When Elsie Barthel left her Pittsburgh home for a short walk on a Saturday evening, there was no sign that anything was wrong. The 27-year-old nurse had worked for years in the service of others, and neither her family nor her employer knew of anyone who might wish her harm.
By Monday, her body had been found beside an abandoned mansion near the Homeopathic hospital.
Police believed she had been struck down with a heavy stone outside the old Hussey Mansion, a once-grand house later used as an automobile wrecking establishment.
With no clear motive and only a taxi driver held for questioning, the killing left investigators facing a brutal mystery.
Young Woman Found Murdered
PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania. — The body of Miss Elsie Barthel, 27, a nurse, brutally murdered, the police believe, was found today outside an abandoned house near the Homeopathic hospital. Her skull had been crushed by a blow from a blunt instrument.
Miss Barthel was last seen early Saturday evening when she left her home to take a short walk.
The body was found beside on of the pillars of a covered carriage entrance at one side of the house. Beside the body was a stone about 15 inches square and weighing about 50 pounds, upon which blood was found.
The young woman had been struck twice. The first time, the police believe, the stone was hurled at her and the second time it was dropped upon her head after she had fallen. A fresh scar on one of the pillars led police to believe that it was thrown with such force the first time that it struck the pillar after hitting Miss Barthel.
The house, an old structure, known as the Old Hussey Mansion, had been used as an automobile wrecking establishment and the body was discovered when an automobile owner entered the place to look at a machine he had left there. He notified the police and after an investigation, a taxi driver was taken into custody for questioning in connection with the case. His name was withheld.
The body was identified by Dr. R.S. Marshall, who told the police that Miss Barthel had been employed by him for four years in the capacity of a nurse. He could advance no motive for the killing nor could the family of the young woman.
Source: The Laurens Advertiser. Laurens, S.C. October 10, 1923.
