Francis Hermann

Serial Killer

Francis Hermann: The Fugitive Pastor Suspected of Serial Murder

Background

Francis Hermann, whose surname was also reported as Hermans, was an English-born Methodist Episcopal minister who became the central figure in one of Salt Lake City's most disturbing nineteenth-century criminal investigations. Born in England around 1851, Hermann was described as educated, persuasive, and capable of earning the confidence of religious congregations. He worked as a missionary in London before immigrating to the United States in 1891. Over the following five years, several women and children closely associated with him died suddenly or disappeared. Although investigators strongly connected him to at least two suspected murders, he escaped before he could be arrested or tried. Hermann is often described as a suspected serial killer rather than a convicted one. No court determined his guilt, and the evidence surrounding some of the deaths was circumstantial. Nevertheless, the discovery of human remains inside his church, his possession or sale of missing women's belongings, and his flight from Utah caused investigators and newspapers to regard him as a dangerous murderer.

Suspicious Deaths in Minnesota and Wisconsin

After arriving in the United States, Hermann settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and married Bertha Wangen. The couple later moved to West Superior, Wisconsin, where Hermann became pastor of the First Norwegian-Danish Methodist Episcopal Church. Bertha gave birth to a child near the end of December 1891. Soon afterward, she reportedly began suffering severe emotional or mental disturbances and was scheduled to be taken to an institution. On January 11, 1892, only hours before her planned departure, Bertha died suddenly. Ammonia was reportedly found around her mouth. Hermann claimed that she had been smelling it as a remedy during one of her attacks. Her infant also died at approximately the same time, although the child's exact date of death has not been firmly established. No prosecution followed, but the circumstances attracted renewed suspicion after the later discoveries in Utah. Bertha's sister, Caroline Wangen, had been living with the family. She disappeared during the spring of 1892. Hermann reportedly offered changing explanations for her absence, but no confirmed remains were found and her date of death is unknown. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

First Wife (Ms. Smith) , Date of Death: 1889

Suspected Victims:

Henrietta Clawson , Date of Death: 1895

Annie K. Samuelson , Date of Death: 1896-01-29

Francis Hermann - Wikipedia