Jacob Bentz a 47-year-old plumber that lived in Harvey, ND on 2 Oct 1931, he argued with his wife about going to Fessenden at 1 o'clock in the morning He slept on the inside, which means to me against the wall. He went to bed with a hammer and at 4 O'clock he struck her twice in the head. He carried her body to the car in the garage and went back to the bedroom to clean up and took some items to the basement and burned them. He then drove to a haystack and burned some bedding and then drove a ways and started the car on fire. When someone saw him he claimed they got into a car accident and his wife was still in the car. The nearby neighbor called the fire department.
When authorities questioned him several times he finally broke down and confessed to killing his wife.
 |
| Jacob Bentz |
When authorities questioned him several times he finally broke down and confessed to killing his wife.
Jacob's first wife
Dorothea Sophia Suelzle was born 15 Jan 1883 and married Jacob her 2nd husband on 26 Jan 1902 in South Dakota She had 6 children with Jacob.
She died 12 Jan 1930
Jacob married Sophia Schmidt on 17 Apr 1930 she was a widow with 2 daughters who at the time were off at school. She was the daughter of John C Schmidt (1854-1929).
First husband married in 1908 to Hugo Eberlin (1878-1928)
Jacob Bentz died in the State Penitentiary in 1944 in Bismarck, ND
Jacob did try collecting money from an insurance policy he had on Sophia He even called his agent that morning after the murder to upgrade it to $5,000.
Comments
Post a Comment