The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-05-16
DEATHS ARE
LAID TO WEIRD
SUICIDE CULT
Club Barred by SpinSter
Accused of Staying
Invalid Brother.
GAVE HIM REVOLVER
Group of Aged, Suffering
Persons Agreed to End
All If Prayers Failed.
BIZ United Press

By United Press
MINEOLA, L. L, May 16.-Resi-
dents Of Amityville, a quiet Long
Island town near here, were star
tied today to learn of weird sui
eide cult" which already may have
claimed the lives of twenty-four OF
its original fifty members.
Existence of such club" came
to light, authorities said, with the
arrest of a 57-year-old SpinSter,
Louise Schwarz, under indictment
on a second-degree murder charge
in connection with the death Of her
invalid brother Edward, SIS.
Miss Schwarz was taken into
custody when police said they had
learned she was the only one who
would have had the opportunity OF
the motive for firing the shot which
took her suffering brothers life.
Devoted Life to Brother
The tall, angular woman is OF
an old and respected family here
and had devoted nearly all of heI
life to the care of her brother.
She denied the killing and told
police her brother took his own
life as a member of the suicide
club.
Schwarz was found dead last
Wednesday, freshly shaven anc
dressed in his best clothes, seated
in an easy chair. His ankles were
crossed and a revolver lay in his
lap, loosely clutched in his right
hand. He had two wounds in his
head.
Miss Schwarz told authorities
that if she shot him she did sc
while my soul had flown from
my body"
Her brother, she said, had suf-
fered almost unbearably for the
past twenty years, and they had
agreed that it was best for him to
end it all,
Weekly Prayers Said
This agreement came she said,
after a meeting of the suicide club
at her home, when members offered
prayers for relief of his suffering
to no avail.
The cult" originally composed of
fifty aged and suffering members.
but with only twenty-six remaining.
had an unwritten law, she said.
whereby it was understood that if
the weekly prayers for some mem
Der failed the victim would end his
life.
1t was under this understanding
that the brother and sister decided
it was best for him to end his life,
she said. She helped him put on
his best clothes, shaved him and
placed him in the easy chair 80
that he would look his best in
death"
Handed Revolver to Brother
She then got the revolver and
handed it to him, she said, waving
the house shortly thereafter, not to
return until five hours later.
When she got back her brother
was dead. She called for neigh
Dor, who summoned police.
Authorities were at first inclined
to place little credence in her story
until she told of how another mem
Der of the club, George Brietenbach,
had gone home and hanged himself
in the cellar of his home after the
Clubs" prayers had failed.
Twenty-FOur Others Missing
Officers looked up the case and
found the details of the death OF
Breitenbach conceded in every de-
tail with her description.
Miss Schwarz went on to name
nearly a dozen late residents of
Suffolk county who, as members Of
the club, had ended their lives, ac-
cording to officials.
Police were attempting to learn
the names of other members to
ascertain whether the missing
twenty-four of the original fifty had
met death at their own hands.