Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1909-01-14
REV. CARMICHAEL
CUTS OWN THROAT
Minister Who Murdered Man in
Michigan Church Kills
Self i'm Illinois.
CONFESSfS CRIME IN LETTER
Says He Had Fallen Victim to Dead
Mans Hypnotic POwer-Killed
Him in Fight.

Carthage, ILL.,, Jan. IS. - The Rev.
| John H. Carmichael, who last Tues
| day night in the little Methodist
church at Rattle Run, Mich, killed
Gideon Browning, the village carpen-
| ter, and then burned the body in the
stove, committed suicide here yester-
| day by cutting his throat with peck
| ct knife. He died at the county hos
pital after he had been taken from
the boarding house of Miranda
Hughes, where as a stranger he had
been living since last Friday.
Under Hypnotic Power.
In a long letter which was found in
his suitcase, Carmichael told in detail
the story Of the killing of Browning;
how he had fallen victim to Brown
ing's hypnotic power, and meeting him
in the church Tuesday night was COM
PEELED to obey his every command;
how, finally, when Browning attacked
him with knives, he (CarmichaeD de-
Tended himself with a Ratchet. After
finishing his victim with the Ratchet,
he said, the red-hot stove in the
church room suggested itself as the
best method of disposing of the body.
Before putting the body in the stove,
however, he exchanged some of the
dead mans clothing for his own,
which had become despatched with
blood.
Death as Horrible as Victims.
CarmichaePs death was almost as
horrible as that of his victim. When
he arrived at the Hughes boarding
house he gave the name of John Ell
der, and as he said he was a wood
worker and had come here to start
factory no suspicion was attached to
his presenc e. Yesterday morning he
informed Miss Hughes that as no sat
isfactory site for his factory could be
found here he intended to go to Bow
en-, Ill.
81 think I will find a better site
there he said. 'T'll take the 9 o'clock
train" Saying this he went out into
the back yard.
Throat Cut From Ear to Ear.
AS he delayed coming back and had
not returned at train time to get his
suitcase, the landlady instituted a
search. A passing teamster was hail
ed, and he, with others, joined the
searchers. But Carmichael already,
bv his own hand, SO far as he was
able, had expiated his crime. In an
old wooden shed back of the house
he had cut his throat from ear to ear.
The dying man was carried into the
house, but he never recovered con-
seriousness. Every effort was made to
revive him, but he died at p. m.
His clothing and suitcase were
searched and two letters were found,
one addressed to his wife at Rattle
Run, which was sealed and remains
unopened. The other letter was the
confession, which was addressed to
the sheriff at Port Huron, Mich.
TWO Crushed Women.
Adair, Mihc, Jan. 13.-There are
two crushed, heart-broken women in
this sensation-torn little village. They
are Mrs. John H. Carmichael, widow
of the preacher-murderer who COM
mitted suicide in Carthage, ILL.,, and
Mrs. Browning, mother Of Gideon
Browning, the victim of Carmichael's
murderous mania. Not only Adair
village, but the entire countryside is
wild with excitement over the days
developments in the Rattle Run MUIR
der mystery.
Mrs. Carmichael is sick in bed at
her home The shock of the days
news after the strain she has endured
since the crime was discovered was
more than she could bear, and for
the first time she broke down. But
she is still firm in the belief that her
husband was insane when he killed
Gideon Browning.