Loerche, Fred – Died 1909

LOERCHE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 8/20/2019 at 11:37:20

Source: Twice-A-Week Plain Dealer Mar. 16, 1909, 2, C3

CORPSE FOUND IN THE RIVER
Throat Cut and More Than a Dozen Knife Wounds on the Body.
The body of Fred Loerche, with the throat cut, more than a dozen stabs in the body and a sash in the head, inflicted presumably with an axe, was found in Des Moines river at Ottumwa.
Loerche was held up and robbed a few months ago by five men. Two of these men, Fred Ash and Fred Young, were sentenced to fifteen years in the penitentiary for the crime. Loerche was missing when the cases were tried, but the men were convicted without his testimony. It is now believed that members of the gang murdered Loerche before the trial to prevent his testifying.