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Murderer Forces Teen Girl To Kill Him In Order to Spare Her Family
A deranged man killed his employer and then gave the remaining family a choice to make
Violent criminals and sociopaths unfortunately have countless ways to terrorize their victims. In addition to physical harm, the psychological aspect of their acts can be nearly as terrifying. Consider the case of a 1930s murderer who killed the patriarch of a family before forcing a teen girl to kill him in order to save the lives of her remaining family.
A horrific succession of violence played out at a Plato Center, Illinois farm in 1933. 56-year-old John Schmitz was a wealthy dairy farmer, who also served as the township clerk for Kane County. His idyllic life came to a brutal end at the end of a gun wielded by a man he had employed for years to help him around his property.
The farmhand was 53-year-old Oliver Day (alternately reported as being 45), who had a fondness for drink. His employment and life came to an abrupt end when his demons led to him committing murder and then taking an even darker turn rather than face what he had done.
One evening, Loretta Schmitz, the 18-year-old daughter of the farmer, returned home from a date only to find a drunk Day in the yard with a shotgun. Pointing it at the…
