FULL TEXT (Article 1 of 4): Jacksonville, Ill., Jun. 15 –
Another dark affair is creating a good deal of excitement in our city. Some
time since three of the children of a Mrs. Wahle, residing in this city,
suddenly died, and at periods not far apart. Mrs. W. has since taken a trip to
Europe, and during her absence suspicion was aroused, and the body of one of
the children was taken up, and the contents of the stomach chemically examined.
There was found in it a large quantity of poison. Mrs. Wahle has lately
returned from Europe, and on yesterday she was arrested, to be held until the
affair can be investigated.
[Untitled, Chicago Tribune (Il.), Jun. 17, 1869, p. 1]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 2 of 4): A horrible case of child-murder is about being developed
in Jacksonville, Mass. It appears that about one year ago a child of one Wahle,
11 months old, was suddenly taken sick and died. It was buried, no suspicious
circumstances being at that time discovered. Since, however, the parents of the
child have separated, in consequence of the alleged intimacy of the wife with
the family physician, who attended the child. Recently a letter directed to the
wife from her sister in Germany, fell into the hands of Wahle, and from that
letter he gets the startling information that the child came to his death by poison
administered by the mother. The sister speaks of the poison which the mother
used to kill her last child, and from this comes another inference that four
other children, the fruits of their marriage, who suddenly died before, may
have been poisoned. Wahle had the child exhumed, and its stomach subjected to a
chemical analysis, which revealed the fact that arsenic had caused the death of
the child. Suspicion points strongly to the complicity of the physician with
the mother.
[“A
Mother Suspected Of Poisoning Five Children.” The Evening Star (Washington, D.
C.), Jun. 22, 1869, p. 1]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 3 of 4): A telegram from Jacksonville, Illinois, says our city has been treated to
another sensation, and another murder trial is possible. A warrant has been
issued for the arrest of the wife of W. W. Wahle, dyer and scourer, of this
city. She is suspected of having poisoned one, if not more of her children. The
body of the last one of the five who are buried his been disinterred and
examined by an analytical chemist of St. Louis, who reports the finding of
metallic poison in the entrails, and says it is obvious that the child came to
its death by the administration of arsenic. A letter from Germany, intercepted
by Mr. Wahle, and the finding of three parcels of poison in the house aroused
his suspicion, and caused him to have the warrant issued, though no arrest has
yet been made. The child died last July, and during the next month Mrs. Wahle
went to Germany. She returned in March, and has not lived with her husband
since, and, it is said, has sued tor a divorce.
[“Terrible
Crime.” Cambria Freeman (Ebensburg, Pa.), Jun. 24, 1869, p. 2]
***
FULL
TEXT (Article 4 of 4): The coroner’s jury at Jacksonville, Ill., who have been
investigating the Wahle poisoning case for two or three days, on Saturday
returned the following verdict: That the child Benny Wahle, who died July 12,
1868, came to “his death, we believe, by arsenic administered by some person or
persons to the jury unknown.” It seems that three or four of Mrs. Wahle’s
children have died mysteriously, but investigation has been held only in regard
to one. No steps have yet been taken to arraign Mrs. Wahle. [Untitled
(from “Chicago” column), Louisville Evening Express (Ky.), Jun. 28, 1869, p. 4]
***
For more cases of this type, see Serial Baby-Killer Moms.
For more cases of this category, see: Female Serial Killers of 19th Century America
***
[959-12/27/20]
***
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