Chronicle Extra. A Fiendish Act. H.L. Schmidt Murders his Wife by Shooting her in the Head

[Chico, CA]: Chico Morning Chronicle, June 24, 1882.

Broadside, 7.25 x 10.5 inches. Old folding creases, a few tiny chips, signature ("Goddard") on verso bleeding through; very good. A rare surviving example of this short-lived (at least under this name) Chico, California newspaper, this extra recounts the discovery of the body of the Mrs. Schmidt "weltering in her gore and apparently lifeless" at the Opera Saloon on Main Street. Her husband of six months was immediately suspected, as the two had frequently been seen arguing in public and he had been jailed and then ordered out of town for assaulting her. Shortly after her murder he was found lying on the sidewalk, "still clutching the deadly pistol." Although he tried to pretend he had been poisoned, no one was fooled. According to this account, "the excitement caused by this dastard deed was intense, and loud threats of lynching were frequently heard." Justice (of the legal variety) was apparently swift, as a Los Angeles Herald article from two weeks later (July 6, 1882) reports that Schmidt was convicted and sentenced to be hanged. We find no examples of this extra in OCLC, and only a single holding of any issue of the Chico Morning Chronicle, at the California State Library.

Item #19821

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