The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1910-08-20
F|ANCEE SLAIN.
ON THE EVE OF
HER MARRIAGE
Mysterious Death of Kansas
Girl on Night Preceding
Her Wedding
MURDERER ENTERED RER ROOM
AND CHl0R0F0RkEO HER

hDerate Purpose to Prevent Her
Marriage With Man of Her Choice
Died Without Struggle. s
Abilene, Kas.. Aug. 20-There is no
doubt in Abilene today that 22-year-
old Bertha Benignus was murdered
as she lay asleep in her fathers
house the night before the dawn of
what was to have been her wedding
day. Even DR.. Simon Steelsmith, the
family physician. who first ascribed
the girls death to heart failure"
and later declared her suicide by
chloroform poisoning. has come over
to the theory of probable murder.
The gist of the physicians testi-
mony this morning at the coroners
inquest was that while 1t would have
been possible for Miss Benignus to
chloroform herself. 1t was extremely
improbable that she had done so. Ev-
erything points to two guilty persons
instead of one, and the choice of mo-
tives is robbery or assault.
To Be Wed in Kansas City.
Bertha Benignus-"Betta" she was
called-was engaged to marry Earl j.
Livingston, 25 years old, son of Mr..
and Mrs. j. E. Livingston Of Salina.
Livingston was employed as cashier
in the Harvey House restaurant at
Hutchinson, and was about to be
transferred to Syracuse, Kas.. there
to manage the Harvey business. He
and Miss Benignus. who was an at
tractive girl, had been engaged year,
but not until Thursday night did the
young woman tell her family of their
plan to go to Kansas City and be
married.
She was to meet Livingston on the
Union Pacific train passing through
Abilene at 11:08 O'clock Friday morn
ing. and the wedding was, to. take
place in the afternoon. After q day or
two spent there, Mrs. Livingston was
to return to work in the Brown tele-
phone office in Abilene, wnere she was
employed as long distance operator,
and Livingston was to go on to Syra-
cuse and take up his new duties. Aft
er he became settled. the young man
says, they were to announce their
wedding and live in Syracuse, Liv-
ingston's mother was told of their
plans.
A Party for the Bridegroom.
The Benignus family. the father,
Charles A. Benignus. a German. the
mother, Beta, her four younger sis
ters, Mrs. Roy Sheerer,. an older sis
ter, and her brother made UP late
supper party in the Benignus home in
celebration of the coming wedding.
At 10 o'clock they retired. The father
% hot a
ground floor in the rear part of the
house. Beta went to, her room on
the second floor in the southwest
corner of the house. a chamber from
whose west front window extends the
roof Of the porch. Until midnight the
girls talked back and forth across the
hall. Then all went to sleep. This
Is according to versions given today
by various members of the family. In
everything their recitals Tailed.
It was Bettas custom to rise at
$3.50 O'Clock in the morning and come
down to her breakfast at Z. Her
work at the telephone Office began at
1880 o'clock. Friday morning she
did not come down. At 8 o'clock her
father called her loudly several times
from the foot of the stairs. He receiv-
ed no answer. Mr.. Benignus knocked
on Betta's door. Then he entered her
room.
II didn't see her at first." he told
the coroner's jury today. "The bed
clothes were pulled up smooth over
the bed and thought she must have
gotten up and gone downstairs with
out my knowing it. went over and
turned down the quilt, and l saw my
girl there fast asleep. thought, with
the pillow over her face. shook her
and called to her. When she did not
move l shook her again. Then / saw
she was dead"
She Evidently Had Not Struggled.
On the bureau lay an empty 1-ounce
bottle labeled "chloroform." The cork
was on the door by the bed. The
hooks of both the front and side win
dow screens were unfastened. A hole
about four inches long and two inches
wide had been cut or torn In the
screen of the front window just above
the loosened hook. On the floor OF
the porch outside Of this window lay
half burnt match, the broken on
blade of jackknife. new 20-penny
spike and several hairpins. Near the
caves of this shingled roof were two
muddy marks that could have been
made by a mans boots. Under the
window sill was another muddy blur,
less distinct. Two muddy marks
showed on the inside window ledge.
There was no disorder in the room,
no sign of struggle; no sign of con-
yulsions that commonly attend stran-
eulation or death by other violence.
But around the head. confining the
mass of chestnut hair and covering
the whole forehead, was bound torn
red bandana handkerchief knotted
tightly twice. A strip torn from 1t
hung in knotted moose on ner wrisl,