MULLER, Paul Richard 1921-1936

MULLER, BRYANT

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 8/19/2010 at 19:49:35

PAUL MULLER IS
FOUND HANGING
IN WILKES BARN

Some Doubt as to Whether
It Was Suicide; No Clue
Of Murder Found

Whether Paul Richard Muller was a suicide or a victim of foul play continues to bewilder people of this vicinity, and has been the topic of conversation since the body of the 15-year-old boy, disrobed but with no marks of violence, was discovered hanging from a rafter high in the haymow on the Henry Wilke Farm five miles southwest of Osage at about 10 o'clock Saturday morning.

Paul was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Muller, who live at the west end of Pleasant Street, Osage, and so far as is known had no reason to end his live; nor did his temperament ever suggest any such tendencies. Nevertheless, his dead body was found hanging, and while there was no evidence that he had met with foul play, his death leaves something of a mystery.

-Doing Chores at Wilke Farm-

Henry Wilke, owner of the farm, had been at the Waverly hospital for two weeks, and during his absence Paul had been driving out to the farm twice a day to take care of the livestock. Mr. Wilke had come to Osage from Waverly Wednesday night, but was yet unable to carry on his work, so was staying in town at the home of his sister, Mrs. Ed Hoel.

On Saturday morning Paul went to the farm as usual, taking his younger brother, Wilford, with him. His folks wanted the little boy to go along so in case Paul happened to get hurt, help could be called.

-Body Found About 10 A. M. -

Paul went ahead and did the chores, Wilford amusing himself around the place. Presently Alfonso Wright came walking onto the place (Wright's and Wilford's stories agree on this) and, not finding anyone at the house, saw the little boy near the well and came out to him, asking for Mr. Wilke.

They sat there at the well house for some time, during which Wilford explained that his brother was up in the haymow pitching down hay. After perhaps fifteen minutes, Wright and the boy decided to go to the barn and see Paul.

They went into the horse stable, then Wilford climbed up the stairway into the loft. Immediately he came scurrying down screaming that "Somebody had hanged his brother up there with a rope."

The boy was hysterical, and Wright says he felt sick. He had seen a man hanging thus once during his stay at the state hospital in Independence and "he knew just what it looked like." He says, "I didn't want to see him; I just felt sick. I got the boy into the car (the car the boys had driven to the farm that morning) and hurried right to town."

That was at around 10 o'clock and Coroner Eiel and Sheriff Kathan were notified at once. They went to the scene as quickly as possible. The boy was found hanging about four feet below a 2 x 6 brace that reached across the loft between two roof braces.

-A Difficult Climb-

The brace is located near the back end of the loft, and is reached by a hard climb up some cleats placed ladder-wise on a sloping roof-brace.

The small "trip" rope, hanging from the track overhead, had been used. It had been wrapped about the 2 x 6, securely so it wouldn't slip; a noose made a few feet from the end, leaving about four feet between the brace and the noose.

Paul's neck was broken, despite the short drop.

His clothes, all but shoes and stockings, were found in a pile lying on the hay at the front end of the mow, his glasses laid carefully on top.

-No Signs of Foul Play-

The body was examined carefully for marks of violence, or other form of foul play, but none were found. Later a consultation of doctors agreed that there were none.

The puzzling features of the case - the difficult climb to the brace, the disrobed body, the age of the boy - prompted officials to study the circumstances carefully. There was nothing known about the boy's affairs to cause him to wish to end his life. True, he had disagreed with his mother that morning on the subject of his young brother's accompanying him, but there was nothing about the argument different from the hundreds of such arguments in Mitchell County homes every morning.

Yet there were no signs of murder. Those who saw the hanging place agreed that no one person could have carried the body to it's difficult position. And if more than one had been present, surely there would have been some disarrangement of the hay. In fact, from the position of the braces, piles of hay, etc, it would have been hardly possible for the body to have been hauled to it's hanging place without making some marks or scratches on it.

-Wright Questioned-

Alfonso Wright, the young man who happened to be on the farm at the time, was held for questioning. He is a member of the Wright family that used to live two and a half miles northwest of Osage. In October, 1934, he was committed to the state hospital at Independence for treatment, but about the 1st of May this year he "walked away" and came back to the county. Since that time he has been staying with relatives, getting a bit of work when he could.

His story is that he hoped to get a job of painting Mr. Wilke's barn, and had come to see about it. He was returned to the hospital Tuesday, an attendant from the institution coming for him.

-Coroner's Inquest Monday-

Dr. J. O. Eiel, coroner, conducted a careful and thorough inquest Monday morning, and County Attorney Carl Conway also questioned the witness, making sure no angle of the circumstances should go uninvestigated.

Dr. G. A. Lott, one of the physicians who examined the body, testified that there was no indication of foul play or attack of any nature, and no bruises or marks that would suggest it.

-Parents Testify-

Mrs. Fred Muller, Paul's mother, said that they had the argument mentioned, she insisting the small brother should go along to the farm, as she wanted someone on the place in case Paul was injured by cattle, or in some other way. Paul, on leaving home was apparently in a good -natured mood, and his little brother and father also testified to that fact.

The small brother, Wilford, was kindly but carefully questioned by the doctor and county attorney, but the only statements he made were in regard to Alfonso Wright's coming to the place, the things they said and did, and his finding of his brother's body. Apparently he had forgotten about the other man he had talked of as being there, and denied that he saw anyone other than Alfonso Wright. Wilford says he didn't hear a sound from the barn after Paul entered it.

-Fingerprint Man Testifies-

John Wallace, deputy sheriff of Cerro Gordo County and a fingerprint expert, testified in regard to a large wrench that was found near the scene of the hanging, and established the fact that the only fingerprint on it belonged to Paul.

-Testimony of Deputy Sheriff William Dorsey

Deputy Sheriff William Dorsey was next called, and he described the position in which the body was found; the heap of clothes belonging to Paul found placed in an orderly manner on a pile of hay six to eight feet from the floor, with Paul's glasses on top.

The hay was not disturbed in the vicinity of that point, and a peculiar circumstance was that the glasses appeared to have been just polished. Not a mar or fingerprint was found on them. This was considered as strange as anyone wearing glasses knows how difficult it is to remove them without smearing them in some manner.

The rope used had been doubled around the brace twice and tucked under in a businesslike way. A slipknot was in the end around Paul's neck. The rope was the trip rope used in dumping forkfuls of hay into the barn.

-Others Gave Evidence-

Bill Schuttler, a neighbor of Mr. Wilke's, testified that he saw a man cross a stubble field going to the Wilke farm and his dog barked at him (this was later established as having been Wright); and Lester Heusman, another neighbor, told of finding where a man had slept in a straw stack on his farm the night before. Wright later admitted sleeping there. Ed Hoel told of going to the farm with the party that removed the boy's body from the barn.

-Alfonso Wright Told His Story-

Alfonso Wright, the man held because he was on the place at the time, gave his age as 31, and in rambling statements told of sleeping in the straw stack on the Huesman farm the night before, and going to the Wilke farm. He said he had been at Orchard the day before, and got that far by night.

His story and Wilford's were the same as to what transpired there. Wright said he "had been awful sick at Independence and heard voices from heaven;" also told of a man who had hanged himself there. He claimed to weigh 118 pounds (Paul weighed 140 pounds).

Wright was obviously deranged and never realized the seriousness of his position, smiling most of the time and gazing off into space. Even when the coroner, in an effort to make him realize his position, took him in to look at the body, Wright seemed not at all perturbed over the matter.

-Jury Brought In Open Verdict-

The coroner's jury, composed of Gersham Lashbrook, William I. Nims, Albert Tresemer and Lester Ahrens, brought in an "Open" verdict ..."they said Paul Richard Muller came to his death in Cedar Township in Mitchell County, Iowa, on August 8, 1936, by hanging by a person, or persons unknown."

This verdict leaves authorities free to continue an investigation until they are satisfied as to the manner by which the boy came to his death.

-Funeral Tuesday-

Funeral services were held at the Congregational Church Tuesday at 2 p.m., conducted by his pastor, Reverend Stiles Lessly, and burial was made in the cemetery at Orchard.

Paul Richard Muller was born in Osage, Iowa, May 2, 192, and passed away Saturday morning August 8, 1936, at the age of 15 years, 3 months and 6 days.

Paul was the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred G. Muller, a bright loving boy, always happy and of a sunny disposition. He was ambitious and industrious, and the conscientiousness with which he did his work gained for him the respect and admiration of those who knew him. His industry took him into many odd jobs and it is the testimony of those for whom he worked that he always did his work well.

He attended Sunday school at the Congregational Church from the time he was a small child.

He leaves to mourn his early demise, his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Muller, and two brothers, Herve, 18, and Wilford, 6; besides a host of relatives and friends.

[Mitchell County Press, Thursday, August 13, 1936]

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NOTE: His mother was Kittie May Bryant.

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Photo from Mitchell County Press.

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