Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 151, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 June 1911 — LARSEN’S DEATH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SELF-INFLICTED. [ARTICLE]

LARSEN’S DEATH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SELF-INFLICTED.

Victim Was Not Seen Crawling,From Barn to Cistern—Circumstances Demand Deeper Probe. Fowler, Ind., June 26.—Does a humgn body every float immediately after drowning. This is one of the questions that is perplexing Fowler in the investigation of the death of Peter. Larsen, the kindly Dane, whose body was found floating in the cistern of his home last Friday morning. Even those who believe firmly that death was self-in-flicted cannot explain why the body floated in the water: That it did is accepted by some as proof that Larsen was killed and his body thrown in the cistern. This belief is entertained, notwithstanding an autopsy resulted in the conclusion that death was by drowning. Fowler sentiment is divided concerning Larsen’s death. The coroner, the prosecutor and the doctors who were called in the case believe tho old man first tried to kill himself with a hatchet and failing by that method jumped into the cistern. All sorts of rumors and reports can be heard. To satisfy the people, Deputy Prosecutor Burke Walker today requested a special investigation of the case by the grand, jury and Judge James Saunderson, of the circuit court, ordered the jury to report tomorrow morning. “I am not a prejudiced prosecutor in this case,” said Mr Walker. “I followed the testimony given to the coroner and I believe Larsen committed suicide. However, there has been so much talk I thought it only fair that there should be a special investigation and those who have any information in the case can come forward and tell the grand jury what they know.” “Has there ever been an official investigation of the Larsen property,” was asked.

“There has been no rigid examination on the belief that Larsen was murdered. The evidence submitted to the coroner suggested suicide from the very start. We haven’t given much consideration to the murder theory but now that the grand Jury has been called everybody can be heard.”

Opposing sentiment to the murder theory in the Larsen case might be separated. There are. those who contend the evidence pdints to murder and there are those who find fault with the manner in which the case has been investigated. It is recalled by a great many citizens there there would have been no developments in the Poole case had it not been for the zeal of an eighteen-year-old boy who couldn’t be stopped. With the Poole case in mind there are many who believe the present case should have been investigated vigorously and that, in a matter of such importance, there should be no reasonable doubt. There is a reason why the suicide of old Peter Larsen is doubted, and it is a reason of greater weight than theories. This reason is the fact that old Peter Larsen was a man honored and respected in the community. He was a plodding, phlegmatic Dane, not the least hysterical. He was a man of the solid type. He was good natured, optimistic and stout-hearted. Since his marriage to the woman who is now his widow he confided in friends that he had made a mistake. He said he and his wife were not congenial. Peter was a simple soul. He was a man who loved his flowers and garden and in the dusk, during the life of his first wife, he found peace In reading the Danish Bible, singing a hymn of his church and offering a prayer. That the present Mrs. liarsen didn’t have sympathy for this pimple life proved <a great disappointment and to a few friends he confessed all this. Peter Larsen, the likeable Dane, believed he made a failure of his second marriage, but he didn’t indicate to his friends that he was done with living. On the morning his body was found he intended filing an application for divorce and it was the talk of this town that there was a tentative agreement whereby his wife was to receive $2,000 and find a home elsewhere. But evidently Peter was not building solely on the prospects of a separation. Inquiry shows that he had asked concerning a trip east and that be planned spending the summer with a half-brother in Washington, in the event he could not get possession of the cottage he called home. These facts are known by a great many persons of Fowler who can’t understand why the kind-spoken Due, with a love for home and his garden of flowers, should seek to kill himself. As has, been stated the autopsy of Sunday indicated drowning. Inhere was water in the lungs and stomach

and there was congestion of the lungs and brain and the discoloration indicative of strangulation. It was also found that Larsen was very fat and that he had a great deal of blood. The presence of the fat may explain the floating of the body-and the presence of the blood may be accepted as evidence that he didn’t bleed to death. However, it Isn’t fully understood why the body floated in the cistern, if death was due to drowning. \pne of the chief arguments in -the suicide theory has been the alleged testimony of Mrs. Sylvester an intelligent witness and neighbor *who heard the quarreling on the night of the tragedy and at whose home Mrs. Larsen stopped during the early hours of last Friday morning. It has been stated that Mrs. Schoup saw Larsen about his premises, that she even saw him come from the barn and approach the cistern where his body was found. But in talking to a newspaper representative yesterday she frankly stated that she didn’t see Larsen, although at one time she thought she saw some object moving behind the grape arbor of the Larsen home. Mrs. Larsen had suggested to her that she might see Peter Larsen moving about. v _ As an evidence of the manner in which this case has been handled there is the story of the hatchet, with which Larsen either hacked himself or by which he was beaten into semiconsciousness. The coroner hasn’t this hatchet, the sheriff hasn’t It and the prosecutor hasn’t it. It has been allowed to lie on the floor of the barn where Larson was supposed to have battered his own head. Possibly a hundred people have handled this blood stained evidenced the tragedy. Peter Larsen had use of but three fingers on his right hand.. It is a story of the town that the blood stains on the hatchet show all eight fingers of two hands in right position. It was the observation of early visitors to the scene that the finger prints on the hand ax were very plain and might be highly important, put the implement could not be located today. The Larsen home is a neat cottage surrounded by a garden and lawn that indicates the greatest skill and care. It is just such a yard that finds its way into the picture pages of the home magazines. The reporter was met at the gate by a Mr. C. Williams, of Chicago, son-in-law of Mrs. Larsen, the widow. He indicated that further investigation of the premises would be displeasing; he stated the case was closed by the autopsy. Mr. Williams said he had taken charge of the premises after the funeral and that he had cleJhed everything. The cistern had been cleaned by his orders and the blood stains washed away. Mr. Williams stated that he knew that Mj\ Larsen was insane and that the least said about the matter the better. He was quite sure there would be no grand jury investigation. Mr. Williams didn’t wish any further investigation of the premises. In a Small town he said public opinion is apt to take sides and it would be better to let the matter rest with the autopsy which indicated death by drowning. And in conclusion little is known about Mrs. Larsen, whom Peter, the Dane, married on short acquaintance. And Fowler is still seeking an answer to the question, Does a human body ever float, immediately after drowning?