murderer

Per: www.greenwood.com/catalog/C8553.aspx . Hans Schmidt was a Catholic priest and a killer. He was ordained in Germany in 1904, arrived in the United States in 1908 and was assigned to St. John's Parish in Louisville, Kentucky. Arguments with the minister resulted in Schmidt's transfer to St. Boniface Church in New York City. There he met beautiful Anna Aumuller, a housekeeper for the rectory who had recently emigrated from Austria. Despite his transfer to a church far uptown, Father Schmidt and Anna continued a romantic affair and, in a secret ceremony he performed himself, they were married. When he discovered she was pregnant, Father Schmidt knew his secret life would soon be exposed. On the night of September 2, 1913, he cut Anna's throat, dismembered her body, and threw the parts into the Hudson River. When the body was discovered, he was arrested and charged with the murder. A media circus ensued, as the New York papers became fascinated by the priest and his double life. After feigning insanity during his first trial, which ended with a hung jury, Father Schmidt was eventually convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. He remains the only priest ever executed for murder in the United States

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Schmidt_(priest) Wiki could use this photo.

quite a story

Another Bain/LOC photo of the murderer of Anna Aumueller, Father Hans B. Schmidt:

Anna Aumueller was the murder victim:

The man he murdered: The girl he wanted:

Holman A. Drew, Sheriff of Coos County, New Hampshire. Source: openjurist.org/235/us/432/holman-drew-v-harry-kendall-thaw

LOC --- the title is defective: The abbreviation for "Deputy" needs a "y" added; otherwise the reader mistakes the word as "Department." Three "r's" belonged in the old one room schools -- not in the word "Sheriff."

In 1906, Harry K. Thaw pulled a gun, fired three shots, and murdered the noted architect Stanford White, in the roof garden atop New York City's old Madison Square Garden [which White had designed], in full public view of a partygoing crowd. He was found insane, and committed to the Mattewan State Hospital for the Insane, in Fishkill, New York. In 1913, Thaw escaped from Mattewan, and met a confederate who drove him north across the New Hampshire border into Coaticook, Quebec, where he spent several weeks. After extradition from Canada, he was held briefly in New Hampshire, pending his return to the custody of the State of New York. After another trial, in 1915 he was adjudged to have been restored to sanity, and set free. Thaw in New Hampshire -- a solo portrait:

Richard Arthur Norton and Wystan: Thanks for your comments. We'll correct the title next time we update the description.

See www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/stanfordwhite.html for more information on the early part of the story, including a timeline and links to newspaper stories.