| Show 49 4 MURDER Y AT LORAIN ORAIN Jb OHIO STILL UNSOLVED BY THE POLICE A jagged piece of storie covered with hair and blood is th a e only tang ib abib p clew to the murder of miss agatha who WAS killed may I 1 at the home of her brother the rev charles a the priest in charge of st joseph josephs s roman catholic church lorain ohio miss ReichI in abo wb was about thirty years old hand han handele deme oine accomplished and popular was housekeeper for her brother living with them was an other brother Oase imir and the rev ferdinand walser of toledo was tern tem por arlly atily at the house the rev charles was not at home having havic g gone to kelly kellys s island to conduct a funeral shortly after 1 0 clock on the morn ing of me my Y I 1 the th rev walser says he was awakened by smothered cries of distress from the room adjoining his which was occupied by miss he thought she was ill and waited to hear it if her brother was looking after her he heard a sound of a striking and the door between the two room roon was opened A short man put his head around the corner of the door and when the rev walser saw that it was not cassimir he spoke sharply saying what are you doing herec you get out of here as fast as you can the fellow held in his hand a rock covered with blood and pieces of hair after seeing the priest he left rapidly the rev walser then called to cas simir and told him there were burglars in the house cassimir rushed from his room and heard the man going through the attic he fol lowed and saw him disappear down a ladder he returned to the room and 0 ss 6 the re achlin home showing how entrance may have been effected by the murderer lighted the gas he then saw that there were bruises and blood on his sisters face an examination showed that she elie was dead both men dress ede and the police were called entrance may have been gained through a small window in the attic and the ladder was still against the building the stone with blood and hair on an it was on the ground the investigation of the coroner told the story of a horrible struggle the girl s face was pounded literally into a pulp she had received three j blowe blows blo we on the left side of the head any one ol 01 which would have caused death the motive for the crime was not robbery for no property was tak k P en the pastor s safe was in a room on the lower floor but that floor ff was wa guarded by a big st bernard dog no alarm was given by the dog so that entrance into the house in must u st halve been made quietly the night nas was stormy the developments in the mystery during the next twelve hours were rapid ties rev father ferdinand walser was arrested and taken to the county jail in the custody of chief of police braman tire the warrant for father walser s arrest attest charges him with murder to in the tha first degree after sending word all over the state and tailing failing to get bloodhounds the mayur sent word to T L hick man owner anfort in fort wayne 1 ind 14 PA fr mr hickman owns six fine blood hounds and seven seen minutes after re ceiling the message he was as on the way with two full blooded registered english bloodhounds they were taken to the ln residence the dogs were first taken upstairs to the room in which the young woman was murdered the dogs sniffed at the bed clothing at the stone used to kill the girl and at the ladder finally they were allowed to take their own scent they went from the attic to the girl s room then to the next room and to the bed occupied by rev wal ser the night before they sniffed sniff ed at the pillows but they did not bay they went from room to room and according to mr hickman they paid mo more attention to the walser bed than anything else after it was thought that the dogs had had time to get the scent they were taken downstairs they were allowed to go as they wished but not a track did they find they were taken around the house a number of times but nothing seemed to arouse them the ladder was let out of the attic window the dogs sniffed unconcern edly dr hickman said there was nothing to work on down stairs he said the murderer so far as he could tell never left the house during the next few hours the police pollee say a strong feeling appeared to be growing against father walser this became serious enough the police say pay after a confere conference ce with county prosecutor to justify the maior in ordering the arrest of father walser the affidavit was nas drawn and charged the priest with murder in the first degree poop a interior of the hou showing how the various rooms were acup ed on the night of the murder I 1 the arrest and charge of burdei placed against father walser by no means cleared away the mystery sur founding rounding the case while the police have abandoned the theory that the murder was committed by a robber they thus far have failed to establish a motive for the commission of the crime by the priest if and that is the only supposition upon which they base their theory father walser entered miss s room and the murder resulted salted re from her resentment of his advances why was there not a struggle or an outcry that would have aroused miss reich lins lin s brother who slept in an adjoin ing if the murder had been committed in that way f upon a mad impulse would the priest deliberately have planned to decave the police and the dead girl girls s brother by placing a ladder against the house and opening doors and windows to indicate that a burglar had been in the house and had escaped 9 A new link was added to the chain of evidence in favor of the police theory that the murder was not committed by a who en the house for the purpose of rob bery it was discovered that the stone with which miss was killed and which was afterward thrown into the yard had been kept in the house some time being placed before a door to keep it open the only other new discovery was that two men had been seen carrying a ladder from the yard of a neighbor of the s the night of the mur der and it now transpires that the 1 X 4 waz ar charged by the pot pol ce with the murder of f agatha Retch lin but acquitted after a formal hearing ladder was taken from this yard fur thedmore ther more it was old and rotten being held together by wires its owner says it would not have held a heavy man be he being afraid to use it himself the police have found a man who say he saw two men carrying the ladder on the street near the home but he did not notice where they went father ferdinand walser was set free may 5 after a formal hearing be fore mayor king ring and the coroner q jury which was in session all day at elyna elyria returned a verdict that agatha Reich ln came to her death from wounds inflicted by a stone in the hands of a person unknown the murder of miss is still a mystery and at present there is ab sol tely no clew to the real criminal |
