The Crimes of Adolph Louis Luetgert: A Mini-Essay

     In 1878, Adolph Louis Luetgert, a German immigrant who founded the successful A. L. Luetgert Sausage and Packing Company in Chicago, married Louisa Bicknese just months after the death of his first wife, Caroline Roepke.[1] Although the couple had four children, their relationship was extremely volatile, with Luetgert perpetually accusing his young bride of extramarital affairs and subjecting her to emotional and physical abuse.[2] In May of 1897, after the spouses were viewed strolling together, Louisa disappeared and Adolph claimed she had deserted him under the guise of visiting her sister.[3] As Adolph’s tale drew suspicion, police began an inquiry that led them to the husband’s factory, where employees directed them to a steam vat used for dipping sausages which possessed a strong effluvium and unidentifiable liquid.[4] Upon closer examination, the fluid was found to contained small bits of burned bone – which were also discovered in the vicinity of the vat – and gold earrings with two Ls inscribed on them.[5] In fact, further searches of the region revealed a burned corset and teeth fragments, which was enough evidence for law enforcement to arrest Adolph.[6] While the man maintained his innocence and the first trial resulted in a hung jury, the expert testimony of anthropologist Dr. George Dorsey showed that Adolph had slowly dissolved Louisa’s body in the vat using several hundred pounds of crude potash and, in 1898, the second trial resulted in Adolph’s conviction and imprisonment at the Joliet Correctional Center, where he died eighteen months later of degenerative heart disease.[7]

Works Referenced

Ferllini, Roxana. Silent Witness: How Forensic Anthropology is Used to Solve the World’s Toughest Crimes. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2002.
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[1] Ferllini, 20.
[2] Ferllini, 20.
[3] Ferllini, 20.
[4] Ferllini, 20.
[5] Ferllini, 20.
[6] Ferllini,20-21.
[7] Ferllini, 21.