The Saint Paul globe., 1905-02-27

he was bound for Omaha. Gottschalk
says that he directed the stranger and
that was the last he saw of him.
But the police think differently.
A. !. Polanek, barber at 500 West
Seventh street. read in the Sunday
q OBJ e Of Gottschalk's arrest and i'm
mediately recalled an incident with
which he hurried to police headquar-
ters. The story he told was substan-
tally as follows:
Barber Tells Story
On Friday. Feb. IL, the day before the
murder, Gottschalk come into his shop
at about IL o'clock in the morning, and
seated himself in front of a window
which commanded a clear and unob-
structed view of the Schindeldecker
meat market. He sat there, ostensibly
reading. but really, as the barber no.
uced, glancing furtively, every now and
then, at the shop.
Gottschalk arose and left the shop
shortly after IL o'clock. Gerenz had
left for dinner shortly after IL o'clock
on that day.
The police say that Gottschalk must
have taken this precaution to find out
what time he might expect the butcher
to be alone. and then, as a further pre-
caution, knowing full well the route
that Gerenz took in going home, placed
himself. with his confederate, at
point where they could see the lad as
he passed by.
Knowing once that he was safely on
his way home and. that Schindeldecker
would be alone in the shop, they hur-
ried over to the shop, passing up Good
rich avenue to Banfil street, thence up
Banfil to the rear entrance of the meat
market where one remained on guard,
just inside the fence, while the other
went around to the front, entered the
shop, and under pretext of purchasing
eggs, drew the butcher out from behind
the counter and then assaulted him.
What Confederate Did
In the meantime the confederate
rushed in, and, while one dragged the
unconscious form to the shed in the
rear, the other secured the door to
guard against interruption, while they
hacked the defenseless and inanimate
form out of air semblance to a man,
with the cleaver which they had Sc
cured from the cutting block. Then
they secured the money, washed their
hands under the faucet in the she'd
stripped of their bloody overalls, made
small bundles of them and hurried
away by the rear exit.
If Gottschalk and the confederate
committed the murder their motive was
purely one of robbery so far as the
police have been able to ascertain.
They believe that murder was done
because Gottschalk feared arrest after
Schindeldecker recovered conscious
ness, If he were left alive, for Schin-
deldecker knew him fairly well. And
so the job was made as complete as
fiendish brutality could make it.
Gottschalk Is Ugly
"Gottschalk is the worst man I ever
saw" said Chief O'Connor, in talking
of his prisoner yesterday. He looks
innocent enough" continued the chief,
but he has an awful temper and the
minute you start asking him questions
he flies into a wild rage and when he
Is mad he has couple of the wickedest
eyes / ever saw in a mans head"
Gottschalk flew into a number of
these RACES yesterday, but in no single
instance did he SO far forget himself
as to make a fatal admission. He would
tell nothing of his life, he refused to di-
vulge the whereabouts of his wife, who
has left him and is I'm some distant
part Of the country. probably in Cali
fornia, although Gottschalk protests
that he does not know where she is.
When he was asked to explain the
money which he distributed SO freely
during the week following the murder
he answered all questions evasively or
else refused to answer at all. The best
that he would say was that he had
saved the money.
While the police are hopeful Of OBJ
tanning a confession from him, he has
said nothing that could thus far en-
courage them in this hope. His whole
outward appearance is that OF a saw
agely morose man who has determined
that the police will have to prove the
charge of murder which they will bring
against him without any assistance
from him.
Lived Here for Two Years
Gottschalk has lived in ST. Paul for
about two years. When he first came
here 1t was from Omaha. and his wife
and two children accompanied him.
THEY lived for time on Richmond
street and then moved to the rooms
at 4S0 Goodhue street, where Gott-
schalk's arrest was effected. His wife
left him some little time ago. driven
away by his constant prosecutions.
1t Is upon her accusations that he is
said to have spent term in prison that
the police hope to obtain. through the
Omaha police, TO whom they have writ
ten, something of the mans past life
which may show that he Is an all
around bad character, as they firmly
believe to be the case
In appearance Gottschaik is a big.
well built man, standing about six feet
tall. broad shouldered, well proper
toned and weighing about $50 pounds
He Is swarthy In complexion, has .