DASTARDLY DADS FROM THE ARCHIVES (New York, New York - 1909)

Last oldie but goody for the day. This case concerns the trial of father CARL LOOSE for the murder of his 16-year-old daughter and the wounding of his adult son. Note the veiled references to child sexual abuse in this article, and how an adult son--rather than the police or a social service agency--was brought in to intervene in the situation, at least initially. In this case, the attempt at an intevention ended in violence.

From the archives of the New York Times, February 11, 1909

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9501EED91738E033A25752C1A9649C946897D6CF

LOOSE MURDER TRIAL BEGUN.

He Killed His Young Daughter and Wounded His Son, a Clergyman.

The trial of Carl Loose, 67 years old, for murdering his 16-year-old daughter and wounding his son, the Rev. Frederick William Loose of Yale, S. D., began before Judge Foster in the Court of General Sessions yesterday morning. The Rev. Mr. Loose was the principal witness for the people.

He testified that he had received a letter ten days before the murder from his mother, requesting him to come to this city and straighten out home matters. She wrote, he said, that his father was acting strangely and that she wanted him to go away. Mr. Loose said that after his arrival here he had told his father that he must keep away from his home at 1,710 Second Avenue, and particularly his daughters. When the father refused to do so, Mr. Loose said, he had his father arrested and Magistrate Crane had warned him to keep away from his family.

"The day before the shooting," Mr. Loose said, "I told my father that he could not stay here in New York. I told him that I was wanting to take him to South Dakota, where he could live with me.

"The following morning, when we were at breakfast, he came in, drew a revolver, and shot me in the chest. Then he aimed at my mother. I grabbed his hand. My sister Mata did the same. Another shot was fired. (the one that killed the young girl.) I did not know that Mata had been murdered until I reached the hospital."

Marie Rooney, the elder Loose's married daughter, testified to her father's ill-treatment of her. This, she said, had continued for four years. Evidence was given that Loose had also ill-treated the daugther he murdered.

The defense was insanity. Loose testified that he could not recall the shooting. He said his mind had been unbalanced by his son's decision that he must leave home.