Captain McGregor of the No. 8 Engine Company on Fifth Street
in Baltimore saw a woman come out of the house across the street and collapse on
the pavement on the afternoon of January 8, 1889. He ran to the woman and found
her covered with blood.
“Ida did this,” she told
him. She said, in German, that her servant, Ida Kessel, had demanded money from
her and, upon being refused, assaulted her. She swooned and said no more.
Captain McGregor sent for the police, who took her to City Hospital.
The woman, 65-year-old, Margaret Schneider, had been severely
hacked with twenty-two gashes to her face, throat, and hands. Her left ear was
mashed, and the front of her skull was crushed. During the afternoon, she had periods
of semi-consciousness but was never lucid enough to provide any more
information than what she gave Captain McGregor. She died at 8:30 that evening.
Mrs. Schneider lived on Fifth Street with her daughter and
grandson, both of whom had been in Philadelphia that week. Their servant, Ida
Kessel, had only been with them since the previous Thursday, and they believed she
had been stealing silverware.
There was confusion early on as to the identity of the
killer. The family knew her as Ida Kessel, but her real name was Kunegunde Betz.
Mrs. Schneider’s daughter, Susan Leahr, gave the police a detailed description:
30 years old, five feet seven inches tall, with broad shoulders, jet black hair,
high cheekbones, and dark brown, deep-set eyes. She spoke only German.
Two policemen saw her board a streetcar on January 10, and
they jumped on the front platform.
The driver said, “Have you arrested yet the woman you
fellows are looking for?”
“No,” said Officer Khatz, “but I will do so now.”
He walked over to the woman and politely asked her to
accompany him. She refused, and when he put his hand on her shoulder, she jumped
up and tried to flee. Officer Krouse grabbed her before she could escape, and
they took her to the Eastern Police Station.
Kunegunde Betz, alias Ida Kessel, spoke only German and was questioned
through an interpreter. She claimed that she was in the kitchen when a black
man jumped over the fence and entered the house. He choked her and asked where
the old woman was. She told him upstairs, and when he went to find her,
Kunegunde gathered her clothes and left. When Detective Seibold asked her if
the black man spoke German, she said no, but she understood what he said.
The police were aware of the house on Fifth Street even before
the murder. Neighbors had been suspicious and reported that the house was quiet
during the day but lit up all night, with people coming and going at all hours.
When the police went inside, they found evidence of a brutal struggle, with blood
on the walls and floor, and a trail of blood where the victim had been dragged.
The rest of the house, however, was scrupulously clean. While the house looked
plain from the outside, it was magnificently furnished within. The bedrooms
looked like bridal chambers, upholstered in different colors. In a second-floor
back room, the police found a complete opium layout. They also found a bundle
of letters addressed to Mrs. Shneider—some making appointments or reserving
rooms, others due bills for wine, etc. It was a house of ill-fame and Mrs.
Schnieder was a procuress, providing women, wine, and opium for the “club men”
who visited.
The police found a hatchet, which they believed to be the
murder weapon. They also found a dress saturated with blood. The killer took it
off and changed clothes before fleeing.
Kunegunde Betz was indicted for first-degree murder, but her
trial was postponed when it was discovered that she was pregnant. She had the
baby in prison and carried it in her arms when she stood trial the following December.
Her attorneys argued that she could not get a fair trial in Baltimore, and were
granted a change of venue to Towson, Maryland.
The prosecution presented a straightforward case of Betz assaulting
and killing Margaret Schnieder when she refused to give her money. However,
they could not directly connect her to the hatchet or the bloody dress.
The defense argued that Mrs. Schneider kept a house of
ill-fame where any number of persons had access and could have committed the
crime. The attorney also wanted to read the incriminating letters in court. The
defense objected strenuously to both. The judge, after hearing from both sides
and reading the letters himself, ruled that before entering testimony on the
character of the house, the defense had to prove that it was customary for keepers
of houses of ill-fame to allow visitors to have keys to the house. The letters,
he said, offered such meager light on the subject that it was better not to
read them in court.
After three days of testimony, the case was given to the
jury, who found Kunegunde Betz guilty of manslaughter. She was sentenced to six
years in the State Penitentiary.
Sources:
“"Ida Did This.",” Omaha Daily Herald, January 9, 1889.
“Arrested for Mrs. Schneider's Murder,” Trenton Times, January 10, 1889.
“Brained with a Hatchet,” Illustrated Police News, January 26, 1889.
“Cleverly Captured,” Sun, January 10, 1889.
“Convicted of Manslaughter,” Sunday Telegram, February 16, 1890.
“For Murdering Her Employer,” New-York Tribune., January 10, 1889.
“Forecast of Baltimore and Vicinity,” Sun, February 25, 1895.
“In the Courts,” Sun, June 3, 1889.
“Kunigunda on Trial,” Sun, February 13, 1890.
“Mrs. Schneider's Murder,” sun., January 10, 1889.
“News of the Day,” Alexandria gazette., January 9, 1889.
“Noted Murder Cases,” Sun, December 4, 1889.
“Was Mrs. Schneider Killed With a Hatchet?,” Sun, January 17, 1889.
“A Woman without Fear,” Sun, February 14, 1890.
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