An unknown person brutally killed Anna Wiese, 20, in Marshall County, Iowa, on August 26, 1893. Police later charged Emily Bennett, 49, with Anna’s murder, and the case went to trial. The prosecutor claimed Emily killed Anna because she considered her an “immoral woman” and had flirted with Emily’s adult son and her husband. However, a jury acquitted Emily, and Anna’s murder remains unsolved.
Who was Anna Wiese?
Anna Wiese was born on June 11, 1873, to German immigrants Henry Wiese, Sr. and Mary Miller Wiese. She had five siblings — Henry, Jr., Gus, William H., Amos L., and Bessie. Anna was the second oldest child.
At age 20, Anna was still single and lived in Vienna Township, Marshall County, Iowa. Established in 1855, Vienna Township lies about nine miles northeast of Marshalltown and west of Cedar Rapids. She worked as a housekeeper for the Russie family from May 1893 up to her murder. She had previously worked for two other families.
Anna was tall and attractive with auburn hair that she usually pulled up into a bun or pinned. She was flirtatious and had no problem getting the attention of young men in her community. That resulted in a few locals’ dislike of Anna. But did their hatred go too far?
Murder of Anna Wiese
On August 26, 1893, Anna worked at the Russie home until 7 p.m. She changed clothes and started walking to the Ebenezer and Sarah Hill farm about a half mile away to see their son, Arthur Hill, and Arthur’s wife, Laura, who had their own home on the farm. Arthur, 29, and Laura, 30, had married in 1886 and had three small children. This particular day was their seventh wedding anniversary.
During her visit, she appeared happy and chatted with Laura. Anna left the Hill farm at 10:05 p.m. and started walking home in the dark. About 10 minutes later, she was dead.
Soon after Anna departed the Hill farm, her employer, Henry Russie, and his sickly wife Rebecca heard screams as they prepared for bed. Rebecca recognized Anna’s voice and begged Henry to investigate. He ran to the barn and grabbed his hired hand, Perry Greggs, 14, and the two rushed toward the screams.
Halfway between the Russie and Hill farms and just west of the Cyrus and Emily Bennett farm, they found Anna dead on her back in a ditch, with her head pointed south and turned slightly and one leg bent. Three large pools of blood spilled out onto the ground.
Henry sent Perry to the Hill farm, and a short while later, the boy returned with Arthur Hill, who carried a lantern. Arthur shined the light on Anna, revealing the horror before them.
Two inches in diameter, a bloody piece of maple wood lay on the ground near Anna. Her clothes were intact, but the top of her dress was soaked with blood. Her hair had fallen, tangled, and coated with blood. Anna’s throat had been slashed ear to ear, and the men could see wounds to her chest.
Arthur rode his horse to collect the neighbors to search for the killer while Henry stood guard over the body and crime scene. Arthur stopped at the Bennett farm and called for Cyrus and Emily Bennett. Cyrus comes to the door but does not allow Emily to talk to Arthur. However, Emily’s son, Arthur Sherlock, 22, joined in the search for Anna’s killer.
As the sun rose, curious onlookers visited the crime scene and noticed blood on the fence where someone had lifted it to crawl through, and the tall weeds were trampled.
Preliminary Examination of Body
Marshall County Coroner Dr. Wilfred F. David and Sheriff Jacob B. Pence received telegrams at 1 a.m. regarding Anna’s murder. They reached the crime scene approximately an hour later, where Dr. David examined Anna’s body. In addition to her slashed neck, she had been stabbed multiple times in her breasts and had a deep gash on her right side. Her eyes were wide open, and her hands were covered in blood.
Arthur Hill, Henry, and Perry helped Dr. David transport Anna’s body on a “shutter” to Henry’s home, where he could examine it under more light. (Bowers, 2010) They found a clump of auburn hair clutched in Anna’s hand.
Dr. David held a coroner’s jury while at the Russie home, composed of the other three who were at the crime scene and concluded a “person or persons unknown” had killed Anna.
Official Autopsy
Dr. David performed the autopsy on Tuesday, August 29, 1893, assisted by Dr. Winfield S. Devine at a nearby schoolhouse, the southwest corner of Wallace Avenue and 130th Street today.
The men determined Anna had been stabbed about ten times in both the back and breasts. Her killer had slashed her throat from right to left with three strokes. Only the final one penetrated so deep she was nearly decapitated.
Anna also had two vertical scratches on the upper lip and chin, possibly from fingernails, and an inch-and-a-half abrasion on her chin. (Bowers, 2010)
They also determined Anna was not a virgin. However, she had not been raped and was not pregnant. Rumors had already circulated that she had been pregnant and killed by her lover.
Investigation
Sheriff Pence and his deputies began an investigation. Several people saw Anna on the night of her murder.
Dr. A.F. Walker and his wife, Mary, spotted Anna on her way to the Hill farm. Further down the road, the Lows saw her as they made their way to the home of Adam and Fannie Jackson for a “sing.” They stopped and invited Anna, but she declined. The Lows saw Anna again a while later, sitting in the doorway at the Hill house.
Brothers John and Frank Knight drove past Anna in separate wagons. They had come from the Russie home after hauling corn to Green Mountain.
The investigation into Anna’s murder extended through the fall of 1893. A few suspects quickly emerged, but they had solid alibis and were let go. Sheriff Pence traveled to Chicago, where he hired Pinkerton Detective Barney Schultz to assist him with the investigation. Schultz spent an entire month in Marshalltown. One of the people he questioned was Emily Bennett. He took a sample of her hair for analysis to compare it with the auburn hair Anna clutched in her hand, believing it matched.
Schultz questioned others who told him that Emily disliked Anna and considered her an “immoral woman” after Anna allegedly flirted with Emily’s husband, Cyrus, and her son, Arthur Sherlock. Emily had also spread a rumor that Anna was pregnant, which had Dr. David had disproved during the autopsy.
Arrest of Emily Bennett
Authorities exhumed Anna’s grave four times to find evidence not previously discovered. The fourth time, they found hair clamped in Anna’s right hand, clasped over the left of her breast. The hair was dark and coarse, like man’s hair, four inches long and not like the auburn hair found at the crime scene.
But the men who had prepared Anna’s body for burial swore there was no hair in her hands when they placed her in her coffin. That led to some believing the Bennetts paid someone to dig Anna up and plant evidence. Authorities put the hair in a bag, but it later disappeared, never to be seen again.
Witnesses told Schultz how Emily changed after Anna’s murder and was visibly distressed and agitated. They said Anna had visited the Bennet home on the Sunday before her murder and spoke with Cyrus and Emily’s son Arthur Sherlock. Emily told one witness that she overheard Anna “talking immodestly about her conduct in a buggy with a young man and Arthur joined in.” (Bowers)
Emily Bennett’s Trials
On November 9, 1893, a grand jury indicted Emily Bennett for Anna’s murder, which led to two trials, the first one starting in the spring of 1894. All of the evidence against Emily was circumstantial, but the prosecutor believed he had a strong case against her.
The prosecution and defense attorneys went back and forth as usual, one trying to prove guilt and the other trying to convince the jury his client was innocent.
Emily remained stoic throughout both trials, never showing emotion, and even testified for two hours at her second trial. Emily also had a large support network of friends and neighbors who believed in her innocence.
During both trials, a couple of weird things happened. At the first one, a juror, Henry Desch, became violently ill after eating breakfast during deliberations. Before breakfast, nine jurors were for acquittal and three for convictions. Desch was one of the latter three. Because he was so ill and the jury could not reach a verdict, the judge dismissed the jury and ended the first trial.
At the second trial in September 1894, another juror, Enoch B. William, became violently ill with symptoms similar to Desch’s. However, he was able to return to jury duty the following day, and the trial moved forward. But his illness led many to believe he and Desch had been poisoned.
Emily’s husband, sister, and son all testified on her behalf. Arthur Sherlock told the court that he was never interested in Anna as a girlfriend because he was dating another young lady, who later became his wife.
Dr. Irving J. Smith, a professor of Pathology and Histology at the State Agriculture College in Ames, stated that there was no distinguishable difference between Anna’s and Emily’s hair. He also noted that it is not possible to identify an individual’s hair solely based on color or other traits. (Bowers)
The second trial did not last long. On September 22, 1894, the jury deliberated for five hours before acquitting Emily of Anna’s murder.
Police never charged another person for the crime, and it remains unsolved. Many people believed the prosecution proved Emily’s guilt, and the jury let a killer run free.
Aftermath
Anna’s parents died in 1917 and 1923, her siblings died between 1937 and 1970. Anna is buried in Vienna Cemetery in Marshall County.
Following Emily’s trial, the Bennetts remained in the Iowa countryside for several years. In 1910, they moved to North Dakota and then to Twin Falls, Idaho, by 1920. Emily passed away at the age of 80 on February 27, 1925, while Cyrus had already preceded her in death on April 30, 1921, at the age of 69. Their son, Arthur Sherlock, fathered five children with his wife, Estella Simmons, between 1897 and 1907. He passed away on January 20, 1944, at the age of 76.
For a more detailed account of Anna Wiese’s murder and Emily Bennett’s trials, please read “None But a Frenzied Woman”: Murder of Anna Wiese 1893” by Nancy Bowers of IowaUnsolvedMurders.com. It’s a long read, but worth it!
Other Sources
Ewing, Jody. “Anna ‘Annie’ Wiese.” Iowa Cold Cases, August 25, 2016. https://iowacoldcases.org/case-summaries/anna-wiese/
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55292585/anna-wiese: accessed September 25, 2024), memorial page for Anna “Annie” Wiese (June 11 1873–August 26 1893), Find a Grave Memorial ID 55292585, citing Vienna Cemetery, Marshall County, Iowa, USA; Maintained by Volunteer (contributor 47168017).
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/149208986/arthur_h-hill: accessed October 4, 2024), memorial page for Arthur H Hill (1864–25 Nov 1948), Find a Grave Memorial ID 149208986, citing Green Mountain Cemetery, Green Mountain, Marshall County, Iowa, USA; Maintained by Elliffen (contributor 48210806).
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/125286321/arthur_d-sherlock: accessed September 25, 2024), memorial page for Arthur D. Sherlock (February 23 1872–January 20 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 125286321, citing Twin Falls Cemetery, Twin Falls, Twin Falls County, Idaho, USA; Maintained by ForeverRemembered (contributor 47279918).
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87132543/cyrus_a-bennett: accessed September 25, 2024), memorial page for Cyrus A Bennett (December 31 1851–April 30 1921), Find a Grave Memorial ID 87132543, citing Twin Falls Cemetery, Twin Falls, Twin Falls County, Idaho, USA; Maintained by Cheryl Ayres (contributor 46935923).
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94328796/emily-bennett: accessed September 25, 2024), memorial page for Emily Gardner Bennett (March 9 1844–February 27 1925), Find a Grave Memorial ID 94328796, citing Twin Falls Cemetery, Twin Falls, Twin Falls County, Idaho, USA; Maintained by jdm_aka_stonehunter (contributor 46481480).
“Wiese Trial.” The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), April 5, 1894.