New-York tribune., 1918-04-24
Helmuth Schmidt XIII.
Himself After Confe..;,.
Burning Woman's 5 Bodv
Another Wife Missing
Declared Augusta Steinh.,,
Committed Suicide on I..s
ing He Was Married

PONTIAC. Mich, April 23.-K;,,;,.
himself in Highland Park iail a e.
minutes after confessing he knew !,
the death of Miss Augusta Ste;nh.,l
of New York, who had been lured =
Michigan by false matrimonial adv.,
tisements, Helmuth Schmidt to.a,,
stopped one angle Of the probe Of n:
murder charge against him. Scbm,at
dropped the heavy bed in his cell :,
his head, dying at once.
Schmidt said the woman commit..s
suicide with poison in his home. in r..
absence of his wife and daupht.r
whom he exonerated. He said he th.n
buried the body, but later dug il y,
and burned it.
The police had found bits Of hair,
bone and bloody cleaver with which
they confronted him. "''A
The wife and daughter ~ s.hn;a.
are being held on charges Of com.
pllclty, and the woman has not been
informed of her husbands death.
Officers are investigating a stor'
that a woman in Detroit married
Schmidt under the name of Emil,
Brown and disappeared two months)
later; also story that q woman IA
New York, whose name has not been
learned, but who was stenograpner for
the Hupfel Brewing Company, mar.
ried him in 1915, and that they lived
at Lakewood, N. j. Brown or Schmidt
\ is said to have claimed that she de.
serted him, taking sum of money.
The police in Detroit will search The
Glendale Avenue home, where Schmidt
formerly lived, for traces Of the mur.
ders.
Schmidt married his present wife IN
! December, 1916.
Police officials tonight are endeavo,,
ing to locate Irma Pallatinus, who II
said to have accompanied Schmidt 10
this city in 1915 from Lakewood, N. j.
1t was the persistence of Miss Agru
Domanie, friend of Miss Steinbach
that led to the arrest of HelmdA
Schmidt in Detroit.
The two women became friends Wills
working as servants in Paris fifteen
years ago, and had kept up the asso
citation formed then. 1t was Miss Do
mamie who first brought to the atten
ton of the police the strange disap.
pearance of her friend shortly after she
went to Detroit, and since that time
she has furnished the authorities os
Michigan and New York with impor-
tant additional information which
which finally enabled them to run down
Schmidt. At one time it looked IS
though the problem would never b.
solved, for Sheriff O. H. P. Greene oi
Detroit. committed suicide and burned.
with the rest of the Papers in his poo
session, all details relating to the casd
Miss Steinbach was forty years old,
but looked much younger. In 1916
she was attracted by matrimonial sd.
vertisements which appeared in The
"New- Yorker Herold," signed, "Geoye
Rolfe, care of H. Schmidt, Detroit"
For some months, the woman corn.
sponded with "Rolfe," and in Febru
} ary, 1917. told Miss Domaine that she
was going to Detroit to marry him
! She departed in March, and lew days
later wrote to her friend, describing
her husband-to-b most enthusiastic
cally.
| She also asked her to send on thra
, trunks full of clothing which wert
stored at a warehouse here. Miss Do
mamie complied, but three months later
the express company returned tts
trunks to the warehouse, explaining
that they could not locate the woiasn'
Miss Domanie then wrote to the De.
troit authorities. Three months later
Sheriff Green came to the city, con-
/. ferred with her and the New YORK
, police, and then returned to Detroit
Shortly thereafter he committed sui
eide.
This did not discourage Miss Do.
maine, however, and she continued n hei
appeal to the officials of Detroit In rms
was productive of a visit Of Iiel
): Gillespie, District Attorney Of Oakland
County, to this city, wnere he conier1Tess r. !,
g with her. The arrest of Schmidt l0''
1 lowed. ...,.
a Captain Carey, of the Homicide
Squad, said last night that Miss 10.
, mamie was employed as servant IN a
j, home here and that she would 20 W
! Detroit on Thursday.
! |