Helmuth Schmidt

Helmuth Schmidt (July 4, 1876 – April 23, 1918), also known as The American Bluebeard, was a German-born American bigamist, murderer and suspected serial killer. Soon following his arrest in connection with the murder of maid Augusta Steinbach, Schmidt committed suicide in his jail cell. After searching through his properties, he was connected to the murders of three more women, with additional located jewelry and watches indicating possible other victims in New York and Missouri.

Biography Early life Born as the illegitimate son of a Prussian junker, Schmidt was reportedly educated in Heidelberg, He escaped military service by moving to America, arriving in Lakewood Township, New Jersey with his wife Anita Darsch and daughter Gertrude in 1913, under the name of Emil Braun. He opened a small jewelry shop in the town and established his home in a small rented cottage. Shortly after his arrival, his wife disappeared. Helmuth claimed that she had returned to Berlin, along with the female servant Margaret "Greta" Darsch, with whom he had a love affair. When Darsch vanished, Schmidt explained to his daughter that she had married and travelled to Denmark.

Schmidt later married Adele Ulrich from New York through a matrimonial advertisement, buying a house using her money. He later abandoned Ulrich and left Lakewood in 1914, after collecting $1,500 by fraudulently selling his home. When she was later questioned, Ulrich revealed that on one night, he tried to kill her by ramming their automobile into a tree. She was thrown out of the car, and while lying on the ground, Schmidt began savagely beating her. Ulrich was barely saved, as at that moment a car passed by them. She later told of the event to the attending physician, who threatened to have Schmidt arrested if she were to disappear. Not only that, but Ulrich also informed the police of another time when he flew into a violent rage with threats of taking her life, as a result of her inquiry about why the old well in the house wasn't used.

From there, Schmidt moved to Royal Oak, Michigan, assuming the name of Herman Neugebauer and finding himself work as a mechanic in one of the local Ford factories.

Murder of Steinbach and suicide In 1916, with the help of George Rolfe and his wife, Schmidt put out two matrimonial ads in the New York Herald, one under his assumed name of Neugebauer. These ads attracted the attention of 40-year-old domestic servant Augusta Steinbach, who, after corresponding with Rolfe for a few months, set out to marry the mysterious man, bringing with herself around $500 and some jewelry. In February 1917, Fearing that his wife and daughter would return soon from the cinema, Schmidt dragged the body to the cellar, lifted it through a window and then buried it under his porch. Three months after the incident, he claimed that he dug up the body, cut it up with a cleaver and then burned the pieces in the furnace.

After his confession, the authorities decided to go for a lunch break.

Investigation Despite Schmidt's death, the police continued to investigate the deceased's history, discovering several other previous marriages, along with other women who've gone missing who had connections to him. Among them were the following: Mrs. Emil Brown of New York - a stenographer for the Hupfel Brewing Company, married Schmidt in 1915 at Lakewood; on April 26, 1918, she claimed he had stolen $3,500 from her Irma Pallatinus - housekeeper; accompanied him from Lakewood to Detroit in 1915, "disappeared" soon after. Mrs. Helmuth Schmidt of Chicago - she married him in 1916, after which he robbed her of $2,000 and then deserted; On May 9, 1918, when she was later shown a picture of him, she identified Schmidt as her husband.

According to the authorities, Schmidt planned to accumulate money in order to return to Germany, where he would live as an aristocrat.

The following day, a diver was sent in to investigate the well, an event which gathered a large crowd. Eventually, one of the hooks caught on to something that refused to budge, further increasing the crowd's excitement. The diver gave a little slack to his rope and jerked it quickly, with the resulting sound making it clear that there was nothing more than metallic structures at the bottom. After this discovery, Prosecutor Plumer set his eyes on a garage which was on the property.