Dec. 31, 2025
The Only Priest Sent to the Electric Chair: The True Crimes of Hans Schmidt
He stood at the altar as a man of God and lived in secret as a killer.
In the early 1900s, Hans Schmidt became the only Catholic priest ever executed in the United States. Sworn to celibacy and spiritual authority, Schmidt instead lived a double life that ended in ritual murder. After illegally marrying a young immigrant woman and impregnating her, he brutally murdered and dismembered her when the truth threatened to surface.
But Anna Aumuller’s death was only the beginning.
As investigators followed the evidence from the Hudson River to Manhattan, and back across the Atlantic to Germany, they uncovered a disturbing pattern of violence, fraud, and institutional silence. Counterfeit money, insurance murder plots, and links to other unsolved deaths suggested that Schmidt’s final crime may not have been his first.
In this episode of When Killers Get Caught, host Brittany Ransom examines the psychology of Hans Schmidt, the warning signs ignored by those in power, and how authority and belief can be weaponized when accountability is avoided.
Because no matter how carefully someone hides behind faith, power, or position, the truth always leaves a trail.
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What happens when the person
you're taught to trust with your
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soul is hiding something
unspeakable?
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Is it madness, belief twisted
into obsession, or a hunger for
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control that hides behind ritual
and authority?
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I'm Brittany Ransom and This is
When Killers Get Caught, a
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podcast where we dig into the
lives, behavior, and psychology
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of people who commit the most
extreme crimes and what happens
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after they get caught.
In this episode, we're
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unraveling the story of Hans
Schmidt, a Catholic priest who
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performed forbidden rituals,
lived a double life, and
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committed a murder so brutal it
shocked the nation.
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Because even behind the collar
and even behind the altar, the
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truth always leaves a trail.
For centuries, the Catholic
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priesthood has been associated
with moral authority, ritual
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purity, spiritual guidance.
Priests are expected to live
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apart from ordinary temptations,
stay celibate, stay disciplined,
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and devote themselves entirely
to God.
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In many communities,
particularly immigrant
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communities in the late 19th and
earliest 20th centuries, priests
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were not merely religious
leaders.
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They were counseled, moral
arbiters, educators, and symbols
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of stability in unfamiliar
lands.
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Their authority was rarely
questioned, and accusations
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against them were often
dismissed outright as simply
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unthinkable.
But that image does not always
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reflect reality.
Long before modern
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investigations exposed the
systemic abuse, institutional
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secrecy, and patterns of
protection within the Catholic
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Church, there were isolated
cases that shattered public
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trust in the way that felt
impossible to reconcile.
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These cases were rare not
because wrongdoing didn't exist,
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but because the cultural, legal,
and religious structures of the
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time were I'll equipped and
often unwilling, to even
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confront these situations.
No case did that more completely
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than the story of Hans Schmidt.
In the early 1900s, Schmidt
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became the only Catholic priest
ever executed in the United
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States.
His crimes were not only brutal
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but profoundly symbolic.
He illegally married a woman in
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a secret ceremony he performed
himself, got her pregnant, and
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when the risk of exposure became
unavoidable, he uttered and
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dismembered her with chilling
deliberation.
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The violence was extreme, but
what unsettled the public even
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more was the way Schmidt framed
his actions not as a panic or a
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rage, but as a ritual sacrifice
and a distortion of his faith.
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As the journalists,
investigators and prosecutors
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began pulling at the threads of
Schmidt's life, it became clear
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that the murder of Anna Amiller
was not an isolated act.
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It was the visible tip of a very
dark history that had followed
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him across multiple continents.
Financial fraud, counterfeit
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money, suspected murders, and
patterns of disturbing behavior
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had been ignored, minimized, or
simply transferred away by an
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institution more concerned with
reputation and accountability.
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This is the story of Hans
Schmidt, the priest who preached
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sacrifice, practice bloodshed,
and left behind one of the
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darkest chapters in American
religious and criminal history.
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So the start.
Hans Schmidt was born in 1881 in
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the Bavarian town of
Auschenfenburg.
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It's in Germany a all
communities seeped in a very
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Catholic tradition, the outward
measures Schmidt appeared to be
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an intelligent and deeply
religious child.
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He showed an early interest in
church rituals.
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He memorized his prayers
quickly, and he demonstrated A
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seriousness that adults often
mistook for devotion.
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But beneath that surface were
behaviors that, in hindsight,
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stand out as very troubling.
As a child, Schmidt spent long
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hours watching animals be
slaughtered at the local obitor,
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which is essentially just a
butcher.
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While other children recoiled
from the sights and sounds of
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blood, Schmidt would watch with
fascination.
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He would watch them cut the
draining of the blood, the
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methodical separation of the
body parts, not with fear, but
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with calm attention.
It wasn't curiosity.
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It was a fixation.
At the same time, Schmidt
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immersed himself in Catholic
ritual.
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He built homemade altars,
reenacted Mass in his home, and
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played priests pretend with an
intensity that went behind
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normal childhood imagination.
That ritual structure and
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symbolism, it all just seemed to
captivate him.
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Even when he was a young child.
The language of sacrifice, the
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blood offered, the body broken,
redemption through suffering
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very much embedded itself deeply
into his worldview.
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These two fixations, vilas and
ritual, did not exist
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separately.
Over time, they started to
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intertwine.
And despite concerns about his
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temperament and social behavior,
Schmidt excited when he was old
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enough he was going to enter the
seminary.
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In the rigid hierarchy of the
church, obedience and conformity
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were especially prized at the
time, but Schmidt repeatedly
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clash with the authority.
He was very argumentative,
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emotionally volatile, and
resisted to correction.
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Nevertheless, though, they
ordained him in 19 O four and he
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was 25 years old, a decision
that in retrospect, I think we
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can all say had pretty
devastating consequences almost
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immediately after he was
ordained.
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Schmidt he can cycling through
conflicts with his superiors.
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Instead of confronting these
issues publicly, church
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officials followed a pattern
that will later become infamous.
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We're just going to reassign him
to another church.
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By 19 O 8, Schmidt was sent away
not to reflect or to receive
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treatment, but they sent him
across the Atlantic to the
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United States pretty much going
this won't be our problem right
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now.
Schmidt's first American
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assignment was St.
John's Parish in Louisville, KY,
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or Louisville, as they like to
say, a growing community with a
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very strong young immigrant
Catholic population.
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And once again, conflict
followed him.
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Parishioners started complaining
that he had a very short temper,
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he was very erratic, and he
honestly had a lot of unsettling
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intensity.
People would have meetings with
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him and and they said the way
that he would just stare at
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them, creep them out.
But instead of investigation or
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discipline, the solution was
relocating him again.
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And this time they sent him in
New York City.
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He gets assigned to Saint
Boniface Church in Manhattan
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where he encountered a woman,
Anna Omeler.
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Anna was a young Austrian
immigrant.
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She had recently arrived in the
US.
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She was employed as a
housekeeper and she was kind of
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the perfect victim.
She was isolated, financially
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dependent and very far from her
family and support system.
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The power and balance between
him being her preacher, her
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priest, was severe.
It wasn't just priest and
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employee, but also the spiritual
authority and subordinate
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laborer.
The relationship started very
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quietly, but it couldn't remain
hidden for too long.
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When Schmidt got transferred
again, this time to Saint
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Joseph's Church in West Harlem,
the relationship continued in
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secret.
The church's frequent
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relocations and tended to manage
internal problems discreetly.
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Instead allowed Schmidt to
maintain a double life.
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And on February 2013, he pretty
much crossed the line where you
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can't go back.
He performed a marriage ceremony
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himself, secretly marrying him
to Anna, and under Catholic law,
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the ceremony was invalid.
In fact, the ACT is considered
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to be a very serious sacrilege.
Priests are forbidden to marry
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and and he had no authority to
perform a sacrament that would
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only benefit himself.
But to Schmidt, this ritual
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mattered more than law.
The structure of the ceremony,
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the symbolism, the act of
binding for all things that he
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valued.
And for Schmidt, rules existed
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to be manipulated.
In the summer of 1913, Anna told
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Schmidt she was pregnant.
For Schmidt, this was not simply
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a scandal.
It was an existential threat.
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Exposure would mean he'd be
defrocked, publicly humiliated,
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and possibly put in prison.
He wasn't entirely sure.
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Unlike previous conflicts, this
was not something that a
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transfer would fix.
Instead of fleeing or
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confessing, he just started
planning.
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He rented an apartment for Anna
in northern Manhattan, claiming
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it was for one of his relatives
coming from abroad.
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He purchased a butcher's knife
and a hacksaw, gathered heavy
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pieces of Manhattan schist, a
detail that would later actually
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unravel his plan.
And these actions were not
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impulsive.
They were calculated,
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deliberate, and methodical.
For folks who don't know, schist
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is a shiny olated metamorphic
rock that's characterized by
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very flaky, minimal grains, kind
of like mica powder that people
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put in resin projects.
The only reason why I know
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anything about it because I do
things with resin.
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He decided that everything was
going to go down September 2nd,
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1913, and he goes to Anna's
apartment.
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First, he slashes her throat
with a knife, severs several
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major blood vessels, and then,
with chilling calm, he
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decapitated her, sawed her body
in half, wrapped each sex in a
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newspaper dated August 31st,
suggesting that he had been
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preparing.
This was not just improvised.
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And then the lower half was
placed inside of a pillowcase
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that was embroidered with a
monogrammed letter A.
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To each piece, Schmidt tied
heavy stones.
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He believed that if he just
dumped her in the river, it
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would erase everything.
After he dumped Anna's remains
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in the Hudson River, trusting
that gravity water would conceal
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the crime.
Surprised they didn't.
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Three days later, children on
the New Jersey shoreline found a
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woman's torso and then further
downriven further downriver in
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Weehawken, the lower half of the
body surface still wrapped in
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that distinctive pillow case.
The case crossed 8 lines with
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the New York Police Department
took control due to the nature
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of the evidence.
The autopsy revealed the victim
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was under 30, had recently been
pregnant, and had likely given
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birth prematurely before her
death.
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Then came the pillowcase.
Police traced the embroidered A
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to a linen manufacturer that
kept meticulous records.
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Those records LED directly to
Anna Omeler's apartment and
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inside, the investigators found
blood splatter across the walls
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and the floors Scrubbed, but not
a race. 6 bars of soap and a
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scrubbing brush sat next to the
sink and in a trunk they found
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the butcher's knife and the
hacksaw.
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In another, they found letters
that had been written to
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Schmidt.
The The plan fell apart in just
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a few days.
When detectives confronted
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Schmidt at Saint Joseph's
Church, he didn't deny what he
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did.
He in fact, he confessed almost
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immediately.
And he told the police, I loved
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her.
Sacrifices should be consummated
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in blood.
That statement set the
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investigators off.
They were completely shocked
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because Schmidt wasn't framing
these murders as fear or
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desperation, but as a ritual.
Love, sacrifice and blood
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inseparable.
In his mind, this wasn't
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remorse, it was justification.
And when that information went
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out to the press, it caused a
frenzy.
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It was everywhere, on the cover
of every newspaper across the
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country.
Not only had a priest killed
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someone, but in quite possibly
one of the worst ways.
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Schmidt's first trial began
December of 1913.
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His lawyers never contested the
facts, only that it was obvious
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that he was insane.
They argued that he was driven
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by religious delusions and an
uncontrollable bloodlust.
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And for 20-3 days, this trial
went on and the newspapers
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published every single detail.
Schmidt became a spectacle, a
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symbol of what happens when
faith is corrupted.
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But the jury just couldn't
decide.
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Deadlocked 1:50 At his second
trial, the judge issued a
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warning urging jurors to apply
common sense.
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Premeditation, planning and
concealment are incompatible
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with legal insanity.
And this time, Schmidt was
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convicted of first degree murder
on February 18th, 1916.
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He was executed at Sing Sing
Prison via electric chair at
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just 35 years old.
And to this day, he remains the
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only Catholic priest to ever be
executed in the United States.
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Now after Schmidt's conviction,
journalist started really
223
00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:56,480
digging into his life and what
they realized was virtually at
224
00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,800
every location where Schmidt had
been transferred, something a
225
00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,280
little weird happened.
Like they realized that he
226
00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,720
operated A counterfeit printing
press and he had planned
227
00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,080
insurance fraud with a dentist
named Ernest Arthur Murray.
228
00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,760
Then when he was in Louisville,
the body of a missing 9 year old
229
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,680
girl was found dismembered in
the basement of the church where
230
00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:25,960
he worked, Saint John's Parish.
They blamed A janitor, but the
231
00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:30,160
mutilation after the case in New
York came out made those police
232
00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,480
go.
Maybe we got this wrong.
233
00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,840
German authorities later linked
Schmidt to a murdered girl in
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00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,320
his hometown, but he had never
been questioned.
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00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:44,280
We really don't know how many
victims Schmidt had and Hans
236
00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,760
execution managed to close only
one case, but not really the
237
00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,400
larger question.
Was he a single year monster or
238
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,360
warning sign that was just
ignored?
239
00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,200
I think for most of us who are
millennials, we remember when we
240
00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,800
were in high school how the
Catholic Church got pulled into
241
00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:09,200
the public eye because of this
same kind of mindset.
242
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,240
And for me, as I was researching
this, it was pretty shocking to
243
00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,320
me that they have been hiding
the indiscretions of priests for
244
00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,920
over 100 years.
For some reason, I just thought
245
00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,520
this was something that happened
in the 60s and 70s in the US,
246
00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,880
you know, a sign of our times in
our country.
247
00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,400
So it's kind of crazy to realize
that there could be a lot more
248
00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:34,960
men like Hans Schmidt who have
lived and killed while hiding
249
00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,240
themselves amongst the Catholic
Church.
250
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,880
I think also his story reveals
how authority Shields predators.
251
00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,880
And I think we see that time and
time again in modern day
252
00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,600
institutions choose silence over
accountability and belief gets
253
00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,880
twisted into justification for
violence.
254
00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,200
It's definitely a lot to think
about and I would love to know
255
00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:55,720
know what you guys have to say
about it.
256
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,240
I know this first episode was a
little shorter, but I'm just
257
00:13:58,240 --> 00:13:59,720
getting back into the swing of
things.
258
00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:02,120
Just want to remind you all,
thank you for listening.
259
00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,560
I'm Brittany Ransom.
The truth always leaves a trail,
260
00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,920
and in Schmidt's case, that
trail LED straight to the
261
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,880
electric chair.
Thanks for listening.
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,320
What happens when the person
you're taught to trust with your
2
00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:04,440
soul is hiding something
unspeakable?
3
00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:08,520
Is it madness, belief twisted
into obsession, or a hunger for
4
00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,240
control that hides behind ritual
and authority?
5
00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,440
I'm Brittany Ransom and This is
When Killers Get Caught, a
6
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,280
podcast where we dig into the
lives, behavior, and psychology
7
00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:20,560
of people who commit the most
extreme crimes and what happens
8
00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,240
after they get caught.
In this episode, we're
9
00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:26,360
unraveling the story of Hans
Schmidt, a Catholic priest who
10
00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,200
performed forbidden rituals,
lived a double life, and
11
00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,280
committed a murder so brutal it
shocked the nation.
12
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,960
Because even behind the collar
and even behind the altar, the
13
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,000
truth always leaves a trail.
For centuries, the Catholic
14
00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,280
priesthood has been associated
with moral authority, ritual
15
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,400
purity, spiritual guidance.
Priests are expected to live
16
00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,600
apart from ordinary temptations,
stay celibate, stay disciplined,
17
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,120
and devote themselves entirely
to God.
18
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,200
In many communities,
particularly immigrant
19
00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:57,440
communities in the late 19th and
earliest 20th centuries, priests
20
00:00:57,440 --> 00:00:59,040
were not merely religious
leaders.
21
00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,120
They were counseled, moral
arbiters, educators, and symbols
22
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:05,120
of stability in unfamiliar
lands.
23
00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,760
Their authority was rarely
questioned, and accusations
24
00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,960
against them were often
dismissed outright as simply
25
00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:13,520
unthinkable.
But that image does not always
26
00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:15,600
reflect reality.
Long before modern
27
00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,880
investigations exposed the
systemic abuse, institutional
28
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,960
secrecy, and patterns of
protection within the Catholic
29
00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:25,640
Church, there were isolated
cases that shattered public
30
00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,640
trust in the way that felt
impossible to reconcile.
31
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,920
These cases were rare not
because wrongdoing didn't exist,
32
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,960
but because the cultural, legal,
and religious structures of the
33
00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:38,200
time were I'll equipped and
often unwilling, to even
34
00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,640
confront these situations.
No case did that more completely
35
00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,280
than the story of Hans Schmidt.
In the early 1900s, Schmidt
36
00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,840
became the only Catholic priest
ever executed in the United
37
00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,800
States.
His crimes were not only brutal
38
00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,000
but profoundly symbolic.
He illegally married a woman in
39
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,600
a secret ceremony he performed
himself, got her pregnant, and
40
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,360
when the risk of exposure became
unavoidable, he uttered and
41
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,400
dismembered her with chilling
deliberation.
42
00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,760
The violence was extreme, but
what unsettled the public even
43
00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,360
more was the way Schmidt framed
his actions not as a panic or a
44
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,720
rage, but as a ritual sacrifice
and a distortion of his faith.
45
00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:17,080
As the journalists,
investigators and prosecutors
46
00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,680
began pulling at the threads of
Schmidt's life, it became clear
47
00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,280
that the murder of Anna Amiller
was not an isolated act.
48
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,920
It was the visible tip of a very
dark history that had followed
49
00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:31,680
him across multiple continents.
Financial fraud, counterfeit
50
00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,240
money, suspected murders, and
patterns of disturbing behavior
51
00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:39,320
had been ignored, minimized, or
simply transferred away by an
52
00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,440
institution more concerned with
reputation and accountability.
53
00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:45,440
This is the story of Hans
Schmidt, the priest who preached
54
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,040
sacrifice, practice bloodshed,
and left behind one of the
55
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,920
darkest chapters in American
religious and criminal history.
56
00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,360
So the start.
Hans Schmidt was born in 1881 in
57
00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,240
the Bavarian town of
Auschenfenburg.
58
00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,320
It's in Germany a all
communities seeped in a very
59
00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,240
Catholic tradition, the outward
measures Schmidt appeared to be
60
00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,320
an intelligent and deeply
religious child.
61
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,680
He showed an early interest in
church rituals.
62
00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,560
He memorized his prayers
quickly, and he demonstrated A
63
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,920
seriousness that adults often
mistook for devotion.
64
00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,080
But beneath that surface were
behaviors that, in hindsight,
65
00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,120
stand out as very troubling.
As a child, Schmidt spent long
66
00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,520
hours watching animals be
slaughtered at the local obitor,
67
00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:28,320
which is essentially just a
butcher.
68
00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,280
While other children recoiled
from the sights and sounds of
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00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,160
blood, Schmidt would watch with
fascination.
70
00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,440
He would watch them cut the
draining of the blood, the
71
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,360
methodical separation of the
body parts, not with fear, but
72
00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,280
with calm attention.
It wasn't curiosity.
73
00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,880
It was a fixation.
At the same time, Schmidt
74
00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:48,720
immersed himself in Catholic
ritual.
75
00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,840
He built homemade altars,
reenacted Mass in his home, and
76
00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,000
played priests pretend with an
intensity that went behind
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00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,440
normal childhood imagination.
That ritual structure and
78
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,160
symbolism, it all just seemed to
captivate him.
79
00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,800
Even when he was a young child.
The language of sacrifice, the
80
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,240
blood offered, the body broken,
redemption through suffering
81
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,800
very much embedded itself deeply
into his worldview.
82
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,360
These two fixations, vilas and
ritual, did not exist
83
00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,279
separately.
Over time, they started to
84
00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,800
intertwine.
And despite concerns about his
85
00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,280
temperament and social behavior,
Schmidt excited when he was old
86
00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:27,120
enough he was going to enter the
seminary.
87
00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,640
In the rigid hierarchy of the
church, obedience and conformity
88
00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,280
were especially prized at the
time, but Schmidt repeatedly
89
00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:37,440
clash with the authority.
He was very argumentative,
90
00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,240
emotionally volatile, and
resisted to correction.
91
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:45,040
Nevertheless, though, they
ordained him in 19 O four and he
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00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,880
was 25 years old, a decision
that in retrospect, I think we
93
00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,040
can all say had pretty
devastating consequences almost
94
00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:53,760
immediately after he was
ordained.
95
00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,920
Schmidt he can cycling through
conflicts with his superiors.
96
00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,920
Instead of confronting these
issues publicly, church
97
00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:02,680
officials followed a pattern
that will later become infamous.
98
00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,240
We're just going to reassign him
to another church.
99
00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,400
By 19 O 8, Schmidt was sent away
not to reflect or to receive
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00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,760
treatment, but they sent him
across the Atlantic to the
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00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,600
United States pretty much going
this won't be our problem right
102
00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:17,200
now.
Schmidt's first American
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00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,080
assignment was St.
John's Parish in Louisville, KY,
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00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,280
or Louisville, as they like to
say, a growing community with a
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00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:26,400
very strong young immigrant
Catholic population.
106
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:28,640
And once again, conflict
followed him.
107
00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:32,400
Parishioners started complaining
that he had a very short temper,
108
00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:37,040
he was very erratic, and he
honestly had a lot of unsettling
109
00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,560
intensity.
People would have meetings with
110
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,600
him and and they said the way
that he would just stare at
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00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,760
them, creep them out.
But instead of investigation or
112
00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,280
discipline, the solution was
relocating him again.
113
00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,440
And this time they sent him in
New York City.
114
00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,640
He gets assigned to Saint
Boniface Church in Manhattan
115
00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,880
where he encountered a woman,
Anna Omeler.
116
00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,040
Anna was a young Austrian
immigrant.
117
00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,040
She had recently arrived in the
US.
118
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,520
She was employed as a
housekeeper and she was kind of
119
00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,400
the perfect victim.
She was isolated, financially
120
00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,840
dependent and very far from her
family and support system.
121
00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,080
The power and balance between
him being her preacher, her
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00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,680
priest, was severe.
It wasn't just priest and
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00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:24,200
employee, but also the spiritual
authority and subordinate
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00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,240
laborer.
The relationship started very
125
00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,800
quietly, but it couldn't remain
hidden for too long.
126
00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,280
When Schmidt got transferred
again, this time to Saint
127
00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:35,480
Joseph's Church in West Harlem,
the relationship continued in
128
00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,000
secret.
The church's frequent
129
00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,920
relocations and tended to manage
internal problems discreetly.
130
00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,080
Instead allowed Schmidt to
maintain a double life.
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00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:48,040
And on February 2013, he pretty
much crossed the line where you
132
00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,440
can't go back.
He performed a marriage ceremony
133
00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:56,120
himself, secretly marrying him
to Anna, and under Catholic law,
134
00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,000
the ceremony was invalid.
In fact, the ACT is considered
135
00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,320
to be a very serious sacrilege.
Priests are forbidden to marry
136
00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,800
and and he had no authority to
perform a sacrament that would
137
00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,680
only benefit himself.
But to Schmidt, this ritual
138
00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,400
mattered more than law.
The structure of the ceremony,
139
00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,280
the symbolism, the act of
binding for all things that he
140
00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,400
valued.
And for Schmidt, rules existed
141
00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,000
to be manipulated.
In the summer of 1913, Anna told
142
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,640
Schmidt she was pregnant.
For Schmidt, this was not simply
143
00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:28,880
a scandal.
It was an existential threat.
144
00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,600
Exposure would mean he'd be
defrocked, publicly humiliated,
145
00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,600
and possibly put in prison.
He wasn't entirely sure.
146
00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,160
Unlike previous conflicts, this
was not something that a
147
00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,280
transfer would fix.
Instead of fleeing or
148
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,880
confessing, he just started
planning.
149
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,400
He rented an apartment for Anna
in northern Manhattan, claiming
150
00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:49,760
it was for one of his relatives
coming from abroad.
151
00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:54,000
He purchased a butcher's knife
and a hacksaw, gathered heavy
152
00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,880
pieces of Manhattan schist, a
detail that would later actually
153
00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,480
unravel his plan.
And these actions were not
154
00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,280
impulsive.
They were calculated,
155
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,000
deliberate, and methodical.
For folks who don't know, schist
156
00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:11,480
is a shiny olated metamorphic
rock that's characterized by
157
00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,360
very flaky, minimal grains, kind
of like mica powder that people
158
00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:17,920
put in resin projects.
The only reason why I know
159
00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,280
anything about it because I do
things with resin.
160
00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,840
He decided that everything was
going to go down September 2nd,
161
00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,320
1913, and he goes to Anna's
apartment.
162
00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,680
First, he slashes her throat
with a knife, severs several
163
00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:32,320
major blood vessels, and then,
with chilling calm, he
164
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,200
decapitated her, sawed her body
in half, wrapped each sex in a
165
00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,200
newspaper dated August 31st,
suggesting that he had been
166
00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,480
preparing.
This was not just improvised.
167
00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:46,280
And then the lower half was
placed inside of a pillowcase
168
00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,760
that was embroidered with a
monogrammed letter A.
169
00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,640
To each piece, Schmidt tied
heavy stones.
170
00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,960
He believed that if he just
dumped her in the river, it
171
00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,240
would erase everything.
After he dumped Anna's remains
172
00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,200
in the Hudson River, trusting
that gravity water would conceal
173
00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,040
the crime.
Surprised they didn't.
174
00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,440
Three days later, children on
the New Jersey shoreline found a
175
00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,520
woman's torso and then further
downriven further downriver in
176
00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,400
Weehawken, the lower half of the
body surface still wrapped in
177
00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,640
that distinctive pillow case.
The case crossed 8 lines with
178
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,240
the New York Police Department
took control due to the nature
179
00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,840
of the evidence.
The autopsy revealed the victim
180
00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,800
was under 30, had recently been
pregnant, and had likely given
181
00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,320
birth prematurely before her
death.
182
00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,640
Then came the pillowcase.
Police traced the embroidered A
183
00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,600
to a linen manufacturer that
kept meticulous records.
184
00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:42,400
Those records LED directly to
Anna Omeler's apartment and
185
00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,400
inside, the investigators found
blood splatter across the walls
186
00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:51,040
and the floors Scrubbed, but not
a race. 6 bars of soap and a
187
00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,320
scrubbing brush sat next to the
sink and in a trunk they found
188
00:09:54,320 --> 00:09:56,120
the butcher's knife and the
hacksaw.
189
00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:00,240
In another, they found letters
that had been written to
190
00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,120
Schmidt.
The The plan fell apart in just
191
00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,200
a few days.
When detectives confronted
192
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,200
Schmidt at Saint Joseph's
Church, he didn't deny what he
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did.
He in fact, he confessed almost
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immediately.
And he told the police, I loved
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her.
Sacrifices should be consummated
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in blood.
That statement set the
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investigators off.
They were completely shocked
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because Schmidt wasn't framing
these murders as fear or
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desperation, but as a ritual.
Love, sacrifice and blood
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inseparable.
In his mind, this wasn't
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00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,000
remorse, it was justification.
And when that information went
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00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,640
out to the press, it caused a
frenzy.
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It was everywhere, on the cover
of every newspaper across the
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00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,600
country.
Not only had a priest killed
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someone, but in quite possibly
one of the worst ways.
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00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,160
Schmidt's first trial began
December of 1913.
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His lawyers never contested the
facts, only that it was obvious
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00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,520
that he was insane.
They argued that he was driven
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00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:03,040
by religious delusions and an
uncontrollable bloodlust.
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00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,960
And for 20-3 days, this trial
went on and the newspapers
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00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,840
published every single detail.
Schmidt became a spectacle, a
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00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,600
symbol of what happens when
faith is corrupted.
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00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,320
But the jury just couldn't
decide.
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00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:21,600
Deadlocked 1:50 At his second
trial, the judge issued a
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00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,000
warning urging jurors to apply
common sense.
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00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,120
Premeditation, planning and
concealment are incompatible
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00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,760
with legal insanity.
And this time, Schmidt was
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00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:36,440
convicted of first degree murder
on February 18th, 1916.
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00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,920
He was executed at Sing Sing
Prison via electric chair at
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00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,960
just 35 years old.
And to this day, he remains the
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00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:49,480
only Catholic priest to ever be
executed in the United States.
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00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,640
Now after Schmidt's conviction,
journalist started really
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00:11:52,640 --> 00:11:56,480
digging into his life and what
they realized was virtually at
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00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:01,800
every location where Schmidt had
been transferred, something a
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00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,280
little weird happened.
Like they realized that he
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00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,720
operated A counterfeit printing
press and he had planned
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00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,080
insurance fraud with a dentist
named Ernest Arthur Murray.
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00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,760
Then when he was in Louisville,
the body of a missing 9 year old
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00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:21,680
girl was found dismembered in
the basement of the church where
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00:12:21,680 --> 00:12:25,960
he worked, Saint John's Parish.
They blamed A janitor, but the
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00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:30,160
mutilation after the case in New
York came out made those police
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00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,480
go.
Maybe we got this wrong.
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00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,840
German authorities later linked
Schmidt to a murdered girl in
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00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,320
his hometown, but he had never
been questioned.
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00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:44,280
We really don't know how many
victims Schmidt had and Hans
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00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,760
execution managed to close only
one case, but not really the
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00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,400
larger question.
Was he a single year monster or
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00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,360
warning sign that was just
ignored?
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00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,200
I think for most of us who are
millennials, we remember when we
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00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,800
were in high school how the
Catholic Church got pulled into
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00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:09,200
the public eye because of this
same kind of mindset.
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00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,240
And for me, as I was researching
this, it was pretty shocking to
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00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,320
me that they have been hiding
the indiscretions of priests for
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00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,920
over 100 years.
For some reason, I just thought
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00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,520
this was something that happened
in the 60s and 70s in the US,
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00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,880
you know, a sign of our times in
our country.
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00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:30,400
So it's kind of crazy to realize
that there could be a lot more
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00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:34,960
men like Hans Schmidt who have
lived and killed while hiding
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00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,240
themselves amongst the Catholic
Church.
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00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,880
I think also his story reveals
how authority Shields predators.
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00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,880
And I think we see that time and
time again in modern day
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00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,600
institutions choose silence over
accountability and belief gets
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00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,880
twisted into justification for
violence.
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00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,200
It's definitely a lot to think
about and I would love to know
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00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:55,720
know what you guys have to say
about it.
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00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:58,240
I know this first episode was a
little shorter, but I'm just
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00:13:58,240 --> 00:13:59,720
getting back into the swing of
things.
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00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:02,120
Just want to remind you all,
thank you for listening.
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00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,560
I'm Brittany Ransom.
The truth always leaves a trail,
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00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,920
and in Schmidt's case, that
trail LED straight to the
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00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,880
electric chair.
Thanks for listening.
