IL IL - Elfrieda 'Fritzie' Knaak, 29, Lake Bluff, 30 Oct 1928

[Ausgirl]

The whispered call was to the Lake Bluff police station. IIRC, Barney claimed to have left the building for the night 15 mins before this call was made -- so who was Elfrieda talking to? And why was she whispering?

I have thought she may have been attacked by somebody off our radar - but then, why take her to the police station and lock her in the basement? First, they'd need a key - and that narrows things to 15 people. Plus, police station? There was a lake right there, much easier for body disposal.

I think the most sensible of 'non-homocide scenarios' I can come up with is that Elfrieda had some kind of psychotic break after calling home regarding the sheet music, called to ask for Hitch and was told he was off with a broken leg - Elfrieda didn't believe this and then arrived at the station where Barney had not left at all and told her Hitch wasn't there. EK wandered off in a fugue, perhaps Barney later grabbed her and locked her in the basement for the night as he figured it'd be warmer down there for her.. and she burned herself. Or somebody offering to 'help' did it for her.. Of course Barney would lie to cover his *advertiser censored* and his lucrative income, so close to retirement..

There's a hundred holes in that, though.. And if it -was- homocide, it was somebody who had access to the keys of that hall and its basement.

And I would not be surprised at anything Hitch was up to or into, at this point.

I'm feeling a bit inspired to collect a timeline and 'fact list' together, so might work on that today.

 

[Ausgirl]

An excerpt from Elfrieda's diary, dated October 1926:

"May stopped suddenly in Allan's and Hitch walked off without me. Why did I deserve from eight? (sic) God!"

Another undated entry:

"We mean something, do we not? Isn't there something we can work for together? I wish I could help sell insurance, not because I can, but you are my inspiration, my purpose in life. We both want to be the greatest usefulness in life What can we work on together?"

http://newspaperarchive.com/bismarck-tribune/1928-12-08/page-9

Apparently Hitch featured daily in her journals of that period. I'm probably to give in (despite how much I hate the idea of pay per view news from 1928.. grr) and purchase a sub to newspaperarchive so I can dig up the rest.

Here's what I drew from between the lines of the entries above:

- Elfrieda was besotted with Hitch two years before she died.

- Hitch was selling insurance at the time.

- Elfrieda felt he was being a bit distant toward her, despite that they had the sort of relationship that ought to "mean something".

Here's a nice picture of Elfrieda from the Meriden Record

 

[December]

Maybe she was going to ask his wife for the divorce? It sounds like Elfrieda was a dalliance for Hitch. Maybe he felt she, being a Sunday school teacher, would never run off with a divorced man. But, when he found out he was wrong, he discouraged her in other ways?

I don't think he killed her although I believe he knew who did. But, I think whomever did would have to be able to carry her.

She might have been left at the police station in order to send a message to someone. Maybe even Hitch himself. So, this is why tossing her in the lake wouldn't work because she might be written off as a missing person and that wouldn't send a clear message.

Also, there are probably people who had keys (or could get the keys) who weren't supposed to have them as well as people who could pick locks. So, I don't know that it matters who officially had a key. The place had security issues, more than likely, what with Hitch's key being with him despite the fact he was home sick for however long.

P.S. Missing people don't deserve to be written off, of course. But, she was found still alive and no one can solve this. If she'd just disappeared...

 

[December]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=94dSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gDsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6803,4981966

The above link (the which is from the first post in the thread) shows the exact furnance Elfrieda supposedly used to burn herself. Interestingly, the article also says that she had sat upstairs in the police station before going down to the furnance to "test her love".

I don't know if it can be proven that she sat upstairs in the police station, but it was apparently accepted as fact by the newspaper reporter (and possibly police) that she did. So, is this two supposedly locked doors she managed to get into this fateful evening?

Also, when Hitch was at her bedside, he asked her, "Why didn't you call me?" She died moments after he asked her this (according to the article). Which is an interesting question... why wouldn't she have called him? Wife or no wife, if she was ten seconds from setting herself on fire, there is absolutely no reason she wouldn't have called him.

 

[Ausgirl]

I don't know if it can be proven that she sat upstairs in the police station, but it was apparently accepted as fact by the newspaper reporter (and possibly police) that she did. So, is this two supposedly locked doors she managed to get into this fateful evening?

Also, when Hitch was at her bedside, he asked her, "Why didn't you call me?" She died moments after he asked her this (according to the article). Which is an interesting question... why wouldn't she have called him? Wife or no wife, if she was ten seconds from setting herself on fire, there is absolutely no reason she wouldn't have called him.

According to Chief Barney, he left the station at 5PM, locking up. Then returned at around 9-ish with his dog (which he says did not alert to anyone being there) and then left again around 9.30 after stoking the furnace and locking up once more.

So if we assume Barney is telling the truth (and I don't, really) - then there was the door to the station room locked, a back entrance that was locked with a hook and latch, and the furnace room that should have been locked as well (and was, when Elfrieda was in there..).

This is the problem with crimes that just do not make sense - invariably, in my experience, the "not making sense" part comes from the untold amount of BS that comes from people, guilty of the murder or not, who exert every effort in covering thier own asses at the expense of the investigation.

I just keep turning it and turning it all around in my head, thinking sooner or later I'll hit on a combination of events that fits all verified facts -and- makes perfect sense of what happened.

Right now, I am thinking maybe Elfrieda tried to call Hitch at work from the Highland Park station to share the good news of her triumphant day - and did speak to somebody at the station (Barney) who (maybe) told her about Hitch's broken leg, or just said he wasn't at work that night. So instead of waiting for her bus home, she travelled 18 miles out of her way to go see him (she might have seen Mrs. Hitch at the music store, so knew she wasn't there...).

To this point, this all makes sense to me, so it's quite possible. It's what comes after that which doesn't make any sense at all. Yet.

 

[December]

The backdoor with the latch... maybe someone left it unlatched so Elfrieda (or whomever) could come inside. Then, that person would relatch it as if it had been latched up properly the entire time.

She seemed awfully set on meeting Hitch at the police station... late at night.

 

[21merc7]

Could EK have been pushed onto the electric rail tracks? That would explain no coat. Would have been left behind, perhaps used to keep other(s) from being shocked while retrieving her. Or pushed into the transformer.

Then, taken to the police station to show Hitch they knew about this flirtation? (If Hitch is not the actually perp.) If Hitch is the perp, it may have been the only place he could think of to take her. She had already been there, presumably looking for him though, so she was not far when the burns and head injury happened.

Drugs, morphine was available, paregoric was widely available until not too long ago, even in soda shops, any drug could make someone loopy that was not used to it. There are some homeopathic herbs/weeds that could cause disorientation also, and for days, though I think the hospital probably had her under morphine as is still common if you are in severe pain and dying.

Going to see if I can find some of the photos and links that no longer work in the thread. At work, so that will take some time.

 

[December]

Could EK have been pushed onto the electric rail tracks? That would explain no coat. Would have been left behind, perhaps used to keep other(s) from being shocked while retrieving her. Or pushed into the transformer.

Then, taken to the police station to show Hitch they knew about this flirtation? (If Hitch is not the actually perp.) If Hitch is the perp, it may have been the only place he could think of to take her. She had already been there, presumably looking for him though, so she was not far when the burns and head injury happened.

Drugs, morphine was available, paregoric was widely available until not too long ago, even in soda shops, any drug could make someone loopy that was not used to it. There are some homeopathic herbs/weeds that could cause disorientation also, and for days, though I think the hospital probably had her under morphine as is still common if you are in severe pain and dying.

Going to see if I can find some of the photos and links that no longer work in the thread. At work, so that will take some time.

I thought of that as well.. that she fell or was pushed onto the tracks or into the transformer or something like that.

Maybe they took her to the police station just to think about what to do? Maybe they never intended to murder her which is why they just didn't throw her in the lake and be done with it. Maybe they just couldn't bring themselves to deliberately murder her or throw her away like trash.

They give her some drugs and start looking at the absolutely severity of her wounds and panic more. Then, realizing the absolutely terrible state of her injuries and the fact someone would be opening the police station soon, they decide to go home and wait for her to be discovered.

Just another idea... I really cannot explain what happened to Elfrieda. I do think her burns were probably electrical, but otherwise.... I have no idea.

 

[21merc7]

I thought of that as well.. that she fell or was pushed onto the tracks or into the transformer or something like that.

Maybe they took her to the police station just to think about what to do? Maybe they never intended to murder her which is why they just didn't throw her in the lake and be done with it. Maybe they just couldn't bring themselves to deliberately murder her or throw her away like trash.

They give her some drugs and start looking at the absolutely severity of her wounds and panic more. Then, realizing the absolutely terrible state of her injuries and the fact someone would be opening the police station soon, they decide to go home and wait for her to be discovered.

Just another idea... I really cannot explain what happened to Elfrieda. I do think her burns were probably electrical, but otherwise.... I have no idea.

I like that idea. Might explain all the cover up, good ol' boys thing better, given that Hitch was really an outsider/fairly newcomer, but he was a cop. Yeah, that makes sense!

 

[Ausgirl]

You know - as much I think Hitch was a real varmint, and probably at the bottom of Elfrieda's death in some way or other -- I have to really question if he was her actual killer. Doctors confirmed he couldn't have walked far on that cast. I'd still like to punch him in his smug face, though. Just saying.

I've had a feeling for some time now that her being left in the furnace room was a case of "please die" - they couldn't kill her, couldn't call the Sheriff or an ambulance (but why? specifically why?), didn't know what else to do with her. So they lock her down there, try to make it look like she burned herself, and hope she dies in the night, and she doesn't.

Leaving a person like that is incredibly callous. It's beyond cruel, it's monstrous. It'd take either a person with a lot to lose (Barney) or a person with no conscience at all (Hitch) to leave a woman for hours in that condition.

This would make perfect sense - if it wasn't for Elfrieda insisting she'd done it to herself, as an act of faith. There'd have to be heavy drugs/coersion to make sure that happened.. That's a LOT of effort to go to. Why not just kill her? Perhaps they tried and tried (the evidence consistent with heavy blows) and she still wouldn't die so they got spooked..

Perhaps she headed on over Hitch's house, where Hitch, Kloer and Raymond were hanging out. Something happened there, and maybe Raymond and Kloer helped Hitch deal with the aftermath, along with Barney, once they were sure she wasn't going to say anything incriminating.

That'd explain Kloer's nervous collapse and weird loss of all recall of the night, beyond the fact he left at 10.30, as well as Barney's odd behaviour.

Not making sense enough for me, yet. It really is maddening.

 

[21merc7]

Not sure about Kloer's collapse. His not remembering seemed to be that it had been a while before he was questioned and it was an ordinary day, so he couldn't remember. The collapse is odd, unless he was of the age of heart problems. He was under stress from separation from his wife. He could have known something though!

The Mrs. Hitch and friend spotted at 1 a.m. is the most damning evidence. Maybe EK had called the home and arranged to me Hitch at the police station, and Mrs. Hitch overheard it all. I'm still not sure Hitch couldn't walk at all, or even drive. If Mrs. H overheard maybe she and friend met EK in place of Hitch and an altercation came about between the 2 women, knocking EK into something electrical and causing the damage. Mrs. H and friend get EK to the police station and start telling EK it is because of her love for Hitch, blah, blah, blah, as they think she is dying. The burning of the clothes would seem a staging for when the body was found, and to further (subconsciously in Mrs. H's mind) humiliate the temptress.

I'm still working on theories. The key to the police station, as someone mentioned Mrs. H would have access to, but could Hitch have ever given EK one for their meetings there? Or others?

I wish someone was around that new all these people involved and their relationships to one another. I get the cop cover up idea, but why for Hitch? Was he that great a guy? That great a cop? Or was the cover up for Mrs. Hitch, who cared for her that much, or who did she have some sort of secrets over?

 

[Ausgirl]

Here's one I haven't thought of before:

EK contacts Barney, either by phone or at the station, and finds out Hitch has a broken leg.

Knowing Mrs. Hitch was working late in Highland Park, she heads over to Lake Bluff.

Goes to Hitch's house - hangs there for a while. Or is turned away. Or is told to wait somewhere until later. In any case, she missed her last connecting bus.

Barney offers for her to stay at the station, seeing as it's late and wives might not appreciate pretty young thangs sleeping over.

And after that - who knows.

Just a thought on EK trying to kill herself - the quotes from her journals make it clear that she was obsessed by Hitch - but had come to the realisation that he didn't hold the same level of feeling for her TWO YEARS prior to her death. That's a long time.. and another reason I don't think she did this to herself. If she was -that- emotionally fragile, surely it would not have taken a total of four years for things to come to a head.

I wonder where Elfrieda was at 1am, when Mrs. Hitch came home... and why Selvi didn't drive Mrs. H right to her door...

eta: Great thinking, 21! I think we cross posted there.

Re Kloer - dunno about you, but I can recall a LOT of detail regarding what happened a week ago at a friend's house.. I'd think it bizarrre to the extreme if I could recall nothing. And it was only six days later he was interviewed, IIRC. I think Kloer was lying, personally...

Good thoughts, re Mrs. Hitch. I'm eyeballing her and Barney, presently..

As for Hitch's "charm" - he was a grade-A conman who fleeced people with spiritualist guff for a living. I think he could probably have twisted quite a few people around his little finger. The State's attorney involved in this case was one of Hitch's "students".... he had some influence in the area, for sure - before Elfrieda and the robbery charges, at least..

 

[December]

Some people might not have been covering up precisely. They really might not have known what happened.

Like some of the people on the police force, they may have known Elfrieda was involved with Hitch. But, Hitch couldn't carry her. So, who did it? Maybe they just did not know.

Some people, obviously, were covering up. But, that doesn't mean everyone did. Elfrieda was still alive and she wouldn't plainly explain what happened, the people who did it weren't confessing, and the guy she was obsessed with could not have done it.

Also, it is such a weird crime. This is why I wonder if some part of it happened accidentally.

 

[21merc7]

It is a weird crime December. If you intentionally throw someone into or onto something electrical to kill them, wouldn't you just leave them there?

I also agree that some may not have been covering up intentionally. If not asked direct questions about some detail, I doubt many would just blurt some minor thing out as it may not come to mind.

Didn't realize it was only 6 days later when Kloer was questioned. He may have known something, but didn't realize it. Or he may have been there, or Hitch told him something. Still not sure on that one.

 

[December]

I wonder if electrical burns get worse even after you remove the person from the source (assuming the bruns were untreated). Maybe the person didn't believe Elfrieda was as badly injured as she was because, at first, she wasn't.

Also, maybe due to shock, nerve damage, pain killers Elfrieda made her own injuries worse trying to keep warm at the stove during a period she was left alone. Clearly, it would be criminal neglect to leave her alone with no medical care except maybe a heavy duty pain killer. But, this may be why she said she did it to herself even with Hitch saying she should tell it all.

I'm just thinking of different scenarios hoping one makes sense a little bit.

 

[CanManEh]

Hey Im on page 1 and AUSgirl you did an amazing job at posting this its better then a book the way you have posted stuff your writing style ..OK so iam only on page 1 and things will change iam sure but right know ..hitchcock and his wife bring elfrida in to thier love afair and that being religious all that was like woarse then hell but yet they all had an afair then part of the new cult church group finds out about elfrida sleeping with a married man hitchcock and his wife turn against elfrida with the other church or ocult people and they that group ocult they torcher her and thats why she is afraid to tell till she is dying...lol thats after page on how i think this case ends ..

 

[CanManEh]

ausgirl are you a writer and are all these your own words not quoted from papers cause man if this is just all you and the way you have worded all your posts about the case and happenings if its all just you ..Iam serious you should be writing for someone .magazines books something ..

 

[Robin Hood]

Yeah, she's very good at this writing business. Thumbs up for Aus.

 

[Ausgirl]

Awh shucks, guys. Thanks! :blushing:

I am a writer, lol. But a lazy one this year.. taking time off to veg out and sleuth and practise some of my other crafts.

I am really glad to see people reading this thread and pondering the mystery.. as well as remembering Elfrieda. Lots of fresh eyes are a good thing!

Lots of good thinking.

My thought for the day is this -- it's strange that so many of the people connected with both Hitch and Elfrieda behaved oddly, lied, disappeared for days on end, couldn't recall things they ought to be able to..

I think if they didn't know.. then perhaps some of them -suspected- something.

 

[Robin Hood]

I wonder if any of them told relatives years later and somebody out there knows the truth.
I was told by family only a few years back that my Grandfather's brother knew Legs diamond the mobster.