A West Virginia man, 28, was unsuccessful in wooing a girl, 15, and decided that if he could not have her then no one else would either.
Tried to Cremate Girl
WHEELING, W. Va., April 17, 1909. – Said to have been disappoint in his suit for marriage, Joseph White, twenty-eight years of age, of this city is alleged to have gone to the room of Magdalena Fortuna, fifteen years old, of Pittsburg, and attempted to burn the girl to death.
White was arrested and the girl was seriously burned.
It is charged that White carried a can of gasoline to the girl’s room, saturating her clothing and the content of the room.
It is said he then threw vitriol over her and set fire to the place.
The girl’s screams brought help and the flames were extinguished.
Source: Martinsburg herald. (Martinsburg, W. Va.), 17 April 1909.
