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Case File: Froseth Family (1930)
[Link to the original] – Page 1, Columns 7 and 8
Slays Wife And Children In Bed
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Washburn Man
Crushes Skulls
With Hammer
Washburn, Wis. – (UP) – George Froseth, for twenty years assistant postmaster at Washburn, murdered his wife and four children while they slept early today and then committed suicide. The murder was discovered at 11:30 a.m. today when W. A. Robinson, postermaster here, became alarmed over Froseth’s failure to appear for work. Froseth used a carpenter’s hammer to kill his wife, Edith, and their children, Neal, 12, Adelaide and George, Jr., 9-year-old twins, and James, 6.
Found In Kitchen
The former assistant postmaster then slashed his own throat with a razor. He was found on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood. George Jr., was found downstairs near his father. His head was badly crushed and it appeared as through he had put up a struggle. The bodies of the mother and Adelaide were found in their beds in an upstairs room. Neal and James were in their beds in an adjoining room.
Skulls Badly Crushed
The skulls of all were badly crushed but they appeared to have been undisturbed by the murders. Chief of Police James Long who broke into the house with Postmaster Robinson said he believed Froseth had become suddenly demented and had gone about his gruesome task systematically. Froseth had been acting queerly recently, according to his friends and had imagined himself ill. Doctors however had been unable to find anything the matter with his health. Robinson found all windows and doors of the house locked when he went to investigate Froseth’s absence from work. Fearing something had happened to his assistant, he summoned Chief Long.
Batter Down Door
Returning to the Froseth home they battered down a door and saw the aged man lying on the kitchen floor. Blood stains all over the house indicated that he had wandered around after slashing his throat. George, Jr., was lying nearby. He had been accustomed to sleeping with his father in a downstairs room. It is believed the boy awakened while his father was in the act of killing other members of the family and attempted to take the hammer away from his demented parent. A struggle apparently ensued, Chief Long said, and the lad was brutally beaten. His features were almost unrecognizable. Froseth was about 60 years old and his wife 50, Postermaster Robinson declared. They had been married about 13 or 14 years.
Stunned By News
Residents of the village were stunned as news of the murder spread rapidly through the streets. A large crowd gathered quickly about the home but most of the spectators were too shocked at the affair to venture very near the building. Officials were unable to figure out how Froseth had murdered his entire family without awakening anyone but the twin boy. He must have quietly entered each room and struck one decisive blow to insure against anyone’s crying out, they said. Most of the children received more than one blow, however, but they were in natural sleeping positions when found by Robinson and Long. Froseth was dressed in his underwear. One lone light burned in the kitchen.
