1810: The Amish Murder Mystery

You're listening to one nation under crime, a chronological true crime podcast. Each week we go through our nation's history and discuss one case from each year, starting in 1800. I'm Kayla and I'm Leah episode 12. We've made it. It's crazy. We keep, we just keep going. Just keep going. Just keep, keep like the Energizer Benny, keep going along. Put much cuter. You always think of those like older commercials and like ones that you like that we used to hear see all the time. They're just gone. Now that used to be so good. And like, people don't know what you're talking about. 

0  

00:00:40

Like the Budweiser frogs, but why, why is there such good commercials anyways? And my boyfriend, he doesn't have cable. So he has just like different streaming services. Well, he's not used to watching commercials anymore. And so the other day he was watching cable and he was watching commercials and he was like, do they literally just show the same four commercials? Every episode break? I was like, pretty much it's that's about what they do. That's funny. 

0  

00:01:21

So this week we are in 18, 10 felt like we're in 18, 10 last week. Cause in the man 11th episode, we did two episodes before. So now we're off by 1, 18 0 9 was last week. Okay. Hush. We just recorded 1,809, man. Well, did we add a whole debacle of Fletcher wanting him a lap, not wanting him a lap. I did everything he asked was a whole ordeal. There's there's been data going on in the house. Now he's a diva. So this week we are in 1810, and our case for this week is the Amish murder mystery. 

0  

00:02:11

So it's, it's an interesting one. I'll go ahead and put in here. This is a crime that does involve a very small child. It is a very, very, very quick description of what happens. Cause I don't want to get down into details of that. But if that's not something you want to hear, you can skip forward from that. I will let y'all know, but it, it does involve involve that. So our sources for this week, we have the Amish country insider the times reporter a book called Amish roots, a treasury of history, wisdom, and lore edited by John, a Hostetler and descendant. 

0  

00:03:13

The other book is called descendants of Jacob Hotch Stettler the immigrant of 1736 by Harvey Hostetler. I'll go ahead and say now at some point Hotch Stettler became Hosteller. They are all, 

1  

00:03:32

I had a fourth grade teacher. Whose name was Huffstetler 

0  

00:03:36

Interesting. There you go. Weird names. Let's go into the events in 18, 10, shall we let's do it? January 19th was called cold Friday and the temperature and Portsmouth New Hampshire dropped from 54 degrees to negative 12 in one day. 

1  

00:04:02

Well, it just makes me 

0  

00:04:03

Hurt and descent Anne, and several people that were in that area 

1  

00:04:10

Died. Yeah, I would think 

0  

00:04:12

Died that day 

1  

00:04:14

And that's called me. I do like cold weather opera for cold weather to hot weather any day. I mean, I D I do like the beach. The beach is like my favorite place to be. I will say that, but I love cold weather. I liked the briskness of it. And I do have naturally frizzy hair and my hair looks better in cold weather than in warm weather. I will say I do love cold weather, but, but mitigate 12 that's that's a little 

0  

00:04:41

Spent much that's excessive spent much. So February 1st, the African insurance company opened in Philadelphia and it is the first insurance company managed by African-Americans and it was called 

1  

00:04:57

The African 

0  

00:04:58

Insurance company, African insurance company. 

1  

00:05:04

Is it still in operation today? I 

0  

00:05:06

Wonder 

1  

00:05:08

Curious. 

0  

00:05:10

Wasn't part of our case. 

1  

00:05:13

Just I'm just curious. 

0  

00:05:15

So February 28, the first us fire insurance joint stock company was organized in Philadelphia. So a lot of insurance starting in Philadelphia. Yeah. Let's see. March six, Illinois passed the first state vaccination legislation in the U S seems very timely for right now. What was the vaccination for didn't say May 1st Macon's bill number two became law, which was supposed to motivate Britain and France to stop seizing American vessels. 

0  

00:05:59

During the Napoleonic wars, June 4th, the society and Dedham for apprehending horse thieves was founded in Dedham, Massachusetts. We specifically discussed DETA, Massachusetts, and episode two is going to say, that sounds familiar. Yes. June 23rd, Jacob, John Aster organized the Pacific for company in a Storia Oregon. We did talk about him as part of the events in another episode. But in that episode, he founded the American for a company. 

0  

00:06:39

This is the Pacific for company, October 27th, the us annexed west Florida from Spain. And as we discussed in the last episode, it's always good to kind of see how people were born, where they were born in each year. So fun fact for people kind of know how they were born. Well, when I suppose you don't know how they could have hatched. So for this year PT, Barnum, this is the greatest you're welcome. He was born on July 5th. 

0  

00:07:20

That makes him a cancer. He's a fellow cancer area. And just saying, look, I saw it. And I was like, oh, look, look at him. It makes sense. He's a visionary and much like myself. So we're going to get into our story this week. So March 4th of 18, 10, Susan Hotch, Stettler the infant daughter of John and Magdalena Hotch cellar is found dead. It would be 50 years before her murderer would confess to the crime, the infant daughter, infant. Like how infant? 

0  

00:07:59

Seven months old. Oh, how sad? Yes. What was her name? Susan? Oh, so this week, our case is in Somerset county, located in the Southwest region of Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1795 and named after the town of Somerset Shire in England. We don't have a listener there yet, but hello. Originally the Southwest region was a large area called Cumberland county. But as the population increased, the area had to be divided into smaller counties. George Washington went through the area on a scouting expedition in 1753 before the French and Indian war after this Forbes road was built through the county, which is 200 miles long and went from Pittsburgh to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. 

0  

00:08:56

This road was one of the main Western land routes created that became a supply line to bring goods from the Eastern side of the state, you know, over to the west to then go out westward and into the, oh, sorry, out westward into the country. It was it wasn't long before fur trappers and hunters settle in the region to create a permanent settlement, which is still known as 

1  

00:09:33

Turkey Turkey. 

0  

00:09:38

Unfortunately 

1  

00:09:42

Did this prominent family in Turkey. That'd 

0  

00:09:45

Be, that would be fancy. I have to bring it down for a moment and it's it's okay. I'm going to briefly go through it. We've discussed this before, but anyways, unfortunately Somerset county became part of one of the most tragic events in us history. United airlines flight 93 crashed in Stony Creek township near Shanksville on September 11th, 2001. It has been assumed that Washington DC was likely the target for the terrorists aboard the flight. They likely would have succeeded if it weren't for the passengers and crew, the flight 93 national Memorial was placed at the crash site and is protected and cared for by the national park system. 

0  

00:10:34

Just under a year later from July 24th to July 28th, 2002, the county gained worldwide attention again. When coal miners were rescued several hundred feet underground at the que Creek, mine, all nine members were successfully rescued after being trapped for over 77 hours. I 

1  

00:10:54

Remember both of those. 

0  

00:10:56

That is how Somerset county gained its worldwide and national attention. Yes, unfortunately that United airlines flight crash did go down there, but it was thanks to the very people who were on that flight who did overtake 

1  

00:11:12

The terrorist. The guy's name was Todd, something that said let's roll. And that was like the last thing that his wife heard that was like his, yeah, 

0  

00:11:21

I'm not sure if it was this flight because there was another United airlines flight. The other airlines flight is the Hey Jules phone call. 

1  

00:11:29

It was, it was the one in 

0  

00:11:30

Pennsylvania. So then yeah, it would have been this one 

1  

00:11:33

Because he did the ones, they took it down before it was able to reach their target. And his first name was Todd. And I can't remember his last name, but he said, let's roll. And that's the last thing his wife remembered hearing Todd Beamer, 

0  

00:11:52

Beamer that's 

1  

00:11:53

Look at me remembering 

0  

00:11:54

Thing. I just looked him up. He was 32 and yes, that it was that flight. 

1  

00:12:02

And it funny the things you remember. 

0  

00:12:04

So yes, his name was Todd Beamer and that was the United airlines flight. 93. He did try to place a call through an air phone, but was routed to a customer service representative instead who passed him onto supervisor Lisa Jefferson Beamer reported that one passenger had been killed and that a flight attendant had told him that both the pilot and co-pilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been injured. He was also on the phone when the plane made a quick and violent turn later, he told the operator that some of the other passengers were planning to attack the hijackers and regain control of the aircraft after they learned what happened to the world trade center and at the Pentagon, according to Jefferson Beamer's last audible words were, are you ready? 

0  

00:12:54

Okay, let's roll. There you go. So that was him. Oh, Hey, talking about it. I was like, I read it and I like got chills again. And I was like, I can't guys nine 11. It's real emotional for me. It is emotional if 

1  

00:13:12

You live through it, especially, 

0  

00:13:14

I mean, we talked, I think we talked about that in, in our, we talked about it on our two-part. I don't remember if it was the first or the second, but it's, I believe it was the first I 

1  

00:13:25

Was teaching in my first teaching job when it happened. 

0  

00:13:29

I, yeah, I think we were in school. I was in fifth grade, but yeah, it was it's, it's very sad, but it's part of our history. 

1  

00:13:41

It is. And it is an important part that we need to remember. 

0  

00:13:45

It is. So our case this week is coined by many as the Amish murder mystery. So while researching, I actually found some information on the summer set Amish settlement. This is the second oldest Amish settlement that still exists today. That's cool. It was founded in 1772 by Amish from the north kill arm from the north Cole Amish settlement in Berks county, Pennsylvania, the north. Cool. I think it says north kill. I don't know how you say it, but I don't. I don't like saying north. 

0  

00:14:26

I don't know. Maybe north hill spell it north kill. Okay. Yeah. So, but I, I also think it could be one of those things that you look out and it's not said how it, how it looks. I don't have Northville. Yeah. Like Edinburgh. Exactly. 

1  

00:14:44

So thank you for saying it correctly. You're welcome. 

0  

00:14:48

The north Kyla Amish settlement was the first in north America and it was the largest until the 1780s. The north kill community started to move people who were in that community started to move away to find better farmland. And the main places that they moved were Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Somerset county. The Lancaster Amish settlement was formed at the same time that Somerset was Lancaster. I've heard of, I think a lot of people mostly have heard of Lancaster. So yeah, the Somerset Amish became kind of the main gateway for Amish settlers to move to the Midwest today. 

0  

00:15:33

The settlement is home to only seven church districts and the settlement does hold service on Sundays at the meeting house. Most other people who are considered quote old order Amish, only practice worship in their homes. Oh really? This is also just as good a time as any to quickly discuss to quickly discuss the Amish as a group kind of religion, just in general, for those who don't know a lot about it, we're just going to quickly go through it. This is an episode guys y'all are going to learn a lot about different Amish things that are going on just because we, we will kind of get into Amish politics per se, as to how some things go. 

0  

00:16:21

So if you are Amish were Amish knows someone who is Amish and I get something wrong. I apologize. I was trying to see what I could find. And I know that it's very complex religion and there are different branches to it. So this is not necessarily a representation of all of them. Singularly. The Amish are a group of traditionalist, Christian Church fellowships with Swiss German and all stain Anabaptist origins. It's similar to the Mennonite church, but it's very, very important to note that it is not the same Mennonite and Amish are not the same, even though they could appear the same similar, right? 

0  

00:17:08

When you think of the Amish, the same kind of image appears in everyone's mind, it's plain clothing, a simple or primitive living Christian pacifism, and not quick to jump onto new technology. Christian pacifism and Anabaptists are both known for their non-violent tendencies, which will come into play in today's case, which honestly, for, for a bit, I thought that the whole technology standpoint was a little weird until I read about this. And it makes a whole lot of sense when you think about it, because the Amish are committed to family and technology can get in the way of time that you spend with your family, Hey, K a podcast, hello. 

0  

00:17:58

They also value face-to-face conversations and they want to be self-sufficient, which also isn't a bad idea. I mean, just like side note, my boyfriend is he cooks a lot and he's a very, very good cook here. Yes, he's great. And one of the things that he knows to cook is he knows bread. And he always said that the one thing that he wanted to teach me to make was bread because he said, I'll never stand in a bread line. It was kind of when everything was going on in south America and in different countries, you know, when people were standing in line having to wait for supplies and stuff like that. 

0  

00:18:42

And he said that he'd watched it. And he said, I'll never do that. I'll never stand in it. Like I want to be self-sufficient on my own to where I never have to do that. And so he knows how to make bread. He knows how to make several different kinds of bread. He also knows how to make pasta and we've done that. And if you've never had homemade pasta, it is amazing. And all other pasta is inferior. So the most notable states with an Amish population in the United States are Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Missouri, and Kentucky. And the states with by far, the largest populations are Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

0  

00:19:27

We didn't say Pennsylvania 

2  

00:19:28

In that first group 

0  

00:19:31

With the second group are the largest populations. And the others are just notable states that, that there are Amish communities in. So, like I said before, I want to go ahead and warn you that the death this week does deal with an infant. I will not go into deep detail in the description. It's just a few seconds long with this case. It is one that we will start with the murder and then go through the aftermath of what happens. So John and Magdalena, Hotch stellar or an Amish couple who lived on an old farm in Somerset county. It was evening time on March 4th, 1810. When John left the house to go to the sugar camp, she yes, sugar camp hill. 

0  

00:20:15

I kind of raised 

2  

00:20:16

My eyebrows. And she'd be, that was the 

0  

00:20:18

Question. So sugar camp is location near or in a maple forest or orchard where the sat from trees is located to then make into sugar. Okay. Gotcha. The camp was only about 70 to 80 yards away from the hot settler homestead. It was at this time that Magdalena and her sister Barbara Lehman, it's apparently important to note that she was unmarried. That does come into account later. The two women went to check on Susan, the seven month old daughter of John and Magdalena. Susan was asleep in her cradle. 

0  

00:20:58

Magdalena covered her with a feather blanket and used homemade Tate. I don't know what homemade tape is, but it said homemade tape to secure the cradle. So, you know, cause the cradle has this little rockers on the side. So they used a piece of tape to prevent it from rocking. Anyways, the two women then left the home and went to join John at the sugar camp. There isn't an exact time for when John or the women left, but it is noted that John left an hour after nightfall. Now you know that I have to know. So according to Google nightfall or dusk on March 14th of 18, 10 in Philadelphia, it was 6:26 PM. 

1  

00:21:49

Okay. So pause for a second. 

0  

00:21:52

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Okay. I know where you're going. Hold on. So it's safe to speculate that John left around seven 30 to go to the camp and the women at eight. It is very important to construct this timeline because it is very bizarre. Go ahead. 

1  

00:22:14

Didn't they have some sort of somehow to carry the baby with them, even though they were going to be working, they left the baby all alone, up in the house. I will continue. Okay. I mean, I'm just saying the native Americans, because that's what we call them. Now. They had pupusas. There were ways to carry your baby with you. Okay. Continue. 

0  

00:22:39

Which is why I wanted to put this information in here because it bothered me. It's important and deals. This actually deals with sugar 

1  

00:22:49

Harvesting our neighbors too. 

0  

00:22:51

Okay. True. This deals with sugar harvesting and, and I had, I had questions. This is why this information comes in and it is important. The common time of the year to harvest maple sugar is March and April. So this was at the beginning of March. It is the perfect time of the year for collecting maple sugar because the temperature is above freezing during the day and below at night. From what I can tell, this allows the SAP to warm slightly during the day and flow more easily. And then at night, when the temp drops, it would harden and it would be easier to harvest when it was hardened. Okay. 

0  

00:23:32

The reason I had to know about this is because it was not until 2:00 AM, that they all arrived back at the house. The tape that helped keep the cradle in place was broken, turned over and Susan was not in it here. 

1  

00:23:50

That baby 

0  

00:23:51

Had been 2:00 AM. We are not here to victim blame. 

1  

00:23:57

Victim 

0  

00:23:58

Blaming is an odd situation. It is an odd, it bothers me. It yes 

1  

00:24:06

Is not the norm to do. I don't know. I need to know to find out I need an expert on which is why I will let me know, which is why 

0  

00:24:17

I looked up sugar harvesting. Like, why are they going at night? 

1  

00:24:21

I thought that was very weird, but I need, I need to know, like from an expert on Amish customs, like child-rearing and such to let me know, I've read a lot of books that were set in Amish communities, but more, more modern writers communities. But I mean like the communities help each other raise the kids. So I, I, I need someone to let me know about child raising and rearing. Like what? I think 

0  

00:24:48

That at this time their child, I have a hard time with this, but I think the main logic behind it is typically by seven months old, your child is sleeping through the night. I was very lucky and my daughters slept through the night, starting at like 10 weeks old. I'm aware, I'm lucky. I'm sorry. Do not hate me. Other moms who are out there and your children are not, I love you. I feel for you. I'm with you. It is terrible. I enjoy my sleep, but here's the other thing 

1  

00:25:22

To me. I don't have children. I enjoy my sleep way too much. I love children. I love children very much. And I had nieces and nephews and, and surrogate, nieces and nephews that come visit me and I love them them. And I play with them and then I send them home and I sleep, but they could have had a way even to bring the child with them and let the child sleep with, you know, while they were working. Even I guess it was 

0  

00:25:47

Cold. I don't know my fault. I don't 

1  

00:25:49

Know my thoughts. I'm sorry. These are just my thoughts. It's yes. 

0  

00:25:54

Same things I was thinking. Wow. 

1  

00:25:56

While research is, it just bothers me. So continue 

0  

00:25:59

Here is a small trigger warning for the murder aspect of this case. It does involve an infant. And if you want to skip ahead a few seconds, you can do that now. So I'm about to start. So go ahead and skip. Now they all frantically searched the house and finally found Susan. She was found under a mattress and it was inferred that she was murdered by placing the mattress on her until she suffocated. And that's it that's as far as I'm going to go into any description of it, that's it. So that's how she was found. So here's where we need to discuss Solomon Hotch Stetler. 

0  

00:26:41

You said he was the brother of John and he was a witch doctor. Not what she would think. I'm some might also call him a faith healer Elma. He was a type of doctor who treated those whose sickness was caused by witchcraft. So someone curses you, which doctor voodoo or Hoodoo, which doctor hangnail, which doctor personally hangnail. It could be, it could be work of the devil. We don't know. Yeah. So you, you clearly do not need a photo lineup to see who the black sheep in this family was. 

1  

00:27:26

Obviously it was John. Yes. 

0  

00:27:30

I'm sorry. Solomon poor guy, Solomon lived about two miles away from his brother. John's farm. Solomon was known for heavily drinking and he had never been baptized in the Amish church. 

1  

00:27:47

Now question about the Ms. Church. Cause I really don't know about this one. Isn't this one that, that you make the decision to be baptized when you are older. Like this is the one that you have the, is it 

0  

00:28:01

Rum spring and go into that now? Oh, look at me. So I tried to do some research on not being baptized into the Amish church and I couldn't find any consequences per se for not being baptized, but the Amish do you believe in adult baptism? They believe that following religious practices should be a voluntary adult decision. 

1  

00:28:23

So it's not a sprinkle of earth. This 

0  

00:28:25

Is where rum spring kind of comes in from what I understood, because they want baptism to be a voluntary decision. They have rums it rom spring. It it's said it said, and spelled it's either Rumspringa rom spring, it's said and spelled very different ways depending. So we're going to go with Rumspringa. This is a period of time where Amish, typically teens, depending on what type of Amish they are. So some there's one group of Amish who do not do Rumspringa until their children are about 17 to 21. Then there is another group that it's about 14 to 16. 

0  

00:29:06

So I, it depends on the area that they're in the type of Amish. 

1  

00:29:13

Did you ever see this show? Breaking Amish? Yes. Okay. Continue. 

0  

00:29:21

I did. It's like, this is a great concept. I am watching this. I have to watch all of it. That in the Amish mafia I watched the Amish mafia two and that was great. 

1  

00:29:31

You reality shows ever was. I mean, it was so scripted. It was 

0  

00:29:36

So horrible to the Amish mafia. I really did. 

1  

00:29:39

I didn't watch Amish mafia. I just watched 

0  

00:29:41

The oh Amish mafia was, it was fantastic. So this period of time is when Amish teens are allowed to live outside of Amish restrictions and see what quote English life is like. So anything outside of the Amish community is considered English life. When Rumspringa is over is when they typically make their decision to either be baptized fully into the Amish faith, not be baptized, but still follow Amish practices until they are ready to be baptized or not at all. 

0  

00:30:22

Or they choose to leave the community altogether. If you look at the statistics, the Amish have a 90 to 95 retention rate. So only about five to 10% of those raised in Amish communities decide to leave and live with English. So pretty high, pretty high rates, as far as staying in the community, probably very overwhelming to leave. That's what I would think. Yeah. To leave the community and, you know, go into this big world with all kinds of craziness going on. Yeah. It's a lot. I did read in a few places that for some Amish parents, it's kind of like a badge of honor for all of their children to choose baptisms. 

0  

00:31:06

Sure. It is from all of this. It doesn't seem like Solomon would be shunned or excommunicated for not being baptized because he stayed in the community. It's yeah. It's just kind of frowned upon at this point in the 18 hundreds, it's not like a bad thing to not be baptized. And like I said, in the 18 hundreds at this point, I don't know about current standards. It's not bad to not be baptized, but you are kind of seen as lesser than because you didn't become baptized again. Not today. I don't know about that. For those who don't know about shunning or excommunication, kind of at its core, it's essentially when the church turns its back on you and refuses any contact and emotionally distance themselves from you where this can be difficult is if a child is shunned in the parent was baptized. 

0  

00:32:07

So the parent made the commitment to follow Amish practices in this means that they would be obligated to shun their own child. From what I understand. Yes. But if you were baptized and leave the Amish, then you will be or risk getting shunned. Because when you baptized, when you got baptized, you made a lifelong commitment to the church and you are breaking that commitment. Right. However, if you do not get baptized and choose to leave, I think maybe you're still welcomed back that I don't know. I think that the main shunning aspect comes when you do baptize and then leave. 

0  

00:32:54

That's a big, that, that seems to be like a big, big deal for them. I think if you choose to leave and not get baptized or you choose to leave, I think that you're shunned as well because you choose from everything I saw, it said that they could still come back and visit like you could, you couldn't necessarily become a part of the Amish community or church, but you weren't shunned. You were still, you know, like you still come back for Christmas. Okay. But you're not a part of the community. Exactly. Right. Okay. But you could still talk to people in the community. I gotcha. It wasn't as you know, restrictive makes sense. So we're going to jump back to Barbara Lehman. 

0  

00:33:37

That is the sister Magdalena Hotch stellar sister. She almost immediately pointed at Solomon as the murderer. She said that she saw Solomon on the property after Susan was found dead. The reason she recognized him was because of the color of the shirt he was wearing. John needed to get a horse and ride to town for help. And he was afraid to walk to the barn alone, knowing there was a murder or somewhere. So clearly let's get Barbara to go walk with him. So she's going to be, she's going to help her. So Barbara grabbed laner and, and walked with John to the barn back in the house, Barbara and Magdalena, we're waiting for John to come back with help. 

0  

00:34:24

When Barbara said she saw someone peek into the window, she ran towards the window with a stick to attack the person. Barbara sounds like a, quite a character she's problematic. And she said that the face that she saw was Solomon's new Spreadfast about the death of Susan and neighbors started to gather at the hot seller farm. There was one man who saw someone standing by the fire at the sugar camp who was wearing a wide brimmed hat. This hat looked like Solomon's hat or pretty much every other hat that Amish men typically wear. So it's going to say it pretty similarly, understandably, a broken heart looks for someone to lay blame on. 

0  

00:35:14

And at this time, John and Magdalena were not on good terms with Solomon. I didn't see any specific reason as to why or what happened. It could be because he was a heavy drinker and he wasn't a part of the Amish community church. I'm not sure. So Solomon didn't know about the accusations until after Susan's funeral. So when there was a really weird practice at this time, some, there was some believed that if a murderer touched his victim, there would be some kind of sign or quote manifestation to show that they were the murderer. 

0  

00:36:05

Solomon begged for Susan to be examed, to prove he was innocent. But the family refused 

1  

00:36:12

This 

0  

00:36:15

Solomon's wife was adamant that he was home all night on March 4th. And it couldn't have been him. No one believed Solomon and it's heavily assumed it's because he wasn't a member of the church. 

1  

00:36:30

What was his wife, a member of the church? Was she baptized? 

0  

00:36:35

I am not sure. Because from what I understood on that front is that you just couldn't be married in an Amish church. If you weren't both Amish. I couldn't find, I couldn't really tell what it meant on the other end of it. So I don't know if she was Amish, but they did live in the community. So maybe she was 

1  

00:37:02

So, but of course women voices weren't really hers. 

0  

00:37:09

Two years later in 18, 12, Solomon and his family moved to Walnut Creek township and Holmes county, Ohio. Is that 

1  

00:37:18

Where Laura Ingalls Wilder lived at one point? I don't know. Cause she lived in Walnut Creek Creek, 

0  

00:37:26

Probably it's in Holmes county, Ohio don't know. Unsure. 

1  

00:37:31

Continue. Did you not ever read her books? 

0  

00:37:33

It's been a long, long, long time. Okay. Continue. But yes, everyone in their old town was against Solomon and just believed that he was coldblooded enough to kill his own niece. That is very 

1  

00:37:45

Sad. 

0  

00:37:47

It's it's really unfortunate. Around 1824 Magdalena Hotch settler died and John decided to marry for a second time. Did they have any other kids? 

1  

00:37:59

Nope. Oh, 

0  

00:38:02

After some time John moved his family as well, you know, after he got remarried and they moved to the edge of Mount hope and Holmes county, Ohio, the brothers were only nine miles away from one another, but they would never speak again. Oh 

1  

00:38:20

They did. They know they were that far away from each other. 

0  

00:38:25

Cause they were all still in the same community. So I mean it wasn't, you know? Yeah. Gotcha. 

1  

00:38:33

All right. That's very sad. 

0  

00:38:36

It's going to get more sad. So 50 years after the murder, a man in Wayne county, Ohio was very ill and believed he was going to die. He insisted on seeing a minister before he died. Henry yatter confessed that he was the one who murdered Susan Hotch stellar. Mm. You might be thinking to yourself who is Henry Otter and not Henry Otter, Henry yatter. 

0  

00:39:19

So news and a small town travels fast. And Solomon heard about the confession and immediately broke down and cried. 

1  

00:39:31

It's all in now like seventies, 

0  

00:39:36

He said the only thing he wanted was for his brother to still be alive. So he could go and see him and give him a handshake. John died just two years before the confession was made and Solomon never got the chance to prove he was innocent to his brother. 

1  

00:39:57

I hate that. He would have to prove it. 

0  

00:39:59

Yeah. Funny thing happened though, 

1  

00:40:03

Nothing about this case is funny. Nang, 

0  

00:40:06

Henry yatter recovered from his illness and lived for a few more years, 

1  

00:40:13

The hanging. 

0  

00:40:15

So who was Henry yatter who was in Rio and why would he have killed 

1  

00:40:21

Susan? Why would he have killed a seven month old infant? 

0  

00:40:25

So we have the means and the opportunity already. We know how she died. We know that what the opportunity was, right? Because there was an empty timeframe we have that. We don't know the why. So we need a motive. Henry was madly in love with Barbara Lehman, but Barbara did not feel the same way about him, 

1  

00:40:48

Killed her niece. 

0  

00:40:50

Hold on. So the scorned man needed an answer for why. And he decided that it was John and Magdalena who were to blame because they were the ones who put a wedge in between him and Barbara. Oh my word. And he actually wasn't wrong. But either way. 

1  

00:41:15

And the seven month old baby was, was the reason for this is a seven month old baby was when they had to pay the property 

0  

00:41:20

Prosper this. So March 4th of 18, 10, it was a Sunday. And somehow Henry thought he would be able to talk to Barbara on that day until saw Barbara walking to the sugar camp with her sister hindering assumed that Barbara was avoiding him. He was outraged. Sounds like he was a pretty much of a wackadoo. It sounds to me like he's the modern, what we call today in, in cell. Why? You know what? That is? No. Okay. So it's a term. That's actually like go a lot more people are using it now, especially when it comes to terms of true crime and you'll understand why in a moment. 

0  

00:42:07

So in cell, the term comes from involuntary celibate. So in cell, oh, so it refers to self identifying members of an online subculture based around the inability to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, a state that they describe as in celibacy. So involve involuntary celibacy in cell, essentially in cells, believe that women owe them sex. 

0  

00:42:49

Hmm. Right. I don't know what to do with that. And that's why a lot of people, when you listen to some true crime podcasts or stuff like that, they will refer to the murderer or the perpetrator or the accused of that crime, they will say, well, it sounds like he was an incell. That's what that means. So maybe Henry, might've been a bit of an insult. Not sure though. John's like a stalker unsure. I'm just saying stalker what I will say. So he was outraged that Barbara could be avoiding him and that she didn't love him. 

0  

00:43:30

And he took it all out on Susan. So if that was the case, why did Barbara point the finger at Solomon when there was somebody else who could be to blame? Right. Did Solomon and Henry look that much alike or was Barbara trying to protect Henry? Did Barbara in depth marrying him? Marie? Not that I saw. Okay, good. Because that would have just been, so Henry went on to say that he was wearing a hunting shirt that night. 

0  

00:44:10

Like Solomon's, it's unclear if he did it intentionally or not, but because Henry confessed to a minister and the minister was a spiritual advisor, the minister could not testify in court At this point. 

1  

00:44:38

Oh. And he was a part of the church Whitney 

0  

00:44:41

At this point, almost everyone involved were dead and they needed some sort of witness to verify some of the information. Solomon Hotch seller was forced into isolation from his family for over 50 years because he was wrongly accused. No one ever served official jail time for Susan's murder. And Henry yatter was never prosecuted. 

1  

00:45:13

Well, that's just terrible. 

0  

00:45:15

Yeah. It's, it's a lot. And it, but, 

1  

00:45:21

Well, let me ask this, I mean, did, did Solomon, I mean he had a wife. Did he have kids? I mean, did 

0  

00:45:29

This, I will say this case was very hard to find resources on and I, I don't mean to speculate or to place blame anywhere. I think it might've been a situation that maybe the Amish community tried to suppress and not talk about. So there's not a lot of information that I could find. And especially with people not really love and Solomon, I think that could have been part of it too. But his wife was very adamant that he never had anything to do with this. She moved with him, she stayed with him. 

0  

00:46:11

She was very, you know, very adamant that did he have kids? I don't remember seeing anything about him having kids, you know? And he lived outside of the Amish church. So, you know, this is what 

1  

00:46:27

There wouldn't have been like a recording or a record. And then his lineage in such exactly. 

0  

00:46:35

And I mean, but that does lead me to believe it. Okay. So if there is another person who's out there, did Barbara just hate Solomon that much? What was her deal with Solomon? Because Solomon was not her brother. Yeah. Solomon would have been her brother-in-law, but, but we don't know the reason. 

1  

00:46:54

Nah, it wouldn't have been her brother-in-law he wouldn't have been wouldn't have been anything to her. He would have been her brother-in-law's brother. Right. So it would have been anything to her, 

0  

00:47:05

But why blame him? Well, 

1  

00:47:08

A confused mind latches onto what I can see. And if dude has had on his shirt, like Solomon's you try to make something to fit. That would make sense that she was like, oh, oh, I saw that 

0  

00:47:24

In my head. You would think he wouldn't kill his knee. It's his niece. 

1  

00:47:31

Well, she, she couldn't comprehend anybody wanting to do that though. So seeing anything, you know, it, if it walks like a duck, you know what I mean? 

0  

00:47:43

If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck doesn't mean that's a Solomon. 

1  

00:47:46

I know, but I mean, 

0  

00:47:48

I feel bad for Solomon. I, 

1  

00:47:51

I'm not saying she was right, but I know, I know the state, 

0  

00:47:56

Like the only thing that I could think of while I was reading this, is that like, no, no one served any official jail time, but fricking Barbara, you put Solomon in a, in a prison himself for 50 years, this man was accused of killing his own niece, 

1  

00:48:14

Ryland. You know, the, the relationship between two brothers, 

0  

00:48:19

They didn't have a relationship really at that point, but there could have been some reconciliation for whatever the issue was. I mean, it's just, 

1  

00:48:30

Well, it didn't say they didn't have a relationship. It said 

0  

00:48:33

That they were not on good terms. Oh, they had that. That was why it was easy for them to latch onto <em></em> 

1  

00:48:40

Terms. 

0  

00:48:41

It's fine. You weren't paying attention. Sorry, but I mean, and then this man, who's like, I'm on my death bed. So I got some things I need to say, well, 

1  

00:48:56

Go ahead and unload it now. I 

0  

00:48:57

Think it's so funny that he ended up living longer. But what would've been even better is if he were prosecuted, but no one could prosecute him because he played it too long. 

1  

00:49:07

And that, that sad, I 

0  

00:49:09

Mean, and then it broke my heart because Solomon's like, I just wished that my brother were here. 

1  

00:49:15

Yeah. So that I could shake his hand and wake you up. Yeah. 

0  

00:49:20

As sad, you know? And he it's just goes back to people who are wrongfully convicted for things that they didn't do. And I mean, it's just really sad and it's, it's unfortunate. And it goes back to when we talked about before police or detectives or whoever find who they want and then make it fit and make it fit. And it seemed like this was kind of the Amish 18, 10 version of that is he's a good, he's not in the Amish community. 

0  

00:50:00

Yeah. He's he seems like, you know, he would be related to the crime, so it wouldn't be random. Yeah. And, but what reason would he have exactly. You know, 

1  

00:50:12

What, what motive would he have? 

0  

00:50:14

Exactly. There's not one, there's no motive for that. It's ridiculous. And I don't, I don't understand it. I know. 

1  

00:50:24

Well, I don't understand how anybody could harm a baby. 

0  

00:50:27

Well, of course I can't fathom that. And I'm sorry, dude. Barbara didn't want you, so you got mad. 

1  

00:50:39

I mean, pick another girl, 

0  

00:50:42

Pick another girl. I mean maybe there weren't that many to pick from Garber didn't seem like real peach to me. 

1  

00:50:48

I mean just saying, 

0  

00:50:52

I don't know. And for, but what goes back to it? As Solomon said, dig her up. Like, I know that's not a real, like thing. Like you can't touch that someone you murdered and stuff happened. Like I get that, but 

1  

00:51:10

Let me, let me show 

0  

00:51:11

You what, at that time that was a belief. Yeah. So it means something for him to say, do this, I'm innocent. Do this. I'll prove it to you. What have I got to 

1  

00:51:21

Do? I'll do this, I'll do this. And 

0  

00:51:24

Then what also kind of makes me mad. If you think about it, they didn't do it because they didn't want to exam her body. But yet he did not know that he was being framed for Susan's murder until after she was buried. Right. So it makes me wonder, did somebody kind of push along the burial so that he couldn't do that so that he would be blamed? Yeah. 

1  

00:51:44

I may like Barbara, he would have offered to do it beforehand. Had he known, I mean, 

0  

00:51:51

It's just, 

1  

00:51:52

What did Barbara know beforehand? What does she really know beforehand? 

0  

00:51:56

And did she see Henry when she was leaving the house? Because if you think about it, well, I don't know this would have been, 

1  

00:52:05

But she left it dark. No, no. He, the, the husband no 

0  

00:52:09

Left at nightfall and they left 30 minutes after. So if yeah, because well, yeah, daylight savings and everything like that, it's it would be, it would S it would be dark, but, okay. So then if it were dark, how did you see Solomon? But you didn't see Henry walking up to the house. Hm Hmm. Oh, there's a guy in a similar hunting shirt to Solomon and a wide brimmed, Amish hat that every Amish man wears lets him like really? 

1  

00:52:45

I can understand. I mean, if he was fabrics to chance for a medicine man, head dress, you know, like that's the medicine man that I thought of when you said that. I mean, like if he <em></em> doctor whatever medicine man, which Dr. Sherman, you know, that, I think that 

0  

00:53:00

It was a common thing in religious communities was to have a witch doctor because they believed in a lot of witchcraft back then. And they were concerned that, oh, I'm I'm dying. I must have been cursed. And so it was the witch doctors job to come in and try and <em></em> them. 

1  

00:53:18

But when you, when you said that, I immediately, you know, so like if he had like some sort of Aboriginal head dress, now I can totally see that. 

0  

00:53:28

Yes, no, he just looks like every other Amish guy. But 

1  

00:53:32

You see what I'm saying though? If, if he had 

0  

00:53:34

Like a specific, but no, no, no. Not the case. And I would imagine there's not very many fabrics to choose from for shirts at the time. Especially if you were an Amish minimalist, can't imagine you'd be looking for like hot pink, Tommy Bahama is your hunting shirt. Like, I don't think that's, I could be wrong. I don't know, fashion back then let us know. But I don't think that that's the case. And 

1  

00:54:03

You're most likely it was going to be like a black 

0  

00:54:08

Y yeah. Yeah. Like something plain, something, you know, and a wide brimmed hat, which everyone had. So for all, you know, it could have been John, you don't know. I mean, 

1  

00:54:26

True facts, all true facts, 

0  

00:54:30

Fricking Henry, oh, somebody doesn't want me, so I'm gonna attack. 

1  

00:54:37

Let me ruin her life and her sister's life. 

0  

00:54:43

And it's just terrible. Yeah. And then, you know, that's just 50 years you Solomon. 

1  

00:54:53

That's what, that's what, I don't understand. Harmon. A poor innocent baby with all of her life ahead of her, a sweet, I mean, just a sweet baby. Whether she's, she may have been a horrible baby. I don't know. She's a baby, a baby. 

0  

00:55:09

I mean, I'm not at all victim blaming, not at all saying anything. I personally would not leave my child alone in my house from eight to 2:00 AM. But I mean, we don't know what was going on back then. We don't know what the custom was, but maybe that was the only house in the area. And so they were like, well, we can see the house from where we are. So maybe, but, 

1  

00:55:33

And if they could hear her, if she cried and woke up, 

0  

00:55:36

I that ass a long way away from hell, they say several, it was yards. 

1  

00:55:44

I mean, and there wasn't like electrical home of anything going on. You could hear that, but if you could hear the baby cry, surely they would've heard something going on with the baby crying. When somebody, you know, took her out of her crib or something. 

0  

00:56:00

I just don't think they, it says 70 to 80 yards away. There's three feet in a yard. So you're talking over a hundred feet away, 

1  

00:56:09

All 

0  

00:56:09

Field you're in a maple tree Grove. That's going to cut some of that sound. 

1  

00:56:17

I think about a football field. I mean, 50 yards is half of the football field. So there's 

0  

00:56:23

Not a football field in a quarter depending. 

1  

00:56:26

Yeah. So really it's not that far, 

0  

00:56:31

Still too far 

1  

00:56:32

For me. Well, 

0  

00:56:35

To not go back and at least be like, okay, I'm going to, I'll be here for an hour. I'll go back. I'll check. And then I'll come back. It's so if it's not that far, but why did, why did Barbara and Magdalena have to go 

1  

00:56:48

Well, but if it's not that far, then what do they not, you know, find a way to bring her. If it wasn't that far, then she wouldn't have been too far to carry either. You know, my opinion, my opinion. I mean, I don't, I don't know all the things, like I said, I've not had a baby. I don't know all the things, but you know, it's not that far. It's just, it makes me sad. It just, it just makes me sad. 

0  

00:57:13

It's a sad story. 

1  

00:57:15

Any loss of life is sad, but especially when it's a baby, it just, there's 

0  

00:57:20

So many things that go along with that. That is, it's very, very sad. 

1  

00:57:29

Just a little kid. I mean, any of those, any of those things, just, just when there's a loss of innocence, it just makes me angry. 

0  

00:57:39

Yeah. It's, it's a rough one. So now that we have depressed here today, 

1  

00:57:47

Sorry, there are a few things that really make me angry. That's wonderful injustice, injustice, or justice, whatever that is, but injustice against the kid. 

0  

00:57:59

It's very frustrating. So we have a website. I don't know how to segue into that, where you can find any and all Owen, you see information you're looking for, just go to one nation under crime.com. We are one nation under crime on Facebook and Instagram and at, oh, in UC pod on Twitter. If you love our podcasts, like we do recommend us to everyone and follow us on your preferred podcast platform. We are on every single one of them and leave us a five star review wherever you're checking us out at and leave a comment. 

0  

00:58:39

Nothing below five stars. Don't don't have anything nice to say, keep to yourself. We're all just trying to support each other out in this world. We do have a Patrion. If you're interested in that, you can find it on our website or you can just search for us on Patrion. And that's going to wrap it up for us this week. 

1  

00:59:02

Sorry. We were designed 

0  

00:59:03

For a, such a downer. 

1  

00:59:05

I'm trying to think of something great. Oh, I have joke. It's horrible. Are you ready? Yes. Why didn't the toilet paper? Cross the road? 

0  

00:59:18

I don't know. 

1  

00:59:19

It got stuck in a crack. 

0  

00:59:23

It was horrible. It was horrible weather. That major week better or depressed it even more. It was horrible. I know. Sorry. And what did the fish say when he hit the wall? Damn. So there you go. What do you call a fish with? No, I, I think that's all I have. All right. Well again, sorry if that made your week worse. So thanks for listening this far. We appreciate it. We appreciate you joining us for this one. 

0  

01:00:06

Yeah. Oh goodness. We will see you here. Same time, different crime next week. And remember that there isn't always Liberty and justice for all. We will see you guys next week. Bye.