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During the 20th century, only six women were legally executed by
the State of New York at Sing Sing Prison. In each case, the
condemned faced a process of demonization and public humiliation
that was orchestrated by a powerful and unforgiving media. When
compared to the media treatment of men who went to the electric
chair for similar offenses, the press coverage of female killers
was ferocious and unrelenting. "Granite woman," "black-eyed
Borgia," "roadhouse tramp," "sex-mad," and "lousy prostitute" are
just some of the terms used by newspapers to describe these women.
Unlike their male counterparts, females endured a campaign of
expulsion and disgrace before they were put to death. Not since the
1950s has New York put another woman to death. Gado chronicles the
crimes, the times, and the media attention surrounding these cases.
The tales of these death row women shed light on the death penalty
as it applies to women and the role of the media in both the trials
and executions of these convicts. In these cases, the press
affected the prosecutions, the judgements, and the decisions of
authorities along the way. Contemporary headlines of the era are
revealing in their blatant bias and leave little doubt of their
purpose. Using family letters, prison correspondence, photographs,
court transcripts, and last- minute pleas for mercy, Gado paints a
fuller picture of these cases and the times.
He was a Catholic priest and a killer. Hans Schmidt, ordained in
Germany in 1904, arrived in the United States in 1908 and was
assigned to St. John's Parish in Louisville, Kentucky. Arguments
with the minister resulted in Schmidt's transfer to St. Boniface
Church in New York City. There he met beautiful Anna Aumuller, a
housekeeper for the rectory who had recently emigrated from
Austria. Despite his transfer to a Church far uptown, Father
Schmidt and Anna continued a romantic affair and, in a secret
ceremony he performed himself, they were married. When he
discovered she was pregnant, Father Schmidt knew his secret life
would soon be exposed. On the night of September 2, 1913, he cut
Anna's throat, dismembered her body, and threw the parts into the
Hudson River. When the body was discovered, he was arrested and
charged with the murder. A media circus ensued, as the New York
papers became fascinated by the priest and his double life. After
feigning insanity during his first trial, which ended with a hung
jury, Father Schmidt was eventually convicted of first degree
murder and sentenced to death. He remains the only priest ever
executed for murder in the United States. The public fascination
with cases involving husbands suspected of murdering their pregnant
wives predates Scott Peterson and Mark Hacking. When the press
learned that Father Schmidt was suspected of killing his pregnant
wife, it generated the kind of flashy headlines and gossipy
speculation similar crimes elicit today. The case provided a
spectacle for the media and captured the imagination of a city. Not
only did Father Schmidt kill his young, pregnant bride, but further
investigation proved that he had a second apartmentwhere he had set
up a printing press and counterfeited $10 bills. In Louisville, the
dismembered body of a missing nine-year-old girl was found buried
in the basement of St. John's church, where Schmidt had previously
worked. In addition, German police wanted to talk to Father Schmidt
about a murdered girl in his hometown. Though he was never charged,
it was strongly suspected that Father Schmidt committed these
murders as well. On February 18, 1916, Father Schmidt was executed
in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison. This book tells this
tale in vivid and lively detail and looks at the man, the crime,
and the attention both received in the popular press and the city
at large.
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