The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-30

: - - ~@1A A-.es eAess 1USe5 Ola - 10
pour4n.
Hook disappeared Jan. 20, two days
after he had married the sister of the
woman known to be at least his If
teenth wife,
It is found that he has been married
seventeen times or more.
Eleven of the wives died under mys-
terious circumstances.
Three of the eleven died suddenly
after Hook was seen to administer to
them white powder In none Of the
three cases was a powder among the
medicine prescribed by the attending
physicians.
Hook married women under more
than dozen aliases.
He is known to have been employed
by the notorious poisoner, H. H.
Holiness in the latter,s castle where
Holmes poisoned and buried many of
his wives before his arrest.
1t was last Dec. II that Hooks luck
began to change. He married Mrs.
Marie Welker, whom he had met
through an advertisement inserted in .
German newspaper. They lived to
gether happily, for Hook seemingly was
devoted to his wife and all went well.
Death Quickly Follows
But Jan. 2, 1905, she fell ill. She
suddenly developed symptoms of neph-
rltis and acute stomach trouble. Jan.
Il she was dead and the mourning of
her husband brought sympathetic
ne1ghborS for blocks around to the
mouse at 643O Union avenue, where the
couple lived. Hook was inconsolable;
not even the fact that his wife had
wllled him all her money-$270-was
sufficient to mitigate his great grief. He
attended her funeral, to all outward
appearances. a broken hearted man.
But the day after the funeral he
married Mrs. Emile Fisher, the sister
OF the wife he had just buried. While
his wife, Mrs. Welker-FIock, lay dying
he had inserted another matrimonial
add IN the German newspaper and
Mrs. Fisher had replied, not knowing
tnat she was writing to the husband
of her dying sister.
She had visited the home of the
couple and nursed her sister, Hooks
VIE, still unaware that the man who
Watched so lovingly by the dying wom-
an Was the man to whom day pre-
v1ous, she had written the following
Netter in answer to his advertisement:
Mr. John Hock-Sir: In reply to your
az OF today wherein YOU inquire for a life
companion, permit me to inform YOU that
am very willing to be married with a
respectable man whom could love, even
liz. ttmougn ne IS not possessed of any money
o9f w1anout WI love M would not marry.
PIX saSy years OF age have daughter nine
teen years old, who will shortly marry
ana , VINO IS employed in a good family
am living In good circumstances Should
you be inclined to answer this Letter kindly
auureSs Mrs. Emile Fisher
372 Wells Street.
After the funeral of his wife and his
marriage to Mrs. Fisher, Hook induced
ner 10 turn over $3.50 of her money,
Mhlch ne said he wanted to pay off the
mortgage on the house on Union ave-
nue.. Mrs. Fisher Hook was willing to
give the money, all she had, to Hook
and did so without word.
Ihe couple Went to the home of Mrs
sFIsher. 372 Wells street, after their
marriage. There, while Hook sat in a
rear room, woman called-her name
Is mrs. Bertha Sohn. 42S Sedgwick
ss1reet-and denounced Hook as
scoundrel. Hook went out the hack
door. He has not been seen since.
Deserted Wife Reports Case
The words of Mrs. Sohn and the dis
appearance of Hook induced Mrs. Fish
CROCK TO make complaint to Inspect
police station the next day.
u fear my sister has been killed. she
told the inspector.
so do j. replied Shippy, and detail
ed several of his men on the case.
inelr investigation proved SO START
lihgly productive of results that the In
spector and Coroner Hoffman decided
70 nave the body Of the fifteenth wife.
MIS- Marie Welker- Hook, exhumed
and examined.
The body was taken from the grave
in Oakwoods cemetery last week and
lne kldneys, bladder. heart and stom-
dch turned over to a chemist whose
name is at present kept secret. who.
assisted by several of the prominent
physicians of the city, will examine
them closely for traces of the subtle
used. .ias
In the meantime the Investigation of
the police continued after the exhlIn,a-
tion OF the body, with the result that
q the Information contained in the fol-
lowing chronological table was oath
cred. The table tells in brief the story
OF HOOKS life, SO far as it is known n
Ike SO replete with sudden MARTA pes
and deaths and disappearance that it
rlvals the deeds of the criminals made
famous by contemporaneous history
and the pseudo heroes" of nickel nov.
elsi 'iie~ei nov
Chronology of Operations
The table follows:
1S54EJohann Hook was horn in q ,it+1a
town of Germany In iielie
lslSIAppeared in Vienna and began the
study OF drugs and medicines. prsJ,,ataS I'D
four years later. eiauu1s eeo
:, 7sS1-Married his first wife, Annie Hook.
with i1tshssnEmigrated n;s 9;aas to the United States
helpless invalid lived in New York for q
seveTaI Years. where she died.
ieS2-( -(May)-Appeared in Chicago. hav-
lDg married again. and rented fiaf az oos1
heeiey street; fat furnished for him I'm
Ger name OF c. A. Mayer by the furniture
irm OF Fred Magerstadt & Co.; three
92-(June)-Rented fiat at 4S1 Er.nL-
I'M street: fiat furnished under name of H.
irlck by Magerstadt's firm; a month later
a thlrd Wife, whom he had taken. died
1ss4-Rented fiat at 1908 North Western
avenue under a name not known to the
ponce, after having married again; fiat
months later this wife died.
Observation-Disclosures Mrs. Julia Stein
precher, 533 West Belmont avenue Two
months later she fell suddenly i'll and died
In August. leaving Hook property valued
at $4,000. Before her death she accused
Hook OF poisoning her. Her funeral was
stopped by the coroner. but was permitted
to proceed when Hook produced burial
certificate, signed by Dr. Grimme Hook
disappeared after the funeral
1S96-Arrested under the name of C. A.
Caiford and charged by Mrs Janet Spen-
Ger, 1867 Wabash avenue, with having
eioped and married her in 1895. She
months after the marriage and taking
with him several hundred dollars hol.nsr'