Henry Layer | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Henry LAYER

Born: Heinrich C. Layer

Classification: Mass murderer

Characteristics:

Quarrel over injuries administered one of Layer's cows by Wolf's dog

Number of victims: 8

Date of murders: April 22, 1920

Date of arrest: May 11, 1920

Date of birth: November 19, 1884

Victims profile:

Jacob Wolf, 41; his wife, Beatta, 35; their daughters, Bertha, 13; Maria, 10; Edna, 8; Lydia, 6; and Martha, 3; and Jacob Hofer, 13, a chore boy and the son of a neighbor

Method of murder: Shooting - Beating with a hatchet

Location: Turtle Lake, McLean County, North Dakota, USA

Status: Sentenced to life i prison

on May 13, 1920. Died in prison on March 21, 1925

photo gallery

Henry Layer, 36, was born Heinrich C. Layer on November 12, 1884 in Eigenfeld, South Russia. He came to this country in 1886 with his parents who settled near Ashley, N.D., where he lived until 1916. He was married first to Mathilda Miller in 1904, and the couple had two children, Elizabeth Katherina and Edward. They were divorced in March of 1911, and the children remained with their mother. He married Lydia Brokofsky Hinzman in Ashley on January 30, 1912.

Henry was sentenced to life in the state penitentiary on Thursday, May 13, 1920, for the murders of the Wolf family and their hired boy. He and Lydia were divorced on December 21, 1922, and he died in the prison hospital on March 21, 1925. His obituary in the Bismarck Tribune said he was buried "in a local cemetery," but it is not known where he was buried.

TheMurderedFamily.com

Baby in cradle only survivor of 1920 mass murder

By Dan Feldner - Minot Daily News

October 1, 2008

One of the most horrific mass killings in North Dakota history happened April 22, 1920, on the Wolf farm three miles north of Turtle Lake.

John Kraft, a neighbor, had found the eight bodies two days after the murder when he noticed the family wash hanging on an outside line in soggy weather. When he entered the farmyard, Kraft was attracted by the sound of pigs rooting in a nearby barn. As he stepped into a lean-to off the barn, Kraft discovered the bodies of Jacob Wolf, 41, and two of his daughters, Maria, 10, and Edna, 8, half covered by dirt and hay.

Seconds later he gazed horror-stricken through a trapdoor leading into the basement of the house at five more mangled, mutilated bodies.

They included Jacob Wolf’s wife, Beatta, 35, and three other daughters, Bertha, 13; Lydia, 6; and Martha, 3. Across the body of Beatta Wolf and the two girls was another victim, Jacob Hofer, 13, a chore boy and the son of a neighbor.

The only survivor was the baby girl, Emma, almost 9 months old. Kraft found her in a small bedroom in a cradle lightly clad and weak from hunger and cold.

The killings happened when Henry Layer, another neighbor, had an argument with Jacob Wolf about his dog biting one of Layer’s cows.

When Layer ignored Wolf’s orders to leave his property, Wolf got his double-barreled shotgun and put two shells in the chambers. Layer grabbed for the gun, and in the ensuing struggle, the gun discharged twice with one shot killing Mrs. Wolf and the other hitting the chore boy through the back of the neck and killing him.

When Wolf fled into the yard, Layer reached into a dresser drawer for more ammunition, fired at Wolf, hit him in the back and again at close range.

Maria and Edna fled screaming to the barn, where they were pursued and shot by Layer.

Bertha, Lydia and Martha were screaming wildly in the house. Layer silenced two of them with the shotgun and Martha, the youngest to be killed, was hit on the frontal bone with the broad side of a hatchet.

Layer then dragged Jacob Wolf’s body to the barn and covered it and those of his daughters with hay and dirt before returning to the house and pushing the other bodies in the cellar.

Layer was first suspected of the crime when he showed up at the Wolf farm while the sheriff happened to be there investigating. Layer also made a show of opening the caskets of all eight people and gazing on their faces during the mass funeral, which was attended by 2,500 people.

Layer was eventually arrested for the murders May 11 and confessed a day later. He was sentenced to life in prison, but would die at the state penitentiary in 1925, less than five years after he was sentenced.

Emma was raised at first by the Hofer family, and learned at the age of 6 the Hofers were not her actual parents, but her aunt and uncle. When her uncle died in 1932 and her aunt died in 1933, Emma lived with three of their children for a time before Emil Haas, a Turtle Lake grocer, was appointed as her administrator. Emma lived with the Haas family until the age of 18 when she graduated high school.

The Murdered Family

By Paulette Tobin - Ndsu.edu

Probably everyone who grew up at Turtle Lake, N.D., has heard the story of the murdered family, an immigrant Germans-from-Russia farmer and his wife who were brutally slain on their homestead along with five of their daughters and their hired boy.

Author and former UND professor Vernon Keel certainly did. He grew up in Turtle Lake, driving tractor and doing farm work for his half-brothers before leaving in 1958 to join the Navy. He knew the place three miles north of Turtle Lake, where Jakob and Beata Wolf and their family had lived and died.

"You grew up being very much aware of this tragic story," Keel said in an interview from his home in Denver. "You would find yourself at the cemetery from time to time where they were buried. When I was growing up, it was overgrown with lilacs."

Small markers

There, eight small markers and a large monument mark the Wolfs' resting place. Part of the inscription on the big stone says: "Die Ermordete Familie" - "The Murdered Family."

"The Murdered Family" is the title Keel chose for his book, now in bookstores, written as historical fiction about those sorrowful, terrifying events. The book's release closely coincides with the 90th anniversary of the murders April 22.

The crime was discovered by friends of the family who went to check on them after Jakob Wolf failed to pick up a piece of farm equipment he had intended to borrow. What they found at the Wolf farm was straight out of a horror movie. Jakob and Beata; their daughters, Bertha, 12; Maria, 9; Edna, 7; Liddia, 5; and Martha, 3; and their 13-year-old hired boy, Jacob Hofer, a relative by marriage, had all been shot to death. The only survivor was the Wolf's 8-month old daughter, Emma, found crying and hungry in her crib.

Just three weeks later, eager investigators had gotten a signed confession from Henry Layer, a neighbor farmer who had a quarrel with Jakob Wolf. At the time, The New York Times called it "the most rapid administration of justice in the country." Layer was immediately sentenced to the North Dakota Penitentiary, where he died in 1925.

Keel's father, who was 55 years old when Vernon was born, had known the Wolfs and Henry Layer. He had visited Layer in prison. When Keel asked, his father would tell him what he knew about the crimes.

Years passed, and Keel, with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota, taught media law and headed journalism and communication schools at South Dakota State University, UND and Wichita State University. Whenever Keel thought of stories he'd like to research and write, the murdered family from his own hometown came to mind.

When he actually began investigating, the story turned out to have some surprises.

In 2008, doing research at the UND library, Keel found a copy of the Bismarck Tribune from 1920 that had a story about the murders that included a copy of Henry Layer's confession.

Later, Keel learned from longtime attorney Jack Mc-Donald in Bismarck that Layer had spent the rest of his life in prison trying to appeal that confession to the North Dakota Supreme Court. Layer denied his guilt and said he had confessed under duress, intimidation and fear. He'd been beaten by officers, forced to stare at pictures of the victims and told an angry mob was waiting outside the jail to lynch him if he was released. Layer said authorities told him the penitentiary was the safest place for him to wait for things to die down. Then, he was told, he could file a change of plea and receive a jury trial, Keel said.

Physical evidence

There was no physical evidence to connect Layer to the murders. But people were scared and investigators and others wanted the case resolved quickly.

"The cast of characters was one of the things I found really fascinating," Keel said. "This murder and this investigation were tied up in the nature of the political struggles that were going on at the time."

In 1915, the Non-partisan League had been formed in North Dakota and its candidate, Lynn Frazier, became governor. William Langer, later governor and senator, was attorney general at the time of the murders and was about to try to oust Frazier. After Langer, William Lemke, later a congressman, was attorney general over the case.

"These were pretty high-powered politicians who had ambitions to go on in government and, in fact, did." Keel said.

In his research, Keel read newspaper accounts as well as court records and sworn statements from neighbors. He wrote the book as historical fiction so he could tell a more complete story and bring the people in it "back to life."

"The Murdered Family," by Vernon Keel, published by Wanamaker Press, is 350 pages. A Web site, themurderedfamily.com, contains information about the book and the author, plus photos of the family, their homestead and of the crowd that gathered at their farm on the day of the funeral. The photos, unfortunately, are not in the book.

Henry Layer, murderer of eight, dies

Man Who Killed Members of Wolf Family Succumbs to Heart Attack

Slayer, Who Confesses Crime Was Model Prisoner, Authorities Say

The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota

March 21, 1925, pages 1 and 3.

Henry Layer, confessed slayer of Jacob Wolf, wife, five daughters and the Wolf family choreboy, Jacob Hofer, on the Wolf farm, three miles from Turtle Lake, on April 22, 1920, who was serving a life sentence for the murders, in the state penitentiary here, died in the prison hospital at 3:10 this morning.

Layer was operated on for appendicitis in the St. Alexius hospital about ten days ago. He was taken to the prison hospital Wednesday. Heart trouble developed and a blood clot formed. Heart trouble was given as the cause of death.

Although Layer confessed and pleaded guilty to the crime, he later repudiated the confession and said that he admitted the murders only after being given the third degree.

Chris Martineson, Bismarck chief of police, who is given credit for solving the crime, declared today that third degree methods were not used to get a confession from Layer. "The first lead came from Layer himself," Chief Martineson said. "It was at the Wolf farm after the murders. Layer was roasting Wolf, declaring Wolf's dog killed one of his sheep. His actions were suspicious the morning the bodies were found and at the funeral. We suspected him from the first and he was constantly under surveillance. We placed him under arrest after more than a week of work on the case and after questioning him for a few hours he broke down and confessed the crime."

Chief Martineson was called in on the case by state and county officers.

The murders were the most cold blooded and fiendish in the history of North Dakota. Ill feeling had long existed between Wolf and Layer over injuries administered to one Layer's cows by Wolf's dog.

The Wolf and Layer families were neighbors, and according to Layer's confession, he went to Wolf's farm about noon on the day of the murders, and heated words, followed by Wolf's demand that Layer leave the place immediately, were the events leading up to the killing of the eight people.

When Layer refused to leave the place Wolf went into the sitting room, got his double barreled shot gun and loaded two shells into the breech. Layer grasped the gun and attempted to wrest it away from Wolf. The struggle took place in the entrance to the kitchen during which the gun was discharged twice.

Layer claimed in his confession that one of these shots killed Mrs. Wolf and the other the 13 year old choreboy.

By this time Layer had succeeded in wresting the gun away from Wolf. The murderer darted into the sitting room, got a handful of shells from the bureau and hurried back to the kitchen entrance.

Wolf was running towards the barn and Layer fired, the shots striking Wolf in the back. Wolf fell to the ground and Layer ran up to him and placed the muzzle of the gun against the wounded man's side and fired again, tearing a big hole in Wolf's body.

Two of the smaller daughters frightened at the fighting and seeing their mother and the boy fall dead in the kitchen, ran into an adjoining room and escaped from the house, fleeing to a cowshed. Arrested by the screams of the girls, Layer rushed into the barn, firing one shot which cut a furrow in one of the girl's head. Layer jammed the gun against the head of the other girl, who was pleading and screaming for mercy, and pressed the trigger.

The three little girls in the house were screaming. Layer returned to the kitchen and deliberately killed the children, two of them with the shot gun and the other with a hatchet.

After seven members of the family and the choreboy had been killed, Layer went to the cowshed, covered the two bodies of the girls with hay, dragged Wolf's body into the cowshed and covered it with hay. He then went to the kitchen, opened the trap door leading into the cellar and dumped the five bodies into the basement.

The crime was not discovered until two days after the murders, when John Kraft, a neighbor, called at the Wolf farm and found the members of the family dead.

The only member of the Wolf family that escaped the murderer's fury was the youngest girl just passed her first birthday. Mr. Kraft found the little tot in her cradle. She was almost famished and in a weakened condition. The little girl is living with her aunt, a sister of her mother, near Turtle Lake.

The murderer acknowledged in his confession that the only reason he did not kill the baby was because he did not know she was in the bed room where she was sleeping during the time the horrible crime was committed.

Layer was sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for life and arrived at the prison here on April 13, less than 48 hours after he was arrested. Layer was a model prisoner, prison authorities said today. He acted as head man in the laundry.

Layer's mother and brother were called here by his illness and visited him in the prison hospital last night.

Layer was 40 years of age and was a native of Russia. He was divorced from his first wife but his second wife and several children survive.

No funeral arrangements have been made, but it is expected his mother will take charge of the body. An autopsy will be held late this afternoon.

Farmer Admits He Shot 8 To Death

Family of Seven and Chore Boy His Victims

Slayer Is Sentenced to Life Term in Prison -- Has Wife and Six Children.

The Saturday Blade, Chicago

May 22, 1920, page 3.

WASHBURN, N. D., May 20 - Henry Layer, a farmer, has confessed to the killing of Jacob Wolf, his wife and five children and a chore boy, Jake Hofer, on the Wolf farm, three miles west of Turtle Lake, N. D., on April 22, it was announced here by J. E. Williams, State's attorney for McLean County.

Ill feelings of long standing, culminating in a quarrel over injuries administered to Layer's cattle by Wolf's dog, was responsible for the crime, according to Layer's confession.

Gets Life Sentence.

Layer, who is married and has six children, and who owns a farm one and a half miles from the Wolf place, was arrested at his home. He was arraigned before Judge W. L. Nuessele in District Court and sentenced to life imprisonment in the State penitentiary.

According to his confession, Layer said he went to the Wolf farm shortly before noon on Thursday, April 22. Layer said an argument followed. Wolf demanded that Layer leave.

Layer refused and Wolf went into the house and returned with a double barreled shotgun. Layer grasped the gun and attempted to wrest it from Wolf, he said, and the weapon was discharged twice.

One of the shots killed Mrs. Wolf and the other Hofer, 12-year-old chore boy, Layer said. By this time Layer had taken the gun away from Wolf, went into the sitting-room, obtained a handful of shells from a bureau drawer and hurried outside. Wolf was running toward the barn and Layer fired, the charge striking Wolf in the back. Layer then shot Wolf in the back as he lay on the ground.

Hides the Bodies.

Layer said he ran to a barn and shot two of the girls while they pleaded for mercy.

Attracted by the screams of three little girls in the house, Layer shot two of them and killed the third with a hatchet.

After the seven members of the family and Hofer had been killed Layer went to the barn, covered the two bodies with hay, and dragged Wolf's body into the shed and buried it under a pile of hay. He then went to the kitchen, opened the cellar door and threw in the bodies of Mrs. Wolf, three children and Hofer.

Farmer confesses Turtle Lake murders

Henry Layer tells officers that quarrel over cow caused him to slay eight neighbors

Signed Confession Made by Murderer in Early Morning Hours; Describes Horrible Details of Crime

The Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota,

May 23, 1920, pages 1 and 3.

Sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor for life, Henry Layer, self-confessed slayer of eight persons at Turtle Lake, N. D., April 22, started serving his prison term at 4 o'clock this afternoon, less than 48 hours after he was arrested. Layer was brought from Washburn, where he pleaded guilty before Judge W. L. Nuessle in district court, to Bismarck by automobile and committed to the state penitentiary here.

At no time during the brief trial or the trip to Bismarck did the slayer express the slightest concern over the eight persons he murdered exactly three weeks ago. Given every opportunity to change his plea or repudiate his confession, and warned by Judge Nuessle of the seriousness of the charge to which he confessed and later plead guilty, Layer stoically refused the services of a lawyer and only asked that "let it be over with as fast as possible."

Washburn, N. D., May 13. – Henry Layer early this morning confessed to the killing of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Wolf, their five small daughters and the chore boy, Jake Hofer, on the Wolf farm three miles from Turtle Lake, N. D., on April 22.

Ill feeling of long standing culminated in a quarrel over injuries administered one of Layer's cows by Wolf's dog.

Layer went to Wolf's farm home shortly before noon, and heated words, followed by Wolf's demand that Layer leave the place immediately, were the events leading up to the murder of the eight people, according to Layer's confession to the authorities.

Used Shot Gun

Two Deaths Accidental

Layer claims in his confession that one of these shots killed Mrs. Wolf and the other the thirteen-year-old chore boy.

By this time Layer had succeeded in wresting the gun away from Wolf, the murderer darted into the sitting room, got a handful of shells from the bureau and hurried back to the kitchen entrance.

Wolf was running towards the barn and Layer fired the shots striking Wolf in the back. Wolf fell to the ground and Layer ran up to him and placed the muzzle of the gun against the wounded man's side and fired again, tearing a huge hole in Wolf's body.

Frightened Girls Run

Two of the smaller daughters, frightened at the fighting and seeing their mother and the boy fall dead in the kitchen, ran into the adjoining bedroom and escaped from the house, running to the nearby cow shed. Arrested by the screams of two girls, Layer rushed into the barn, firing one shot which cut a furrow in one of the girls' head.

The shot splintered the wall. Layer jammed the muzzle of the shotgun against the head of the other girl, who also was screaming and pleading for mercy, and pressed the trigger. He then placed another shell into the gun, put the muzzle against the head of the first child shot, who was now dead, and fired again.

Deliberately Kills Three

The three little girls in the house were screaming. Layer returned to the kitchen and deliberately killed the children, two of them with the shotgun, placing the muzzle against the curly heads and the third with a smashing blow of a hatchet.

After seven members of the family and the chore boy had been killed, Layer went to the cowshed, covered up two bodies of the girls with hay, dragged Wolf's body into the cowshed and covered it with hay.

He then went to the kitchen, opened the trap door leading into the cellar and dumped the five bodies into the basement.

Taking the gun which he broke in order to better conceal it, he went to a nearby slough, threw part of the gun and some shells into the water and by a circular route returned to his home. He did not say anything to his wife and five young children. While at the slough he washed his hands and removed all traces of blood from his clothing.

Bismarck Chief Praised

The solution of the mystery, which had been baffling the authorities, handicapped as they were because no clue had been left by the murderer and two days had elapsed between the time the murders were committed and the bodies were found, was in a large measure due to Chris Martineson, chief of the Bismarck police department, who has been working on the case together with Sheriff Ole Stefford of McLean county constantly since the murders were discovered. Chief Martineson was the first to suspect the guilty man, who was finally arrested Tuesday and by more than eight hours of continuous examination last night, forced the confession from his lips.

Murderer Not Worried

Layer has failed to show any concern over his revolting deed. Within ten minutes after his confession had been obtained the murderer was sleeping soundly on his cot in the county jail at Washburn. His memory on many of the details connected with the eight murders is very vague and he told the authorities he did not remember killing the youngest child with an ax, but supposed he did it.

The murderer acknowledged that the only reason he did not kill eight months old Emma Wolf, the sole survivor of the dreadful tragedy, was because he did not know she was in the bedroom, where she was sleeping during the time the horrible deeds were committed.

Goes Back to Field

After returning home from the scene of the murder, Layer resumed his plowing, his farm being one half mile from Wolf's property. He plowed all day Friday and Saturday morning. When a neighbor told him Saturday that the Wolf family had been killed he went to the Wolf farm and was there all Saturday afternoon and most of the evening, volunteering information about self evident details concerning the killings.

A morbid curiosity overcame his better judgment on Sunday morning and he went to the Wolf farm at daybreak to see the bodies of Wolf and the two little girls in the cowshed.

Even though Wolf's face and part of his arm had been eaten by hogs, Layer failed to show any sign of a strain, although he had been warned by Chief Martinson's appearance.

Attended the Funeral

Layer, accompanied by his wife and one of his daughters attended the funeral of his eight victims the following Thursday.

The coffins were placed in a row in front of the Wolf farm house. Layer, watched by the authorities, insisted on lifting the lids off each of the coffins and gazed into the faces of the persons, five of whom were between three and thirteen years of age, whom he had horribly murdered. During the funeral services, Layer continued to maintain his calm demeanor.

The authorities watched his every move for a suspicious action. They were doomed to disappointment, however, for Layer failed to show as much feeling as the hundreds of other farmers present.

Kissed Children Farewell

Obtaining a number of depositions from people living in the neighborhood of the Wolf farm, the authorities tightened the yoke around the suspected man. Finally, sufficient circumstantial evidence had been obtained to indicate that Layer had committed the crime. On Tuesday afternoon the authorities went to Layer's home and told him he would have to go to Washburn with them. After hitching up a team of horses for his wife, who was afraid to spend the night on the Layer farm, he kissed his wife and each of the children farewell.

The murder was placed in jail at Washburn and continued to maintain that he was innocent of the Wolf murders.

Wednesday night Chief Martineson started a vigorous cross-examination. Layer was forced to gaze at pictures of the revolting murder scenes, together with that of baby Emma.

Strain is Too Great

The strain proved too great for the murderer and after several hours of this mental torture, Layer broke down and said he was the murderer. The confession, according to the police, was wormed out of him piece by piece until the entire story had been told. Layer is an American, farmer, 36 years of age and has lived near Turtle Lake for several years. He divorced his first wife. His eldest child, a girl, is about 12 years old, the authorities believe.