for efficiency both
| in the neighborhood where his beat lay
and among the police.
ION this particular night he discovered
F! burglars at work in a meat market located
| at Nineteenth street and Senate avenue.
| He went in upon them alone. There were
| two burglars. and they got out of the store
with Waterson in pursuit. A running fight
| followed in which a number of shots were
exchanged.
"A shot fired by one of the robbers hit
| Waterson and some hours later he was
| found in a commons at the corner of Six
| tenth street and Senate avenue. Who the
| murderers were was never found out. A
number of persons were suspected at the
| time but no arrests were ever made.
| IAN interesting feature of this case was
| the fact that on Christmas day some
| bloOdhounds were brought here from
| Greensburg and put on the trail. but with
| out avail. They took all over the north
part of town and then circed around to the
| south and finally wound up near Southport
Whether they were following the trail or
going home we could never determine.
| Upon first taking the trail, however, /
| feel sure the dogs were right They started
off northeast, and after we had followed
| them for some time they came to a shed in
| a back yard, where they stopped and began
| 10 howl. We. of course. went in and found
large pool of blood on the floor. From
| shot one of his assailants."
|
us ii not quite a common thing for
burglars to shoot people who surprise them
and then make good their escape?" the
! captain was asked.
| NO, il is not a common thing for bur-
| glars as a general rule will attempt to get
away without shooting, but there have been
| instances where the person showed fight
| and the burglar shot him. To illustrate this
! | will site the case OF Christian Wilharm.
| who killed on the night of Sept Is. 1895
"Wilharm. On coming home surprised a
| burglar. who shot him. An arrest was
| made in this case. William Alexander
| shortly after this, was captured for enter
| ing houses in the neighborhood where VIII
| harm lived. and In fact the Wiharm house
had been robbed some two weeks previous
10 the murder. and some OF the goods that
| had been taken at that time were found in
Alexander's possession.
| I'VE always supposed that he returned to
rob the house. that wilharm caught him
| in the act. and. 10 escape the negro shot
him. but there was not evidence enough
| to convict him, so he escaped punishment.
! Another case of this kind. where a man
| was killed by some one attempting TO rob
| him. happened about four years ago"
| Turning 10 the record. the captain said:
Yes. to be exact, II happened on March IL,
| 1900.
"John b. Stout on this night was held up
| by footpads on Senate. avenue at the first
| alley north OF Ohio street. He showed fight
| and the footpads shot him. There was
| nothing more 10 this case than the facts
| as / have stated them. No arrests were
ever made. and no one ever had any sus-
picion directed against him. although the