Case Study- Sausage Vat Murder & The Dissolved Wife Case

Sausage Vat Murder & The Dissolved Wife Case

Background

Adolph Luetgert was a famous tanner and butcher from Germany in the early 1870’s. After the death of his first wife, he married Louise Bicknese in 1878 and was 10 years younger than him. He gifted a beautiful gold ring that had her initials as L.L. on their wedding day.

In 1879, he opened a sausage company that grew popularity in no time and he became successful. He then opened A.L. Sausage and Packing Company. It was a five-story plant and was located on the southwest corner of Diversey and Hermitage. He then built a three-story house near his sausage plant.

Unfortunately, Louise Luetgert went missing on May 1, 1897 and soon after it was concluded that she was dead.

Facts related to the case

Adolph married Louise after his first wife was dead. They both had two sons, Elmer and Louis. But both of them were not happy in their marriage. After Louise went missing on May 1, her brother, Deidrich Bicknesse, called to see her on May 4th and found that she had been missing for the last 3 days. Adolph himself informed her brother about Louise being missing and also admitted that he did not make any efforts to search for her and also he did not notify the police for the same.

Deidrich, on sensing the indifference in Adolph, notified the police and the investigation began.

The search began soon and the mysterious disappearance was investigated thoroughly. All the possible places were searched but nothing was leading to any closeness to find Louise. The IO who was appointed for the investigation then later decided to search the five-story plant where Adolph ran his A.L. Sausage & Packing Company.

Evidences found, leading to suspicion

1. On May 15th police started searching for Adolph’s factory. On inquiry with the watchman, the police was suggested to look into the steam vats.

2. In Adolph’s sausage plant, there were large vats to dip the sausages. In the sediment of one of the vats, the IO managed to find two gold rings, one bearing the engraved initials “L.L.”, a tooth and two corset steels.

3. The vat was searched for more evidences and police recovered a reddish-brown liquid which was half filled and had a putrid smell. The police pulled the plug on the bottom of the vat and a slimy liquid poured out with small pieces of bones.

3. In the yard, some pieces of bones were found along with a part of skull and other similar pieces.

4. A smokehouse helper testified that Adolph ordered about 378 pounds of potash on March 11th. He also stated that Adolph ordered the employees to dump the potash in the vat steam with water on April 24th.

On May 18th, Adolph was arrested.

Defense of Adolph Luetgert

1. He denied killing her wife Louise, and stated that his wife was acting insanely and thus ran away.

2. He clarified that the potash that he ordered was to be used for making soap to clean the sausage factory. Also, he further stated that the bones which here found from the steam vat were of the animal and not of a human.

Examination of the evidences and related expert opinion

The prosecution was determined by the fact that potash mixture can dissolve a human body and did a similar demonstration with a real human cadaver in a cauldron filled with potash. The demonstration led to the conclusion that the cadaver was able to liquefy in the presence of potash mixture and it turned in reddish-brown fluid. Also, the potash leached the calcium from the bones and liquefied rest of the body.

1. The gold ring with the “L.L.” initials was confirmed to be the belonging of Mrs. Louise Luetgert.

2. George Dorsey, anthropologist and curator of the Field Museum with his colleagues thoroughly examined the bones recovered from the yard and testified that the pebble-sized bones recovered from the vet were of a human female origin.

3. Police later found that Adolph had 100 boxes of soap in stock which was sufficient to clean the factory.

Verdict

On October 18th 1897, the case was submitted to the jury. After about 66 hours, the jury had a total of 9 testimonies favoring a conviction and only three in favor of acquittal.

The Trial concluded with the conviction of Adolph guilty of murder and was sent to Joliet State prison for the punishment of imprisonment for life.

Aftermath

On the morning of July 27, 1899, Adolph left his cell and returned with his breakfast in a pail. Just when he was about to eat it, he became unconscious and fell dead due to a heart disease.

A statement by Frank Pratt, a member of the Chicago bar, was made after the death of Adolph. He said that he visited Joliet in February 1898, to consult a client and he being an approx. palmist asked if Adolph wanted his “hand read.”

Adolph consented and Frank told him that he possessed a violet and dangerous temper and at times, he was not responsible for his actions. Adolph admitted that he killed his wife Louise claiming that he was possessed by a devil. Frank quoted that Adolph’s admission of the murder was a “professional secret” and thus did not divulge it until the death of Adolph Luetgert.