Mark Lemberger - Crime of Magnitude: The Murder of Little Annie

Crime of Magnitude

Crime of Magnitude

The Murder of Little Annie

A true story by Mark Lemberger

Prairie Oak Press

Madison, Wisconsin

First edition, Copyright @ 1993 by Mark Lemberger All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Prairie Oak Press

Madison, Wisconsin 53705

Designed by Flying Fish Graphics, Blue Mounds, Wisconsin Typeset by KC Graphics, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lemberger, Mark, 1951 Crime of magnitude: the murder of little Annie / by Mark Lemberger p. cm.

ISBN 13 9781537260235 ISBN 101537260235

1. Lemberger, Annie, d. 1911. 2. MurderWisconsin Madison Case studies. I. Title.

HV6534.M22L46 1993

364.15230977583dc20

93-6866

CIP

Far-stretching, endless Time

Brings forth all hidden things,

All buries that which once did shine

The firm resolve falters, the sacred oath
is shattered;

And let none say, It cannot happen here.

Sophocles, Ajax

Contents

Part 2: August, 1920-October, 1921.
Annies Ghost is Still with Us

Part 3: October, 1921-June, 1923.
Too Much Zeal ... Too Firm a Belief

Part 4: January, 1924-June, 1927.
A Veritable Nightmare

Part 5: June, 1928-April, 1938.
A Man ... A Certain Man

Foreword

Except for one brief mention, I had never heard of the murder of Annie Lemberger until 74 years after the event. Had she lived, Annie would have been my aunt. My father, Joseph Victor Lemberger, was not born until five years after his sisters death.

The Lemberger mystery, never solved and often resurrected in the press, was splashed across the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal once again in August, 1985, in a series called Crimes of the Century. This was my real introduction to a mystery that has demanded the majority of my time and attention from that time until the present.

In 1985 I was a 34-year-old computer salesman in Columbia, South Carolina. I didnt really know anyone on the Lemberger side of our family, but, after asking around, I was told that my paternal grandmother, Magdeline, had kept a scrapbook on the death of her daughter, Annie. This huge book amazed me. Before long, my apartment floor was covered with copies of hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, chapters from books, and old photographs. I found it hard to believe the sheer deluge of words evoked by the death of a seven-year-old girl in 1911. Virtually every major newspaper in the country, from the New York Times to the Los Angeles Times, had carried articles about the mystery from 1911 to the present. Only one childs death has generated more coverage than that of Annie Lemberger, and that was because Charles Lindbergh Jr. was the son of a national hero, perhaps the best-known man in the nation. Annies father was a ditchdigger.

Murders, however lurid, tend to get loud but brief coverage. There is always a new murder to bump yesterdays off page one. Why has the Annie Lemberger mystery never gone away? In part, because it has never been solved. In part, also, because the aftermath of the crime included some fascinating and bizarre twists that continued to capture the imaginations of newspaper writers across all of twentieth-century America. Every few years, some new information surfaced to exonerate or convict one of the suspects.

This is a fascinating and subtle mystery. It took hold of me and wouldnt let go, eventually causing me to take a leave of absence from my career, move back to my home town of Madison, Wisconsin, and attempt to answer once and for all: Who killed Annie Lemberger?

In the course of research, I learned that at least twenty-three professionalsjournalists, lawyers, detectives, police, judges, and governorshad tried to solve this case over three quarters of a century. Each proposed a culprit, but none was able to build a compelling case. This was in large part because, as I also learned, the history of the killing, as written, was simply wrong.

Today, after all this time, the story is more fascinating to me than ever. The plot has thickened to include warring bootleggers, local and presidential politics, and one mans tragic descent from his self-professed morality.

There is a time for every story to be told. Maybe eighty years had to pass to allow passions and the resulting prejudice to fade away, and to allow accuracy to replace empty accusation.

I present this crime as it happened. Much of the story comes from reporters who were on the scene. The rest comes from subsequent investigation and analysis. So, imagine yourself as a resident of the small city of Madison, Wisconsin, in 1911. Imagine that a little girl has suddenly disappeared without a trace.

All of this happened. All of it.

Mark Lemberger

San Ramon, California

March 3, 1993

Acknowledgments

This is hard. There are so many people who have helped, and forgetting one is a painful prospect. I am grateful, above all, to Ami, my mom, for all her support, and my brother Joe, an honest and ardent critic. To Sue Exner Ruf who edited and encouraged in equal measures. To Jerry Minnich, a publisher who knows a good story when he sees one.

I thank Kris Visser, my editor, who managed to combine a badgerlike tenacity with a gentle touch. Steve Joyce listened and read and suggested, and Frank Custer dug out clippings and Madison history that only he thought to preserve.

Madison has more experts than any city deserves. I asked a number of them to put themselves in their counterparts shoes back in 1911, 1921, and 1933 as this mystery unfolded. These folks were invaluable in their questions and analyses. I appreciate the insight and expertise of Frank Tuerkheimer, Bob Taylor, Billy Bauman, Jack McManus, Len and Mary Harrelson, Eloise Keeler, Gerry Thorstenson, Bill Smith, Ray Taffora, Dennis Schimmel, and Fred Fosdal. Their forensic experience covers thousands of trials. They were generous with their time and immensely interesting.

Anna Marie McCann kept the faith and the eighty-year-old scrapbook that intrigued me enough to solve this mystery. Lois Straus and George Lemberger were steadfast in the belief that, someday, the truth of this story would be known.

Ginny Heimerl and Gina Zanoya read early manuscripts and remained friends of mine, proof of their tolerance and good hearts.

Harry Miller and Joanne Hoehler, of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, could not have been more helpful in the years I haunted their superb collections. Mary Freymiller and Marian Howard helped me with the history of LaFayette County, and Marv Balousek of the Wisconsin State Journal wrote the articles about my quest that brought forth some good sources.

Brothers Tom and Jim, sister Therese, nieces Theresa, Paige, and Michelleall listened and encouraged me. Best of all were the friends who listened and wondered and asked, Who killed Annie? Here (I lift a bourbon) is to Uncle Bud, Marguerite, Karen, Bob and Carol, Jim and Kathy, Cathy, Geary, Mary, Amy, Beth, Pete and Rosie, Norm and Al, Zeke and Joan, Phil, Bruce, Brian, Helen, Cheryl, Liz, John, Jack and Esther, Mike and Sandy, Dan and Geni, Dan and Rose, Leo and Diane, Cheryl, Marty, Kelly, Susan, and Chris.