Perth Amboy evening news., 1906-02-24
'BLUEBEARD"
is EXECUTED.
Johann Hook Hanged With
Christ's Words on His Lips :
UNIQUE Murderer.

ed in the county Jail here and proved
to be the subject of the most dramatic
execution ever performed in this city.
For nearly four hours before Hoch
stepped on the gallows his lawyers
fought with might and main in the
state and federal courts to delay the
execution.
Hoch walked upon the scaffold quiet
iy and stood directly under the moose
with heels together and head erect, like
a soldier on parade. He was pale, but
composed and full of courage.
Rev. Mr.. Burkland was steadily re-
citing the prayers for the dying when
Deputy Sheriff Peters asked Hoch to
step back upon the trap. He took two
steps quickly, glanced down TO see if
he was in the proper place and then
turned his face to the deputy sheriff.
ID you want to say something!"
asked Deputy Sheriff Peters, and Hoch
replied, Yes"
MIR. Burkland was still reciting the
prayer, and Jailer Whitman held out
his hand to silence him. Hoch then
said in a strong voice:
Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. l must die an limo
cent man. Goodby."
He chopped off the words in a short,
i~ncisive manner, and before his voice
was silenced the drop fell.
DIR. Mcnamara, the county physician,
declared Hoch died instantaneously,
the neck being broken.
Rev. j. X. Burkland, one of Hoch's
spiritual advisers, said later that Hoch
had confessed. Did he confess to the
murder?' he was asked. .
The clergyman hesitated and then
answered, We'll, he said that he had
been a bigamist and Il very wicked
man
Hoch's fight for life as the minute
slipped by and the hands of the clock
crept to the hour when he was doomed
unless the courts should interfere was
the most dramatic ever known. Bust
ness was practically suspended in the
downtown section of the city while the
lawyers for the condemned man raced
back and forth between the federal
building and the county Jail.
Hoch babe an affectionate farewell
to his wife, Mrs. Emile Fischer-Hoch,
his last wife, who has stuck to him
through the trial and condemnation, at
an early hour.
There have been criminals who made
murder a fine art and burglars who had
safe cracking and house breaking down
to a science. Johann Hoch was a clev-
erer kind of criminal. He made a bust
ness of preying upon gullible and fool
ish women, particularly widows, whom
he induced to marry him. He then got
hold of their property and afterward
deserted them. He was the record big
amist of modern times, and the annals
of criminology in America do not con-
tain the record of such another. 1t has
been estimated that fully fifty women
fell victims to his wiles. Only johann
Hoch himself knew the exact number.
With his bigamies the man mixed muir
der, choosing with cunning calculation
arsenic as the BEST means Of getting
his burdensome mates out of the way
anu preventing discovery.
Hoch was born in Germany and has
always been reticent regarding his ca
reer in this country, and his first wife
married in the United States is be-
lieved to have been Mrs. Martha Stein
brecller. to whom he was married in
1895. After living with Hoch for foW
months she died, the cause Of death
i..-. -.-a,, -, ,rI,it:, I, NfN,-,,1nn
1885. he married Mary Rankin in this
city and left her the day after the we'd
ding because she refused to give him
money. In Aptil. 1896. Hoch married
Martha Hertzfield and left her in four
months after obtaining from her $500.
His next wife is said to have been
Mary Hoch of Wheeling, w. Va. She
died of nephritis after three months.
In the fall Of 1896 Hoch married Cla-
ra Bartell of Cincinnati. and she died
within three months of the marriage.
In November. 1901. he married Mrs.
Anna GOehrke of Chicago, but aban-
doned her after failing to obtain any
none from her. April 8. 1902. he
married in st. Louis Mrs. Mary Beck
Ell, WIZ uitu Gully III i'pc. liVI Itid-
tives have claimed that she was poi
soned.
Dec. 10. 1904, Hoch was married to
Mrs. Marie Welcker. a widow of this
city. the woman for whose murder he
was condemned. Dec. 20 the woman
became ill and Jan. II she died, the
cause of death being stated in the
physicians certificate as nephritis.
Five days later Hoch married Mrs.
Emile Fischer, a sister of Mrs. Wei
cker-Hoch. He obtained $3.50 from her
and disappeared. Jan. 10 the last Mrs.
Hoch reported to the police the disap-
pearance of her husband. Suspicion
was aroused by her story, and the body
of Mrs. Welcker-Hoch was exhumed
and T.6 grains of arsenic were found
in the stomach. Search was made for
Hoch, and he was finally discovered
and arrested i'll New York.
A unique feature of the Hoch case Is
that his attorneys declare that the ap-