Morning Press, Volume 42, Number 30, 4 October 1913 — PRIEST THROWS FIT AND TEARS HIS ROSARY TO PIECES Hans Schmidt Shows Outburst of Temper Before Coroner’s Jury FOUND RESPONSIBLE FOR DEATH OF GIRL Millionaires Quickly Place Blame for Murder at Feet of Alleged Father, Man Not Crazy—District Attorney [ARTICLE]

PRIEST THROWS FIT AND TEARS HIS ROSARY TO PIECES Hans Schmidt Shows Outburst of Temper Before Coroner’s Jury FOUND RESPONSIBLE FOR DEATH OF GIRL Millionaires Quickly Place Blame for Murder at Feet of Alleged Father, Man Not Crazy—District Attorney

By the Associated Press,

NEW YORK, Oct. 3 —Hans Schmidt, the priest who murdered Anna Aumuller, became frenzied today at the coroner’s inquest into the death of his victim, rose from his seat, ripped from his neck the rosary he had worn ever since his" incarceration, tore it into many bits and hurled them at the newspaper reporters sitting half a dozen steps away. The jury found him responsible for the girl’s death. Schmidt s outburst of temper occurred in the presence of a Jury of millionaires empanelled to conduct the inquest. The verdict was quickly found. It follow*; Verdict of Jury. “We, the Jury, believe that Anna Aumuller came to her death on September 2, 1913, at No 68 Broadhurst avenue, at the hands of Hans Schmidt.’’ Schmidt was immediately remanded to the Tombs without bail to await the action of the grand Jury, Theodore P. Shonts. president of the Interborough Rapid Transit company, was foreman of the Jury. His fellow jurors included Vincent Astor, B. J. Greenhut, merchant; Mortimer Regensberg, cigar manufacturer,. and E. S. Marston, banker. During the examination of witnesses not a trace of emotion crossed Schmidt's face, but Coroner Feinberg's charge seemed to lash the prisoner into a sudden tempest of fury. The torso of the victim viewed by the jury was identified by Anna Hirt, who roomed with the Aumuller girl at the parish house of St. Boniface’s church. Detectives, the phjsician who made the autopsy, and Inspector Faurot, to whom Schmidt confessed, testified. Faurot detail-

ed in a hundred words or less the substance of the confession. Has Nothing to Bay. Coroner F'einberg asked if the priest had anything to say. “Nothing whatever,” replied his lawyer. The coroner’s charge was brief. He told the jury that it could find that Anna Aumulter came to her death at the hands of an unknown person or that she was killed by a person to be named by the Jury. “Hans Schmidt does not appear before you on a trial for the murder,” he said. Within fifteen minutes from the time the first witness had taken the stand the jury had withdrawn. Within ten minutes more It had returned with its yerdict. District Attorney Whitman expressed the positive conviction today that Hans Schmidt is sane. Schmidt will be placed on trial tor the murder of Anna Aumuller whota he slew as she slept, dismembered and sank in the Hudson river September 21st. Mr. Whlttnah’s opinion, it is understood, is based on the conclusions of the four alienists who have examined Schmidt in the Tobs at Mr. Whitman’s behest. Their formal report will be made soon. Counsel for Schmidt issued a statement this afternoon saying that his client’s outbreak bad been provoked by the coroner, who had made "a holiday** of the inquest and had appealed to public spirited citizens for funds to bdry Anna Aumuller. Schmidt resented this, he said, and hurled his rosary and some coins at the newspaper men because he thought they were laughing at the coroner’s unusual appeal.