On August 17, 1885, word spread through Sedalia that Henry Toggenberger was dead in a room at the Atlantic Hotel, located on St. Louis Street. Nellie Jenkins, a young woman who worked at the hotel, had reported that she had found a man in her room. She believed he was intoxicated and vomiting. Two men from the hotel found Railroad Officers Payne and Mason, who hurried to the hotel.
The officers found Toggenberger alive but “struggling,” trying to remove a silk handkerchief that was stuck down his throat. Shortly after Payne and Mason arrived, a “dense throng of humanity” gathered around the door of the room. Although they had not seen Toggenberger and although he was not at that time dead, the crowd proclaimed that Toggenberger had committed suicide.
Coroner Overstreet arrived and examined Toggenberger, who had by that time died. While the officers were waiting for Overstreet, an unidentified man approached Officer Payne and asked if the man was dead. Payne replied he was not. The man said he had seen Toggenberger before the officers arrived and had tried to turn him over. He was unable to do so, but showed the officers his bloody hands as evidence he had touched the body.
The coroner found a ghastly sight that the Sedalia Bazoo reported in horrifying detail. Blood was spattered around the small room. Toggenberger was lying in a pool of blood. He had several deep wounds in his head and several stab wounds in his throat. A dull, rusty hatchet usually kept by the well curb in the yard was lying at Toggenberger’s knees; the hatchet’s head and handle were stained with blood and brain matter. No knife was found.
Officer Payne told the Bazoo reporter he believed Toggenberger had been murdered. He also stated he believed that two people had to have been involved in order to inflict the type of injuries Toggenberger suffered. He further stated he believed the perpetrators might still be in the crowd, but that he could not leave the door to search the crowd or arrest any possible suspects.
Officer Mason also stated he believed the man had been murdered, as did Officer Gossage, who arrived at the scene with Overstreet, concurred with the belief that Toggenberger had been murdered. Two friends from telegraphy school were surprised at the death, and said they had no idea who might have committed the crime. One of the friends, Jeff Connor, reported he had seen Toggenberger riding in a carriage with Nellie Jackson, with whom he had been “keeping company.”
Police Chief Barnett then offered his theory of the crime. He thought Toggenberger had been killed by a jealous man, a “rival lover” for Nellie’s affections.
The Bazoo reported summed up the account of the body’s discovery by noting that Toggenberger was “foully and brutally murdered.” He further questioned how such a crime could committed during the daylight when hotel guests were sitting in the dining room that overlooked the murder site at a place no more than one hundred yards from the depot and within ten feet of the buildings on either side.
A coroner’s inquest was held the next day. The shocking conclusion of the inquest will be the subject of next week’s column.
