Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1909-05-20
ST. PAUL man IS
BRUTALlY SLAIN
Found on Flaming Gasoline.
Soaked Bed With His Head
Beaten to a Pulp.
POLICE SOLVE THE MYSTERY
Refuse to Give Information Regarding
the CAse-Widow of Slain Man
Badly Burned.

st. Paul, May 15-Louis Arbogast,
a wealthy butcher, AS found yester-
day morning on a flaming gasoline
soaked bed in his home. with his
skull crushed and matted with feath-
ers and blood. In the cellar of the
house detectives found a heavy ak,
clotted and stained with fresh blood
In the hallway, just outside the door
to the dead mans bedroom, a five-gal-
Ion can of gasoline was standing.
The police have been investigating
the case all day and, while from their
actions it is apparent that they have
solved the mystery, they refuse to
make any statement. 1t is almost
certain that the crime was committed
by some one who spent the night in
the house.
Discovered by Daughter.
The murder was discovered early
yesterday morning by Ida, the twenty
two-year-old daughter of the slain
man. According to her story. she was
awakened little after o'clock by
the smell of smoke. Rushing into her
fathers room she found him and his
wife lying in bed, apparently uncon-
scious, the bed wreathed in flames.
She dragged her mother from the bed
into the hallway, she says.
Mrs. Arbogast, the wife, tells a diff
ferent story. She had arisen nearly a
half an hour before, she declares, and
was in the bath room, preparing her
toilet, when she was startled by the
screams of her daughter Ida. She ran
into the hall and the girl told her that
her father had been burned to death.
Stories Conflict.
The two stories were SO contradic-
tory that the police began an investi-
CATION. Mrs. Arbogast was badly burn
ed about the head, arms and body.
She declares that she received her
burns in trying to extinguish the
flames, which were consuming the bed
she was taken to the city hospital
Late yesterday afternoon Louise Ar
bogast, the Oldest daughter of the
murdered man. and Henry A. Spangen-
burg. the man whom she Is engaged
to marry, were taken to the police sta
ton and were closeted with the chief
of police and the county attorney for
two hours.
Police Are Reticent.
1t was stated last night that no
member of the family was in custody
or under surveillance, unless Mrs. Ar
bogast's presence at the city hospital
might be construed as being in Gus
tody. That the police have solved the
mystery there is little doubt. but ap-
parently they are not ready to make
An announcement.
The theory that 1t was the act of
robber was disposed of early in the
day, when 1t was discovered that no
valuables had been touched. and that
all the doors and windows had been
securely locked the night before.
Work Of Insane Person.
Mrs. Arbogast is under treatment at
the city hospital for the burns she re-
ceived in the blazing bed. She is not
under arrest.
That the murder was the work of
an insane person is the positive opin-
ion of the police. That Mrs. Arbogast
is not and never has been insane is an
established fact. The authorities hold
the opinion that Mrs. Arbogast is us.
ing all her woman's wit to cover up
the real facts In the case, and that all
attempts to obtain from her a true
story of the crime have thus far fail
ed.
From all the facts thus far obtained
the theory now firmly held to is that
the mother is shielding some member
of the family.
Daughter a Nervous Wreck.
Louise Arbogast, the Oldest daugh-
ter, is nervous wreck. Her conduct
since the murder has been weird and
uncanny. She tells new version of
the horror every hour. With the d.
rect statement of the police that the
crime was the work of an insane per.
son and that Mrs. Arbogast is not and
never could have been insane, atten-
ton is directed to the daughter Lou
Use, who Is known to have been an in
mate Of sanitarium not longer ago
than last Christmas. For years she
had been victim of nervous all
ments which had taken her to all
parts of the country in an attempt to
cure. She has been home for four
days from trip to Eau Claire, where
she had been for weeks for her health.