Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-03-11

Strange as it may seem, no clear cases
of Johann Hoch's WORK had come to the
knowledge of the police anywhere in the
United Ut. . unit the present us
closure, although his marriage business,
1T is declared. has been carried ON ever
since 1881. This fact may be due to the
desire of many sensitive women who
have been duped by this man to keep
their desertion from the public.
Worked from Town to Town.
Hochs policy, il seems, was always
to extract as much money as his intend
ed victim could summon without waste
OF time, and, after begging leave of alb
sence on some preteXt, would disappear
as IL the earth haG completely swallowed
him up. Then the tale of a wife in a
nearby town, who would pitifully de-
clare that she had given her newly &C
Quired husband all her money. and that
he had not been home for several days
and some accident must have befallen
him, would bring 10 light the fact that,
in all probability, Mr. Hoch was carry
ing on operations in the neighborhood.
Hoch's method was to advertise in
the daily papers, preferably the German
publications, saying that his loneliness
had forced him to seek life companion
who could tend his wants. Some women
answered out Of curiosity, others who
felt the same absence of some person
TO share their condolences, would COM
municate with him. Then the German
would select what he considered the best
for his purpose and devote his whole
energies in that direction. Hoch never.
according to reports, sought out those
women whose beauty or other charms
would make them the target for other
mems affections, but women whom. by
his superior WILL he might find easy to
persuade. These women mostly German
had had little sympathy expressed for
their welfare during their lives, and the
tender passion which Johann Hoch ex-
pressed in his letters seldom failed TO
execute its aim.
Samples of His Courtship.
All through his missives to his in
tended victims runs strain of feeling
which would do credit to the most high
ly accomplished Beau BrummeI' of
the old days of chivalry. One repre-
sentative epistle that came to a Chi
cago woman, supposedly from Hoch
when he was in San Francisco, simply
breathed love to the woman who read
it. A portion of it follows:
Dear child, you took my heart by
storm. l can't get over it, my dear 10
hanna. How is it with you, dear child
you like to spend the rest of your life
alone? If you only feel toward me as
l feel and could bring one-half your
love to me as | to you, how lucky would
be. If you could wed your heart to mine
for the rest of our days | would be the
luckiest man in the world" The in
tended victim, who had almost sue
cumbed TO the tender passion of Hoch
when she read a letter sent to him in
her care from another one of the fair
sex, ending with love and KISSES" be-
came suspicious and upon Hoch's arriv-
al in Chicago refused him.
Fourteen Thought Murdered.
Reports state that the following IA
women have been murdered by Hoch in
inrthering his plans:
MRS. Emily Welker Hoch, 5000 Union
avenue, died suddenly January 10, 1905.
Doroners physician found large guam
tity OF arsenic in her stomach.
MIS-. Julia Steinbrecher. 333 Belmont
avenue. died suddenly.