On the afternoon of 6 November 1906, Josefina Molitor received a telephone call that would lead to her death. The caller claimed to be from the post office in Baden-Baden, and he asked that she come as soon as possible. The maid who answered the phone thought the voice sounded remarkably like Carl Howe, her mistress’s son-in-law. Mrs.

Molitor dismissed the warning. She put on her coat and hat and, accompanied by her youngest daughter, Olga, walked out into the quiet streets of the German spa town. As the two women entered a deserted lane, Olga heard footsteps behind them. She paid no attention.

Then came the sound of gunfire. She turned to see her mother on the ground, motionless. A slim figure in a long dark coat and wide hat was running in the opposite direction. By the time stunned residents rushed to the scene, Josefina Molitor was dead.

The caller from the post office had been a hoax, a ruse designed solely to draw her out of the house. The maid’s suspicion pointed the investigation toward Carl Howe, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Carl Howe had been born on 3 February 1881 in Grossliegen, a village in western Germany near the border with Luxembourg. His father was a bank director; his mother died when Carl was only three.

He was a bright and studious child, educated at the local grammar school before studying law at the University of Freiburg. In 1901 he contracted tuberculosis, a widespread and feared disease at the time. Seeking recovery, he traveled to quieter places and eventually reached Corsica, where he took lodgings in the port city of Ajaccio, better known as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was there he met Josefina Molitor, a wealthy widow whose husband, a respected medical counselor, had recently died.

She was traveling with her two youngest daughters, Lena, twenty-five, and Olga, nineteen. Carl, also nineteen, was polite, charismatic, and attentive. Both sisters seemed drawn to him, though Mrs. Molitor was uneasy.

She worried about the six-year age gap between Carl and Lena and privately thought he would be a better match for Olga, who was his own age. In June 1901, Carl and Lena ran away to Switzerland with two thousand marks. The money did not last long, and soon after, a strange incident occurred: Lena was found with a gunshot wound to the chest, apparently the result of a suicide pact between the couple. The event changed Mrs.

Molitor’s view of the relationship. Two months later, in August 1901, Carl Howe and Lena Molitor were married. The couple moved to Washington, D. C.

, where Carl continued his legal studies. He was an accomplished scholar and fluent in English. Lena managed their home. In 1903 their daughter was born; they named her Olga.

A year later Carl earned his bachelor of law, and in 1906 he was admitted to the bar. He also took on work commissioned by the Turkish consul general in Washington, which required travel to Turkey and stops in Europe. Carl had always been financially careful, keeping budgets to avoid debt. As he became more successful, his spending grew, at times exceeding his earnings.

Lena received interest payments from an inheritance left by her father, but in 1905 she wrote to her mother requesting the capital as well as the interest. In 1906, with another business trip to Turkey approaching, it was agreed that Lena and her daughter would travel to Germany to visit family. Carl would join them on his return. Lena was glad to see her mother but uneasy about her younger sister.

Olga had grown into a beautiful and charming woman, six years younger than Lena, and Lena remembered how Olga had pursued Carl in Corsica. During family visits, Lena watched her sister warily. Staff whispered that something improper was occurring between Carl and Olga, but both denied any inappropriate relationship. To ease tensions, Lena promised to take Olga to Paris, a city the younger sister had never visited.

On 25 October 1906, Lena, Carl, their daughter, and Olga arrived in the French capital and stayed at the elegant Hôtel Régina, opposite the Louvre and overlooking the Tuileries Garden. Olga delighted in the city, dressing elegantly and appearing the sophisticated young lady. Lena remained anxious. Carl assured her he was not having an affair with her sister.

On 29 October, Josefina Molitor received a telegram: “Expect you on the next train. Olga sick. Signed, Lena Molitor. ” Alarmed, she hurried to Paris, only to find both daughters perfectly well.

Lena knew nothing of the telegram. Mrs. Molitor suspected the message had been sent simply to lure her away from her house in Baden-Baden. She returned home with Olga and reported the incident to the police, though nothing had been stolen.

Carl, Lena, and their daughter traveled to London to prepare for their return to America. There Carl received a telegram instructing him to return to Germany on urgent business. Before leaving, he purchased a wig, a fake beard, and a long black coat. He arrived in Frankfurt on 3 November.

Three days later, Josefina Molitor was dead. Police found no eyewitnesses to the shooting. Olga had seen only the fleeing figure. The post office confirmed no one had summoned Mrs.

Molitor. The maid repeated her belief that the caller was Carl Howe. British authorities were contacted, and on the evening of 7 November, shortly after Carl returned to London and made his way to the Hotel Cecil, where his wife and daughter were staying, he was arrested. Returned to Germany, Carl denied any involvement.

Evidence gathered by investigators suggested he had been in Baden-Baden at the time of the shooting and had attempted to disguise himself. Yet every lead seemed to circle back to him. He was held in custody for months. In June 1907, Lena visited her husband in prison.

She had learned that he had deceived her, spending much of her inheritance while they lived in Washington. She had also come to doubt whether his feelings had truly been for her rather than her sister. At first she had refused to believe Carl capable of murder. Over time, she concluded he was probably guilty.

Shortly after that visit, Lena traveled to Zurich, where she drowned herself in a lake. She left a note with instructions for raising their daughter, including changing the girl’s name so she would not be forever linked to the tragedy. Lena also dictated how her inheritance should be distributed and made provisions for her husband should he ever be freed, though he had already renounced any claim to her parents’ estate. The trial began in Karlsruhe on 17 July 1907.

Public interest was so intense that the entire city police force, supported by military personnel from the state guard, was deployed to control the crowds outside the courthouse. Inside, a glass jar containing the heart of Josefina Molitor was displayed on a table, a grim reminder of the crime. Carl pleaded not guilty. He admitted to sending the telegram to his mother-in-law from Paris, explaining that his wife was jealous of Olga and he wanted to ease her fears.

As for the telegram that summoned him back to Germany from London, he said he had written it himself because he wanted to see Olga and resolve matters before returning to America, so the family could continue without ill feeling. Olga Molitor took the stand with composure. She described leaving the house with her mother on the afternoon of the murder and seeing a man in black shoot Mrs. Molitor before fleeing.

She denied any improper relationship with her sister’s husband, though she acknowledged that Lena had asked her to wear less expensive clothes around Carl and that there had been arguments between them. Public opinion was divided. Rumors had circulated since the crime, including suggestions that Olga herself had shot her mother, knowing her mother would never permit a relationship with Carl. When she left the courthouse, she was jeered by onlookers.

Seventy-six witnesses gave evidence. Several described seeing a man in Baden-Baden dressed in black, wearing a wig and fake beard, and believed him to be the defendant. One witness, however, claimed she saw Carl near the train station at the very moment of the shooting, meaning he could not have committed the murder. Others reported seeing an older gentleman in black near the Molitor residence.

Two experts who assessed Carl’s mental state described him as selfish, volatile, and impulsive, but always in control of his actions. No one had actually seen Carl commit the crime, and he maintained his innocence throughout. But after a lengthy trial, the jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death. Many believed the proceedings had been conducted poorly.

Complaints arose that jurors discussed the case each day with members of the public outside court. Some felt the verdict rested more on Carl’s reputation as a spendthrift who had squandered his wife’s inheritance and pursued her younger sister than on conclusive evidence. His lawyers appealed and sought a retrial. Both were initially denied.

In December 1907, however, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. The case continued to fascinate the German public, and the media eagerly reported any new claim of evidence or fresh witnesses. The crime had no clear motive, no eyewitnesses, and no confession. Many believed the wrong man had been convicted.

In 1924, after seventeen years in prison, Carl Howe was released on the condition that he never contact Olga Molitor or write about the case. He ignored the terms and published a book the following year. German authorities issued another arrest warrant, but when they arrived at his home, he was gone. All efforts to find him failed.

On 5 February 1926, a man was found dead in a rundown villa in Tivoli, Italy. He had shot himself. He was later identified as Carl Howe. He never confessed to the murder.

There were no eyewitnesses, the evidence was not conclusive, and the trial was not conducted in an unquestionably fair manner. Whether Carl Howe truly killed Josefina Molitor remains a mystery to this day. Carl and Lena’s daughter was adopted by another family, grew up in Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1925.