Saturday, March 31, 2012

Confessing an Awful Crime.

Little Murders
(From Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, April 18, 1894)
CONFESSING AN AWFUL CRIME.
.
A Georgia Man describes How He Butchered His Five Children.
Waynesboro, Ga, April. 19.—Edward Dowse, who is held in jail charged with the murder of his five children, has confessed his guilt. He says his children kept accumulating upon him, while his ability to support them diminished, and on the morning of the murder he felt an uncontrollable desire to rid himself of the burden. Pretending to his wife that he wanted some necessary article in the cabin he went there, and having fastened the door behind him, he attacked the youngest child with an ax and killed it. The others held him by the legs, beseeching him to spare the child. Turning from his dead victim he grasped two others and beat their heads against each other until they became unconscious. With the ax he then killed them. The two remaining children sought refuge under the bed. Reaching for them he killed them also and left five dead bodies on the floor. Closing the door he returned to work, giving no sign of the bloody work in which he had been engaged. It is believed that his wife and sister, who have disappeared, are also guilty.


Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, April 18, 1894.

3 comments :

Anonymous says:
March 31, 2012 at 10:22 AM

"It is believed that his wife and sister, who have disappeared, are also guilty"..... really? Really?
Perhaps he felt an uncontrollable urge to rid himself of them also. I think that is highly likely. Did they ever find the wife and sister? Is there any follow up to this story?

Mme (S)avant Garde says:
March 10, 2014 at 10:37 PM

Have to admit.. I, too, am curious if the missing, supposed accomplices were ever apprehended/exonerated/excavated. How is it that the man kills his children and it's accepted - albeit in horror - but the missing women are presumed guilty instead of dead? Curiouser and curiouser...

Robert Wilhelm says:
March 10, 2014 at 11:12 PM

I forgot about this one. Seems like someone must have been tried for the murders. I'll see what I can find.

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