TOGETHER IN DEATH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 259, 1 November 1890, Page 4 (Supplement)

TOGETHER IN DEATH.

A Strange Case of Double Soicide in

New York Cur.

A strange double suicide occurred in New York on Serjtember 18. Gustavo G. Koch, a well-known crayon artist, ascended the steps to the Canal-street station of the Fourth-avenue elevated road, walked to a point in front of the second-efcorey window of 140, Canal-street, nodded and said, ' Yes, I have come, Emilie. Are yon ready?' The answer was not heard, but Koch drew a revolver from his pocket and shot himself in the head, dying instantly. As he fell there came what; seemed the echo of his shot from tho direction of the window toward which he had looked, and in a few minutes a messenger came running, saying a woman had shot herself ab 140. Canalstreet.

Investigation revealed the fact thab Emilie Rossi, an actress, aged nineteen, lay a corpse in tho bed in ber room with a bullet in her heart. She was attired in a nighb robe with a bunch of heliotrope pinned in her bosom. It was .evident that she bared her bosom for the fatal shot, for her garment was unscorched. There was nothing to show fche cause of death, except a little red spot over the heart where the ball entered, for not a drop of blood flowed from the wound. Death was evidently as instantaneous as in the case of Koch.

It was evidently pre-arranged that they should take themselves oub of the world together. The girl had made every preparation tor the event. On a cbair by the windowlay her clothing, carefully smoothed out. She had been writing, and the table was covered with small sheets of paper, filled with her thoughts as she sat writing. The handwriting was neat and feminine, and did not appear in tbe least tremulous. She and Koch were lovers. The cause of the tragedy is supposed to be the opposition of the girl's mother to their marriage.

Emilie Rossi had been on the stage since babyhood. Her father and mother lived at Berlin. He was an Italian tenor singer ot note, bub is now dead. The girl's mother, who is still alive, is a German wriber and novelist, and was ambitious for her child. She hoped she would make a good marriage. The girl came to America two years ago, and played prominent parts in the Amberge Theatre Company.