Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-09-16
Hudson River Mystery is
Solved by Confession of
Catholic Divine
DISMEMBERED. BODY
THROWN IN WATER
Initial "A" on Pillow Slip
Leads Detectives to the
Alleged Guilty Man

New York, Sept. 15.-sehmldts
defense at hIs tr,al-F he makes
4 real defense-probabIy will be
insanity. Aiphonse koelbIe, h's
lawyer, 90 announced after long
talk with Schmidt In the Tombs.
~ shall move to have Father
SehmIdt's case brought to trial at
the earliest possible moment" said
Kosible, az then think that he
10 insane, I, shall ok TO have com.
mission appointed to determine
his mental status " I think hegls
sane, j will, Eel! him that the only
thing to do 10 to stand UP like 4
! man and pay the penalty"
"vvhen saw him today, he said.
not talk about that now. Let's walt
u don't need your services. Le.'s
walt till God and Abraham have
spoken. God and Abrahamw'Ii com. 5
munieats with. you and tell you
whom TO- como to mo. Don't do
anything till that time"
Mr.. .koaihls4 said his client was
fully .awars that he faced the cleo.
trlc chair.
New York, Sept 15..-1n the hope Of
branding q an inposter and pseudo
priest the Rev. Hans Schmidt. n
less4 self confessed slayer Of Ann,
Aumullsr. .yietjpr u Nsw tYofk's rivel
murder mystery. church authorities be
gan today : sweeping investigation o.
Bchmidt's record ana his pretensions
10 ordination.
I'VE hope. Of course, to be able to
prove that this unspeakable monster
was An imposter and that he had been
using forged papers" declared Mgr.
Lavell, vicar general OF the archdiocese
Of New York. THAT 10 something
which We are trying to clear up now
He came; to this diocese with creden.
tials which were apparently In every.
way authentic and genuine but 4 we
know practically nothing Of him. His
crime Is too horrible to conceive. We
can only hope that he may prove to
have been a pseudo priest. In his
cell in the Tombs with his coat as a
pillow Schmidt slept throughout the
night and arose this morning to par
take OF a hearty breakfast. He had lit.
tie to add to his alleged confession OF
last night which he is said to have told
the police that he killed his victim as
she lay In the bed, cut up her body in
the bath tub Of the apartment where
he established her, wrapped 1t in Ave
bundles and dropped the bundles into
the Hudson river. To the Rev. L. J.
Eyers the Tombs chaplain, Schmidt
was said to have made the following
Confessed. the Crime.
IT was directed to kill her by st.
who Is my patron, as a
sacrifice to be contaminated as was
the sacrifice Of Abraham. in blood"
To the police Schmidt is alleged to
have said:
II killed her because loved her.
The police believe however, that he
killed her because she was soon to be
1 mother. They believe that the girl
accepted as genuine the marriage
ceremony through which she went
with her alleged slayer last February
and In which he was both priest and
With view to clearing the mystery
the murder Of eight year
old Alma Kellne1, whose mutilated
body was found in quick lime In the
basement Of st. Johns Catholic church
In Louisville two years and half ago,
The police sought to obtain from
5 Hchmidt some statement Of what he
might know Of this crime. From
August, 1909. till March. 1910, Schmidt
was a visitor in Louisville not official.
" connected with any church there,
but guest in the home of the Rev.
Henry B. Westermann, rector of the
church Of the Immaculate Conception,
Anna Kellnerl disappeared on Decem-
Der 3, 1909; her body was found nine
months after Joseph Vending, jani-
tor OF st. Johns church, is now serving
4 life term in prison for the crime.
vending stoutly denied his guilt
and the jury did not consider the evi.
dence sufficient to lodge against him a
verdict Of first degree murder.
Little Known Of Schmidt.
OF Schmidt's antecedents little is
known here, save his own claim that
be was born in Germany in 1881, was
educated there, ordained by Bishop
Kestein in st. Augustine's seminary
In Maine and came to New York in
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