MaryLiz
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This is a case I stumbled across a while ago. There is a lot of information about it but unfortunately it's all in NewspaperArchives.com and I can't post links. So I'll try to sum up what happened and also briefly detail the arrest of several suspects in the case.
Information was taken from several Fort Wayne, Indiana newspapers on NewspaperArchives.com from 1904 to 1906. I have condensed the articles and changed the wording so as not to copy it verbatim.
From Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette January 23, 1904
At about 7 o'clock this morning the dead body of a young woman was found in a shed. The discovery was made by the owner of the shed and his son-in-law. The clothing was torn and covered with blood and the person was unrecognizable. It was not until the body had been taken to the morgue and thoroughly cleansed that she was recognized as 23-year-old Miss Sarah Schafer, of Elkhart, a Latin teacher at Bedford High School. Miss Schafer had probably been uptown, and was going to her rooms, a short way from the place where her body was found. It is supposed that the young woman was stopped by someone familiar with her way to and from the school building, and that she was assaulted. There is evidence that she made a lerrible struggle, but that she was evidently beaten down as she passed a private alley opening into one of the streets, and that she was then dragged about fifty feet to the shed where she was killed. Hairpins were found at the mouth of the alley. It was thought she tried to use them as weapons against her assailant. The entire community is incensed over the murder, and the police and mayor are using every opportunity to obtain a clue to the identity of her assailant. Bloodhounds will be used in the search. The city council has offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the principal (s) guilty of the assault and murder of Ms. Schafer. A postmortem shows that she must have been attacked shortly after supper as her food had not yet had time to digest. She left the boarding house where she took her meals and had started to her rooms to meet a class of pupils in a course of Latin. This was the last ever seen of her alive, as she never reached her rooms.
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NEWS OF CRIME A GREAT SHOCK TO ELKHART
The people of Elkhart are greatly upset and in shock over the murder of Sarah Schaefer. Her family is very well known here. She was born in Decatur, Indiana, in July 1880, and was brought lo Elkhart when she was seven. She was said to be popular and no one here has a clue as to who committed the crime. It is said the relatives here reported that she recently wrote to her mother that a young man from Bedford had called on her and had made inappropriate advances towards her.
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From the Ft. Wayne News January 23, 1904
Sarah Schaeffer was found murdered Friday. Clutched in her right hand was the hair evidently caught in her death struggle. The startling discovery was made at the morgue.
This is from the first paragraph of an article that I couldn't open..it kept saying it wasn't available. It said in another article the hair was red. Reference is made below in an article about one of the suspects being arrested, Harry Behr, to a red-haired stranger seen leaving Bedford by train the night of the murder. Actually in researching this, I couldn't open up any of the articles from the Fort Wayne News.
See next page for info on suspects.
Information was taken from several Fort Wayne, Indiana newspapers on NewspaperArchives.com from 1904 to 1906. I have condensed the articles and changed the wording so as not to copy it verbatim.
From Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette January 23, 1904
At about 7 o'clock this morning the dead body of a young woman was found in a shed. The discovery was made by the owner of the shed and his son-in-law. The clothing was torn and covered with blood and the person was unrecognizable. It was not until the body had been taken to the morgue and thoroughly cleansed that she was recognized as 23-year-old Miss Sarah Schafer, of Elkhart, a Latin teacher at Bedford High School. Miss Schafer had probably been uptown, and was going to her rooms, a short way from the place where her body was found. It is supposed that the young woman was stopped by someone familiar with her way to and from the school building, and that she was assaulted. There is evidence that she made a lerrible struggle, but that she was evidently beaten down as she passed a private alley opening into one of the streets, and that she was then dragged about fifty feet to the shed where she was killed. Hairpins were found at the mouth of the alley. It was thought she tried to use them as weapons against her assailant. The entire community is incensed over the murder, and the police and mayor are using every opportunity to obtain a clue to the identity of her assailant. Bloodhounds will be used in the search. The city council has offered a reward of $500 for the arrest and conviction of the principal (s) guilty of the assault and murder of Ms. Schafer. A postmortem shows that she must have been attacked shortly after supper as her food had not yet had time to digest. She left the boarding house where she took her meals and had started to her rooms to meet a class of pupils in a course of Latin. This was the last ever seen of her alive, as she never reached her rooms.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
NEWS OF CRIME A GREAT SHOCK TO ELKHART
The people of Elkhart are greatly upset and in shock over the murder of Sarah Schaefer. Her family is very well known here. She was born in Decatur, Indiana, in July 1880, and was brought lo Elkhart when she was seven. She was said to be popular and no one here has a clue as to who committed the crime. It is said the relatives here reported that she recently wrote to her mother that a young man from Bedford had called on her and had made inappropriate advances towards her.
________________________________________________________________________________________
From the Ft. Wayne News January 23, 1904
Sarah Schaeffer was found murdered Friday. Clutched in her right hand was the hair evidently caught in her death struggle. The startling discovery was made at the morgue.
This is from the first paragraph of an article that I couldn't open..it kept saying it wasn't available. It said in another article the hair was red. Reference is made below in an article about one of the suspects being arrested, Harry Behr, to a red-haired stranger seen leaving Bedford by train the night of the murder. Actually in researching this, I couldn't open up any of the articles from the Fort Wayne News.
See next page for info on suspects.