The Goettinger Murder: A Kewaunee County Who Done It?

Some said it was the ghost of John Goettinger. Others said it was phosphorus in low lying areas. Still others said it was a low hanging lantern seen only at night, and only between 9:00 and midnight at that. For some reason there seemed to be a mysterious light in the evening sky along the river over the ashes of the little log home that once stood on the Goettinger property. On July 31, 1878, the nearly unrecognized corpse of John Goettinger was discovered. The body was burned to a crisp. But how?

John Goettinger and his wife Margaret settled in the Town of Ahnapee in 1855, beginning their life in the new world in Section 9 up river from the hamlet then called Wolf River. Goettinger was known to be a hard man as many of his generation were. He enlisted and physically survived the Civil War. Though he won respect for his courage, in today's world his emotional stability might have been called into question.

At the time of his murder, Gottinger was living alone. His wife had moved in with their daughter and son-in-law, a man with whom John was on unfriendly terms. At first his son-in-law and the hired man were suspected of murder.

On Monday morning July 22, 1878 townsfolk heard the news that Goettinger's house had burned and that he was missing. It was generally well known that Goettinger's disposition had gotten worse in the preceding months and that he was even worse at home before his wife left. He drank to excess and was also involved in several lawsuits. What left people wondering was why John himself didn't come into town to report the fire. Where was he?

Finally Judge Stransky sent the Coopers to investigate, and when they arrived at the farm the men met two boys who had just found a corpse. John Cooper guarded the scene while James Cooper returned to town. Justice J.R. McDonald quickly empaneled a jury that returned to the farm. It was learned the victim had been in town paying bills a day earlier. As some payments were paid with silver, it was believed he had about $15 in silver in his pocket. He had been seen working in the fields later, about 6 PM. As it was evening, the investigators couldn't do much but did spend the next two days speaking with witnesses and examining the rubble. Goettinger had been wearing his Civil War tunic - nobody would throw away perfectly usable clothing even though the war had ended - and the buttons were there. The silver was not. The jury decided John was dead before the fire started and that robbery could have been a factor.

Mrs. Goettinger had begun divorce proceedings, however the remains were turned over to her for burial as she said she would pay for it. Investigations and cross examinations continued. Even the hay field in which Goettinger was last seen was examined for blood. By August 13 the jury was completely baffled and decided that Goettinger came to his death by persons unknown.

The murder festered in the minds of residents and in the minds of those who might have had a hand in it.

Four years after the murder, in March 1882, Goettinger's wife Margaret, his daughter Catherine and her husband Jacob Blarnek were arrested on a warrant issued by Justice Shea of Kewaunee. New evidence came to life when Blarnek's employee Jacob Kozina said it was Mrs. Goettinger and her daughter Catherine Blarnek who killed John Goettinger.  Kozina said that during an angry quarrel, one of the women stabbed Goettinger below the belt with a pitchfork. He said they covered the body with hay until they could return it to the Goettinger home after dark. All were required to post bail. Kozina didn't have the money and some Ahnapee residents furnished his bail. Kozina said he had not come forward earlier because Jacob Blarnek threatened to kill him if he ever told what he saw. The knowledge became more than he could bear.

On May 5, 1882 the Enterprise reported that the only jury case for the term was that against Jacob Blarnek and wife in the murder of John Goettinger. Margaret Goettinger had been found dead. Jury selection was difficult as the state had 12 peremptory challenges and the defense had 48. It wasn't long before the panel was exhausted. Seventy-five more were called. Few, if any, from the Town of Ahnapee were listed among he final jurors. William Timlin was the prosecuting attorney while R.L. Wing offered the defense. The Enterprise hoped for a quick verdict as it felt the whole thing had been festering too long.

Jacob Blarnek and his wife Catherine were acquitted. A new trial was set as it was felt Catherine might have been prejudiced because of enmity between her husband and and her father John Goettinger. Such evidence would not have been permissible had she been tried alone.

Years later the case again came to light because Margaret Goettinger was found to be buried beneath the fence around St. Mary's cemetery. Speculation was that the property had been resurveyed. But because the tombstone appeared flat, and therefore considered undignified, some felt character might have been called into play.

Margaret Goettinger's body was found floating face down in the Ahnapee River while she was out on bail, before the case went to court in 1882. Did she fall into the river and drown? Did she suffer a stroke or heart attack? Or could she no longer live with the guilt only to commit suicide? Nobody knew. By burying Margaret under the fence, the church covered its bases. In those days, those who had committed suicide were not buried in consecrated ground. Margaret Goettinger was a little bit in and a little bit out. Did she, or didn't she. Nobody knew.