MURDER AND SUICIDE

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 112, 8 April 1930, Page 11

MURDER AND SUICIDE

TRAGEDY IN VIENNA. The murder of a beautiful young American woman by her supposed husband at the Hotel Sacher, Vienna, led to sensational revelations. Police inquiries reveal that Ernest Watzl, after distinguished, war service, migrated to the United States, where he married and became the father of two children, but he fell in love with a beautiful mannequin, Mary MacGranaham, who was married to a well-to-do industrialist in Ohio. Watzl staged an elaborate mock death by burning an overturned car in Philadelphia. His death was presumed, but as the'body was not found, the insurance company refused to pay. Tho mannequin also staged a faked disappearance and eloped with Watzl, but her husband later discovered the truth and claimed heavy damages, from Watzl. The couple travelled round the world and finally reached Vienna, where Watzl shot the girl and committed suicide. It is stated that his insurance policy for £12,000 would have expired if Watzl had lived a few hours longer. His friends believe that he timed the suicide in order that his widow would receive the money.