Halloween Countdown 2018, Day 2
Oct. 2nd, 2018 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eldritchhobbitToday we have true crime and a song for a ghost.
Father Hans Schmidt (1881? - February 18, 1916) is to date the only Catholic priest ever to be executed in the United States. He had a secret sexual relationship with a woman named Anna Aumüller; after she became pregnant, he slit her throat, drank her blood, dismembered her corpse, and threw it in a river.
His subsequent arrest, trial, and execution created a media frenzy.
(Source.)
What most drew my attention to the case is that some also suspect Schmidt of the murder of nine-year-old Alma Kelmer, whose body was found buried in the basement of St. John’s Church just down the road from me in Louisville, Kentucky (where Schmidt had previously worked).
The Bodarks released a song in memory of the child called “Ghost of Alma Kelmer.” You can read the haunting lyrics here.
One of my goals for this year’s countdown is to recommend some podcasts I’ve discovered over the past year. One of these is the terrific In Sight Podcast, which is well researched, no nonsense, and always compelling. In the words of hosts Ali and Charlie, “We are two hosts from two continents making one podcast. We discuss mysteries, unsolved crime, missing persons and really anything that takes our interest!”
Father Hans Schmidt (1881? - February 18, 1916) is to date the only Catholic priest ever to be executed in the United States. He had a secret sexual relationship with a woman named Anna Aumüller; after she became pregnant, he slit her throat, drank her blood, dismembered her corpse, and threw it in a river.
His subsequent arrest, trial, and execution created a media frenzy.
(Source.)
What most drew my attention to the case is that some also suspect Schmidt of the murder of nine-year-old Alma Kelmer, whose body was found buried in the basement of St. John’s Church just down the road from me in Louisville, Kentucky (where Schmidt had previously worked).
The Bodarks released a song in memory of the child called “Ghost of Alma Kelmer.” You can read the haunting lyrics here.
Why not have a listen?
One of my goals for this year’s countdown is to recommend some podcasts I’ve discovered over the past year. One of these is the terrific In Sight Podcast, which is well researched, no nonsense, and always compelling. In the words of hosts Ali and Charlie, “We are two hosts from two continents making one podcast. We discuss mysteries, unsolved crime, missing persons and really anything that takes our interest!”
Episode 108 of the In Sight Podcast features a guest from the True Crime Fan Club and explores the larger story of Hans Schmidt. Here is the episode’s description:
In 1916, the US executed Hans Schmidt at Sing Sing prison. Schmidt is the first, and so far only, Catholic priest to be executed in the United States. His conviction was for the murder of a woman he had been secretly in a relationship with, but many believe this wasn’t his first murder. Or even his second. Further investigation showed he had even more murders planned.
Listen to the episode here.
no subject
Date: 2018-10-02 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-10-03 12:54 pm (UTC)