June 9 – Wilkes-Barre Police Chief John Jones orders nearly half the police force to investigate the fatal shooting of mason John Baltes on June 9, 1903.
Baltes walked to his home at 35 Edison St. with Benedict Kessler and Johannes Weidmanboth from Altoona, who were in Wilkes-Barre to attend a German banquet at Memorial Hall on South Franklin Street.
When Baltes and his two companions reached Wood and Sambourne streets, they were robbed by two armed highwaymen.
The larger desperado had two revolvers pointed at the trio, while the smaller desperado rummaged through their clothes and removed $16 and two train tickets. When Baltes made a move, the larger desperado fired five shots, hitting Baltes in the chest and Kessler in the right knee. Weidman took cover behind a tree.
Baltes was carried to nearby Mercy Hospital, where he died during surgery.
“Half the police force, assisted by several detectives and two newspapers, spent the day working on the vague clues left behind after the gruesome shooting at the corner of Wood and Sambourne streets at 12:35 this morning.” , the Wilkes-Barre Leader reported on June 9, 1903.
Those investigating the shooting believed they had been quickly arrested when a police officer arrested John Plunkett, of Elm Street, Pittston, while he was buying a shirt from Jos. S. Coons & Co. in Public Square, hours after Baltes was shot.
Only Plunkett was released when the police officer later learned he was not in Wilkes-Barre at the time of the shooting.
Information came that two suspects were hiding in ancient Indian caves near Mountain View Park, near what is now Seven Tubs State Park in Plains Township. Police officers converged on the park to retreat when they encountered a mother bear and three cubs on June 11, 1903.
As the investigation continued without arrests in the following weeks, Wilkes-Barre Council and Luzerne County commissioners agreed to a shared reward of $1,500 in hopes of attracting private investigators to solve the case.
“One by one the clues given to the police in connection with the murder of John Baltes have been investigated without anything being found that would lead to the arrest of the criminals,” the Wilkes-Barre Leader reported on June 12, 1903.
As many as seven men were detained but released when Kessler could not make a positive identification.
The investigation tapered off and was taken over by District Detective Richard Jones.
Detective Jones believed he had solved the case when he took Kessler to the Columbia County Prison, where Joseph Ruane and William Murdock, both of Wilkes-Barre, were being held for armed robbery in Bloomsburg on July 27, 1903.
“The moment Mr. Kessler saw Ruane, he explained, ‘That’s the man who took the money from Baltes.’ Ruane blushed at this statement, but never said a word,” the Wilkes-Barre Times reported on October 23, 1903.
Kessler was then taken to the next cell and identified Murdock as the shooter, the Times reported.
Although Ruane and Murdock were charged with Baltes’ murder, they were never tried at the Luzerne County Courthouse because they had no confessions or incriminating statements.
“The police gave up and Baltes’ murder was written up as one of the city’s mysteries. Nowhere and at no time did the authorities manage to gather new evidence to crack the case,” the Evening News reported on February 17, 1911.
Ruane and Murdock were sent to Eastern Penitentiary in Philadelphia to each serve a three-year sentence for the Bloomsburg robbery.
Baltes was buried in St. Nicholas German Cemetery on Darling Street, Wilkes-Barre.
