Things weren’t much different in the murder department over 100 years ago in the United States. The murders were just as vicious as they are today. The only exception is that we are better able to find the murderers today than we were back then. Often, murderers just got away with killing a random person. In this case, in 1904, the victim was a well educated woman and there was no hint as to the monster who committed the crime.
Teacher Murdered
A Lady’s Body Was Found in a Cab Shed
Bedford, Ind., Jan. 23. — Bedford is greatly excited over one of the most horrible crimes ever committed in this community.
At 7 o’clock yesterday morning the dead body of Miss Sarah Schaeffer, formerly of Elkhart, Ind., teacher of Latin in the Bedford high school, was found in a cab shed, with all indications that she had been criminally assaulted by her murderer [this means that she was raped].
The body was discovered by Wm. Cook and his son in law, John Hendrick. The features and clothing were so muddy and bloody, apparently from being dragged through an alley, that not until they were taken to the Ferguson morgue and cleaned they recognized. The greatest excitement was created when the identity of the murdered girl was established. Miss Schaeffer was one of the most popular young ladies in the city, a thorough scholar and graduate of two colleges. She was last seen alive at the house of Mrs. Martha Johnson, two and a half squares from her rooms. Here she had been taking her meals. After finishing her supper last night she started to her rooms to meet a class to whom she had been giving a course in Latin.
Source (1904, January 29). Teacher murdered. The Rice Belt Journal, p. 7.
