Killer Priest: The Crimes, Trial, and Execution of Father Hans Schmidt

By Mark Gado

He was a Catholic priest and a killer. Hans Schmidt, ordained in Germany in 1904, arrived in the United States in 1908 and was assigned to St. John's Parish in Louisville, Kentucky. Arguments with the minister resulted in Schmidt's transfer to St. Boniface Church in New York City. There he met beautiful Anna Aumuller, a housekeeper for the rectory who had recently emigrated from Austria. Despite his transfer to a church far uptown, Father Schmidt and Anna continued a romantic affair and, in a secret ceremony he performed himself, they were married. When he discovered she was pregnant, Father Schmidt knew his secret life would soon be exposed. On the night of September 2, 1913, he cut Anna's throat, dismembered her body, and threw the parts into the Hudson River. When the body was discovered, he was arrested and charged with the murder. A media circus ensued, as the New York papers became fascinated by the priest and his double life. After feigning insanity during his first trial, which ended with a hung jury, Father Schmidt was eventually convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. He remains the only priest ever executed for murder in the United States.

The public fascination with cases involving husbands suspected of murdering their pregnant wives predates Scott Peterson and Mark Hacking. When the press learned that Father Schmidt was suspected of killing his pregnant wife, it generated the kind of flashy headlines and gossipy speculation similar crimes elicit today. The case provided a spectacle for the media and captured the imagination of a city. Not only did Father Schmidt kill his young, pregnant bride, but further investigation proved that he had a second apartment where he had set up a printing press and counterfeited $10 bills. In Louisville, the dismembered body of a missing nine-year-old girl was found buried in the basement of St. John's church, where Schmidt had previously worked. In addition, German police wanted to talk to Father Schmidt about a murdered girl in his hometown. Though he was never charged, it was strongly suspected that Father Schmidt committed these murders as well. On February 18, 1916, Father Schmidt was executed in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison. This book tells this tale in vivid and lively detail and looks at the man, the crime, and the attention both received in the popular press and the city at large.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0275985539
• ISBN13: 9780275985530
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Praeger
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

great book

This well - witten well researched book tells the story of a psychopathic priest who was a pedophile, forger, thief and murderer. Although he tried to hide behind an insanity defense at trial, he was a textbook anti-social personality. The perversion of the murder of his girlfriend, with fetishistic and necrophilic elements, reminds one of Ted Bundy or Jeffery Dahmer. Readers will find very familiar the story of how the church ordained him when they knew he was disturbed, passed him from one parish to another instead of defrocking him. This book deserves a paperback edition to reach a wider audience. It's very good. I hope the author writes more books.

This should definitely be a movie!

I just finished reading this book and still can't believe that a catholic priest did these terrible things and then was executed in the electric chair. I truly enjoyed the way the author wrote the story. Not only did he write about Father Schmidt and his crimes, but he also wrote vivid descriptions of New York City in the early 1900's. I hope Mark Gado's name becomes synonymous with James Patterson and keeps on writing. I can see Ed Norton or Johnny Depp playing Father Schmidt. A potentially chilling movie!

Killer Priest is an excellent book

Killer Priest by Mark Gado is an electrifying story expertly told. Hans Schmidt, the only priest ever to be executed for murder in the U.S., had character flaws that surfaced during his childhood in Germany. He had no use for his brothers or friends, but became transfixed with religion and killing. When adolescent sexual fantasies become intertwined with images of death and slaughter, problems are almost certain to arise. As an introverted teenager, the intelligent and scholarly Schmidt drifted into ecclesiastical studies. However, the character flaws and sexual conflict deepened and he ran afoul of the law. He became a thief and a forger who was ostracized by the clerics that knew him. Gado's meticulous research traces Father Schmidt's twisted childhood in Germany, through his years at the seminary in Mainz, his flight from Europe and eventually his first clergy assignment in Louisville, Kentucky. A missing nine-year-old girl case raised questions at his parish and Father Schmidt suddenly leaves Louisville and heads for New York City. There, he secretly married a beautiful young woman in a ceremony he performed himself. When her dismembered body parts turned up in the Hudson River, a city became mesmerized by the spectacle of a Catholic priest arrested for a murder...and the possibility he was a serial killer! As a seasoned detective, Gado carefully lays out the investigation and the manner in which the detectives built the case against Schmidt. Once it got to court, Schmidt, ever the manipulator, attempted to hide behind the insanity defense - creating the disturbing risk that the killer could have been turned over to the custody of the Catholic Church. Gado's experiences in homicide and death investigation, his first-hand understanding of the criminal mind and his ability to dramatize a story so effectively combine to make Killer Priest an excellent read.

interesting topic & wonderful new author

I was very interested in reading this book when I heard of it. I was born and raised a Catholic and enjoy reading books of all topics about my faith and I especially love true crimes.....my husband is a police officer! So when I saw both areas of interest twisted together in one book I was fascinated!! I really enjoyed this book and this authors writing style! He masterfully captured this priest and his crimes with such imagery.....as I read the book I could envison what was taking place and I kept thinking this book would make a great movie! I hope to see more books by this author!