257:. His parents, Christian Heinrich LĂĽtgert and Margreta Sophia Severin, had a total of sixteen children; twelve other sons and two daughters. Adolph was the fourth born in the family. He had a twin brother named Heinrich Friedrich "Fritz" Luetgert, who died in 1894 or 1895. While Adolph Luetgert and his twin were growing up, their father dealt with animal hides and tallow wool, as well a dabbling in real estate.
215:), moved to Chicago in the 1870s. He married Louisa Bicknese on January 18, 1878, some months after his first wife died. They had four children together. Luetgert had founded his own business, the successful A. L. Luetgert Sausage & Packing Company, and was considered the "sausage king" of Chicago.
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Some claim that the
Luetgert factory burned to the ground in 1902. Robert Loerzel documented that the factory still stands, although a fire took place there on June 26, 1904. Today, the factory stands on the south side of the 1700 block of West Diversey Parkway. It has been converted into residential
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Luetgert married his first wife, Caroline Roepke, on April 13, 1872, at
Chicago, Illinois; their two sons, Max and Arnold, were born there in 1873 and 1875. Caroline died on November 17, 1877. He married his second wife Louisa Bicknese, two months after Caroline's death, on January 18, 1878. Luetgert
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on May 1, 1897. Adolph
Luetgert told their children that their mother had gone to visit her sister on the previous night but never came back. After a few days, Louisa's brother, Diedrich Bicknese, went to the police to report her disappearance. Luetgert told the police that she ran away with another
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in search of a job at a tannery, which he found at Union Hide and
Leather Company. Luetgert did not have a steady job or constant pay at the tannery, so he began also to take on random jobs such as working as a moving man. From 1867 to 1868, Luetgert worked at another tannery called Engle, Crossley
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The police discovered that on the night of May 1, 1897, the night Louisa disappeared, she was seen entering the sausage factory with her husband at 10:30pm. A watchman from the factory confirmed the account, saying that
Luetgert gave him an errand to run and told him that he could take the rest of
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After the trial was publicized, rumors spread that
Luetgert had ground up his wife's remains as sausage and sold this "sausage" to unknowing consumers. Sales of sausage in Chicago dropped off for a while. The tale was later proved false, as her body was shown to have been dissolved and the remains
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The prosecution presented bone fragments and the ring inscribed "LL", recovered from one of the grinders in
Luetgert's sausage factory, as its main evidence that Louisa had been killed there. The defense argued that Louisa Luetgert had left her house freely on May 1, 1897, citing many claims of
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There were many "sightings" of Louisa
Luetgert after the trial began. She was sighted in twelve different states but never found. One of the most famous myths was that she was seen boarding a ship in New York bound for Europe. When Adolph Luetgert heard this, he said that he thought she was
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business. During his apprenticeship, Luetgert continued to live in
Westphalia, and lived with his boss instead of his family. After working for Knabel for two and a half years, Luetgert began to travel around Germany, working wherever he could. At the age of nineteen, Luetgert traveled to
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people around the US who said that they had seen her after the trial began. During the trial, observers thought that
Luetgert seemed unconcerned and overly confident that he would be found innocent. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, resulting in a
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around 1865 or 1866, when he was about twenty years old. He had heard that thousands of his countrymen were going to America with very little money but were able to find work. With about thirty dollars to his name, Luetgert boarded a ship bound for the
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The officers started searching in the furnace, where they found burned foul sausages and human remains. They also found two of Louisa's rings, including one that had the initials "LL" engraved on it. Bone fragments identified by a
307:& Co. He next worked at a tannery called Craig, Clark & Company, but returned to the Engle tannery, working there until 1872. He had saved four thousand dollars and started his own business, initially dealing in
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mostly burned, but the legend persists to this day. Another common legend related to the murder is that the ghost of Louisa Luetgert haunts the old factory grounds and the couple's former home in Chicago.
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Luetgert's schooling lasted from about the age of seven until the age of fourteen, as was typical of the time for tradesmen's sons. He worked as an apprentice under Ferdinand Knabel, who taught him the
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This case was one of the first trials to be widely covered by the media. Newspapers from Chicago reported on it daily, and some of the reporters tried to eavesdrop on the
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to prove that the bones found were human. This time, the jury came to a unanimous verdict that Luetgert was guilty. Luetgert was convicted and sentenced to
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the day before the murder. Due to all the accumulated evidence, they were convinced that Luetgert had killed his wife, boiled her in
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fathered a total of six children—two with Caroline and four with Louisa. Only three of these children survived past the age of 2.
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and that they fought on a regular basis. According to a source, Luetgert had financial difficulties during the
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Kelleher, "Dark Destinations — The A. L. Luetgert Sausage and Packing Company", The Cabinet website
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Adolph Louis Luetgert, born on December 27, 1845, was originally named Adolph Ludwig LĂĽtgert. He was born in
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on February 9, 1898. Eighteen months later, on July 7, 1899, Luetgert was found dead in his cell at the
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definitely fleeing the country. Louisa, however, was never reported as seen outside the United States.
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the night off. The police also came across bills that documented Luetgert having bought
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The case was retried in January 1898 at the same courthouse. The prosecution used
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During their investigation, the police learned that the couple had a history of
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Troy Taylor, "The Sausage Vat Murder", Weird and Haunted Chicago website, 2001
616:"Watertown republican. (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, October 27, 1897, Image 2"
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Elizabeth Royte, "Let the Bones Talk is the Watchword for Scientist-Sleuth,"
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Luetgert's first murder trial began in August 1897 and took place in the
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on February 9, 1898. He died in prison a year and a half later.
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at his A. L. Luetgert Sausage & Packing Company.
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678:"Alchemy of Bones: Debunking Myths on the Luetgert Case"
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Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States
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Humanities, National Endowment for the (1897-10-27).
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After a short time in New York, Luetgert traveled to
390:with Judge Richard Tuthill presiding. Luetgert was
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802:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
539:"Alchemy of Bones: Luetgert tells his life story"
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648:"Episode 20: The Chicago Sausage Factory Murder"
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504:"Alchemy of Bones: Adolph Luetgert"
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405:. The latter was later elected as
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652:Obscura: A True Crime Podcast
573:Annual Review of Anthropology
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567:Snow, Clyde Collins (1982).
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787:Businesspeople from Chicago
705:"Luetgert Dies in His Cell"
446:Illinois State Penitentiary
124:Louisa Bicknese (1878-1897)
122:Caroline Roepke (1872-1877)
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569:"Forensic Anthropology"
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682:www.alchemyofbones.com
543:www.alchemyofbones.com
508:www.alchemyofbones.com
434:Field Columbian Museum
409:for two terms, and as
251:province of Westphalia
178:Adolph Louis Luetgert
56:Adolph Ludwig LĂĽtgert
731:Smithsonian Magazine
620:Watertown Republican
407:governor of Illinois
227:governor of Illinois
225:, later a two-term
777:Murder in Illinois
453:jury deliberations
436:in Chicago, as an
426:George Amos Dorsey
203:Luetgert, born in
403:Charles S. Deneen
337:domestic violence
315:company in 1879.
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385:Cook County
371:bones, toe
161:Location(s)
114:Businessman
761:Categories
687:2022-07-15
633:2019-03-29
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513:2022-07-15
485:References
411:US Senator
396:prosecuted
388:courthouse
369:metatarsal
241:Early life
209:Westphalia
111:Occupation
74:Westphalia
62:1845-12-27
715:March 29,
657:29 August
628:2576-5604
593:0084-6570
432:from the
419:hung jury
367:included
247:GĂĽtersloh
205:GĂĽtersloh
119:Spouse(s)
70:GĂĽtersloh
392:defended
300:Illinois
190:Illinois
18:Luetgert
601:2155777
373:phalanx
349:arsenic
329:missing
313:sausage
304:Chicago
272:England
263:tanning
255:Germany
213:Germany
194:sausage
186:Chicago
166:Chicago
155:Details
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379:Trials
353:potash
309:liquor
296:Quincy
268:London
140:Murder
597:JSTOR
428:, an
332:man.
211:(now
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659:2018
624:ISSN
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351:and
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