The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1906-06-01
THE MYSTERY At T|LDEN
WEIRD CIRCUMSTANCES SUR.
ROUND DEATH OF BoHLSEN.
ARE TWO DIFFERENT THEORIES
Some Hold That 6ohlsen, Through De.
spondenoy Committed Suicide and
set Building Afre--others Believe
Murderer Was Small, Dark Man.

Set Building Ahrc-Others Believe
Murderer Was Small, Dark Man.
Was Menno Bohlscn suicide? Yes
Was Memo Bohlscn murdered In
cold blood? Yes.
These are the two questions and
these are the replies that are circling
around the town of ildcn and in 9TH
or parts of Madison county just ut
present over the mysterious death of
Memo Bohlscn, the Tildcn painter
whose charrod body was found In his
burned paintshop week ago last Mon
day morning at ten minutes before 6
O'Clock. There are theories presented
by the persons who believe a suicide
was done. and other theories presented
by persons who believe a murder was
committed I'm cold blood, and the In.
vestigation of the mystery by County
Attorney Jack Koenigstein of Nor
folk. who returned yesterday from the
scene of tragedy, brought out two very
different stories, both of which have
adherents, both of which are shroudcd
in uncertainty and the truth of neither
one of which will ever be known.
The Facts Of the Case.
Memo Bohlsen was man thirty
seven years of age, unmarried. n paint.
er by trade, n veteran of the Spanish
American war, n respected citizen and
a member I'm good standing of prom
inent secret organization, in which he
,rn IA oil N N n uh oh
he was lined up for promotion soon to
first office. Well liked in the commu.
nifty, Bohlsen had no enemies so far
as can be learned He was honest and
good workman, and had but one fault
in the world-a bad habit that proves
the undoing OF so many men, sooner
or later But Bohlscn had made
brave fight against his appetite and
had almost won. For some little time
he had been free from its Influence and
he was progressing, until Sunday, May
13, the day before his tragic death.
On that day Bohlsen was employed at
vanishing a bar in one of the saloons
of the town and ii Is said that during
the afternoon he fell to drinking some
what That night he went to bed early
and the next morning, after his shop
had burned, he was found dead i'm his
little iron bed at the rear of his paint
shop, his arms burned off, his whole
body cooked to a crisp, and wound
at the center of the forehead.
The Mystery of The Case.
How Bohlscn came to his death was
a mystery that could not be answered.
Or. Kindred the Madison county cor
oner, called jury Of prominent citi-
zens together and an inquest was held,
the verdict being that Bohlsen had
come to his death from an unknown
cause.
1t was found that the bullet hole in
the head was somewhat curtained by
the fact that the flesh had been cooked
around it. 1t was found, however that
part of the skull had been cracked
and a bit of bone had been crushed
into the head, The Coroner's jury did
not probe into this wound to determine
whether the hole was made by q bul.
let or not. The opening was almost
large enough, it is said, for quarter
of a dollar to be inserted. Neither
was an examination of the lungs made
for the purpose of determining wheth-
er death had come from suffocation.
The only theory that presented itself
just at that time was that it was a
case of self destruction and the feel.
ing that this fact might bring a stigma
cn Hot, ,Iat ,t,N.,.
the jury in not probing the matter too
fully.
County Attorney Koenigstein found
at Tilden that some of the coroner's
jury inclined to the suicide theory be
cause of Bohlsen's connection with the
secret organization in which he held
office, and his drinking of Sunday. It
Is said that he had been promised the
highest Office in the lodge If he would
keep straight and try to keep up his
pride in this regard, and as a result
he had been making a splendid effort.
A meeting of the lodge was to have
been held on Monday night, the day of
his death, and it is the theory that,
having yielded to the temptation set in
his path on Sunday, he felt chagrined
and disgraced and had not the heart
to meet his fellow lodgemen in their
meeting that night and that, accord
ingly, when he awoke early Monday
morning, he sat up in bed, set fire to
the bedding, fired a bullet into his
head with a rifle that was found at
his knee, and fell back on the pillow,
the rifle barrel dropping to his side,
with the point out. This rifle had one
empty shell in 1t.
The Murder Theory.
That is one theory. Another is of
foul play. And this theory, which is
held by a brother Of the dead man
among others, is woven out of a chain
of circumstantial evidence which is as
wierd as 1t Is circumstantal
AS nearly as Mr.. Koenigstein could