Readers
of “The Murder At Asbury Park,” will certainly
be aware that Max Kruschka was a highly
suspicious character. There has always been the
nagging sense that he was somehow involved in
the murder of Marie Smith (even if it was simply
the possibility of his knowing about it before
anyone else). Though it was reported that the
Smiths held the work of the detectives in high
regard, the family has always kept the opinion
that it was Max Kruschka who actually murdered
Marie and not Frank Heidemann. Near the end of
the story I give a rundown of opinions regarding
this issue, ideas which I will not repeat in
detail here. I will say, however, that it would
suggest the presence of a very strange situation
if Heidemann did somehow take the rap for
Kruschka. What that situation might be would be
completely speculative. That is, we have to go
on the information we possess and weigh rumor or
bias accordingly (and there was a great deal of
negative sentiment -- most of it warranted --
about Kruschka character to begin with).
Nevertheless,
after my writing “The Murder At Asbury
Park,” I noticed a few extra,
interesting occurrences in the story
that are worthy of mention in connection
with Kruschka’s possible involvement (on
some culpatory level). These are as
follows:
It
has always seemed strange that Marie
Smith’s body was not discovered sooner
than it was. This fed the suspicion that
perhaps she was kept for a while after
her disappearance (possibly at
Kruschka’s), and that the body was
placed in the woods later. The person
who discovered the body was William
Benson, who like Kruschka was a florist.
I wrote: |
Benson
expressed distrust for Kruschka, a former partner of
his in a landscaping business. He claimed he had
dishonored an agreement and cheated him out of six
hundred dollars. Benson, not well off to begin with,
let the issue drop for fear of losing more money in a
lawsuit.
There was an award of $200 for the discovery of
the body. Could Kruschka have told Benson about
its location as partial payment of his debt?
Though I think (judging from Benson’s feelings
toward Kruschka) that it’s unlikely, it still
stimulates thought.
Another
interesting note is that Kruschka was
definitely in New York City on business
on the day Marie disappeared. Kruschka
was buying flowers and supplies for his
business and also employing a live-in
maid. I don’t believe I mentioned it in
the story, but it was noted in the
reports that Kruschka gave some flowers
as a gift to one of the secretaries at
the employment agency. Now this is just
the kind of thing a person would do if
he wanted to be remembered by someone.
This would reinforce his alibi. Of
course, employing a servant would have
been enough to establish his presence in
New York, but the flower-giving action
stuck in my mind.
Did
Heidemann really take the rap for
Kruschka? Why would he sacrifice his
life for him? There is one fascinating
find by Detective T.B. Bowers, on
November 30, while investigating
Heidemann’s movements in New York before
he came to Asbury Park. It is to be
remembered that in New York Heidemann
sometimes used the alias “Hardenberg.”
T.B.
Bowers Reports:
[I]
left for Schirmer's Hotel,
#262 The Bowery. Here I
examined the register from
April 15th, 1910, to Oct. 4th,
1910 [the day Heidemann began
work for Kruschka in Asbury
Park] but could find no record
of subject having stopped
here. However, on Oct. 9th,
10th and 11th, there was a
"Christ Hardenburg", whom
inquiry showed was unknown.
The register at this hotel is
kept by the clerk and all
entries are in his
handwriting…
The
dates make it unlikely that this name
was evidence of Heidemann, but the name
“Christ” would certainly suggest someone
who was prone to sacrifice himself.
Of
Kruschka’s many bizarre statements the
next is one of the oddest and most
provocative. This is not a new
observation. It was reported by "The
Asbury Park Press" after Heidemann
confessed. According to Kruschka (it was
cited supposedly in his own words) he
tried to get Heidemann to confess to
him, promising that he would take the
secret with him to his grave. Among the
many statements he made in this series
is the following:
"I
gave Frank an axe whose handle was
blood-covered and told him to burn it
in the furnace. 'Why should I do that,
you know how the blood got there and
can explain it,' was all he said as he
refused.”
On
the surface, Kruschka seems to be
saying, “If this is the axe you
used, I’ll destroy it so no one will
find it.” Heidemann’s response is
probably meant to be understood as,
“You know there’s nothing but animal
blood on that axe.” (Possibly from
killing chickens, a common
practice.)But Kruschka’s statement
is just the type one thing someone
would say to a newspaper if he
wanted to re-arrange the real
meaning of something he said in the
past just in case its true meaning
were later revealed by the other
party.
But,
after all these years, who can say?
Even
if someone were to claim hearing
that Kruschka confessed to the
murder on his deathbed, this claim
would not be enough to convince a
good researcher. Rumors abound, get
passed down through generations,
become distorted. What the situation
was between Kruschka and Heidemann
will probably forever remain in the
realm of speculation.
Still,
it’s a haunting issue…
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