New-York tribune., 1907-08-17
| MRS. LANGHOLTZ FREE.
WASSER DE1TH VERDICT.
.Turu Doesn't Hold Her for Katting
Father-Pathetic Story.


father to protect the family from his brutality
will he al BILE to attend the funeral of the mother
he killed Every official whom she met yes'er-
dav learned her pitable story and did all possi-
bic to smooth the rough path before her MIS-
Iangholtz's testimony was that of the only eye
witness and as that Of the three other witnesses
| summoned showed that the man might nave
| committed suicide the jury brought in the YER
! dict that George Wasser came to his death
| from q bullet wound inflicted by a gun in the
! hand of q person or persons to US unknown
When Mrs. Langholtz was br6Hght into the
| Harlem court her condition excited the sympa-
| thy of all from Magistrate House down 10 the
prisoners brought in for trial She had peen
| paroled all night in the custody of MIS- NC
| Cauley, the probation officer. and was brought
| into court by her and Lieutenant Scott Of the
| Central Off1ce Magistrate House leaned over
the bench and talked to her in low tones He
| told her that he was sorry the law allowed him
| no alternative but to remand her to the coroner
| but that if he could he would discharge her at
| once
ooh, Judge" she broke in tremuously, "lf
you only will let me be with my mother until
her funeral. She is dead now. If you only
will let me be with her until she is buried you
can take me and do with me what you want TO.
don't care what happens to me. but please let
me be with her until she is buried"
Magistrate House was much affected. and tele-
pnoned TO Coroner Hamburger and asked him TO
let the young woman attend her mothers s
funeral He suggested that his probation Of
icer go with her. The coroner said that he
would try to finish the case at once, if the Dis
trict Attorneys office would help as he had al
ready impanelled his jury. Mrs MeCauley and
Lieutenant Scott then started for the coroners'
Office with Mrs. Langholtz.
Immediately after they had left the court
DR.. Lillian NJ Thomas in. and soon as
she learned of the fairly ran from the
room in her haste TO help the prisoner. She hur-
ried to the District Attorneys office TO expe-
dite affairs there.
Coroner Hamburger not in his Office when
Mrs. Langholtz arrived. but he returned
While waiting she talked freely with her cOun-
se telling of many brutal experiences she and
her younger sister had had at the hands of their
father. For long time, she said. he had refused
to let them eat at the table with him. and they
had lived on the refuse and what their mother
smuggled to them at the risk of a beating.
Another time, because she broke dish she
was tied up all night in a cellar the ropes
lashed tightly that the blood started through
the skin. She had been otherwise brutaly treated
by her father too, she said also had her
sister. Annie, thirteen years old. She showed
the marks on her arm where he had beaten
| her with a stick having a rusty nail in the end
She nearly lost her arm from the resulting blood
poisoning. Time and time again she and her
mother fed, only to have Wasser ferret them
out and abuse them Finally they said they
had gone TO Germany, and secreted themselves
in the house st No. 2G5S Third avenue. when
Wasser found them there on Thursday they had
Just begun to feel free from him. and Mrs. Was
ser was feeling better than she had for years. -
Only four witnesses were called at the inquest
Lieutenant Scott testified simply that hearing
shots fired he had entered the house and first
saw Mrs. Wasscr lying on the floor OF the front
room already dead. Wasser was standing
against the wall IN the hallway, e smoking re-
volver in his hand. He took the gun from Was
ser's hand and he did the fell dead
Mrs. Alice Hanley who lives IN the same
house. said that little Annie came rushing into
the han shriehing: Help. Helpi Father IS
chasing mother, Help us!"
She ran into the Wasser apartment and found
man and wife apparently dead on the floor. The
little girl, Annie placed under oath. but
allowed 10 tell her story.
"T was eating breakfast with mother and sis
ter she said and l saw them look up fright
ened like. and l turned around and saw father
standing there. He had gun in his hand. and
all he said was. Is this going to Germany I
ran TO get Mrs. Hanley. and ] ran | saw
mother away from father toward the front
room. heard shot fired Then got Mrs
IIanley and when we came down again both
mother and father were lyng on the floor and
the policeman was there.
Mrs. Langholtz's attorney asked the child If
her father had wronsed her, and the little
girl said that he had done so several times Mrs
Langholtz, when she came to tell her story. said
that the action of the father to the child. WHOM
he denied as his offsprnX. had long subjected
the entire family to HIS brutal prosecutions
HE has been arrested at least half a dozen
times for persecuting either mother or little
Annie" she said, "and time he has been
arrested the police have found either bottle
of poison a revolver, and sometimes both, on
him. Some days before the shooting, she said
she had appealed to the police OF the West 10Th
street police station for protection, but they did
not seem to be impressed by her story. and did
not send any around. Had they done so,
she said the tragedy of Thursday would prob
ably not have occurred.
Her story of the actual shooting was the same
as her sisters up 10 the time the child had fled
for help. Mother got UP and ran TO the front
room" she said, continuing the story from this
point Father chased her. and I heard shot
fired, and mother fell. I went to a bureau
drawer, and got the revolver which kept in
the house. and fired 1t toward the window to
alarm the neighbors aud summon help. and
suppose it must have been one of those bullets
which struck father. Then / dropped the gun,
and tried to pick mother up. but she was
tally wounded and all could do was to pillow
her head on my knee"
Mrs. Langholtz was allowed to go soon as
the jurys verdict had been given. Before she
aft ha a