Nearly every day, newspapers across the country printed lurid photos of mobsters sprawled in pools of blood in the streets of Chicago after having been gunned down by a rival gang. The favored weapon was the Thompson .45-caliber submachine gun. The Thompson often was carried in a violin case and was nicknamed the “Chicago Piano” or the “Chicago Typewriter.”
In Sheboygan, residents read the stories of Chicago mob wars, bloody shootouts, corrupt officials and gangsters who became rich overnight with little concern. They were after all insulated from all that by being over 150 miles away from the chaos.
Passersby today take little notice of a small, white, nondescript building located at 1219 Broadway Avenue. Built in 1890, the shabby little structure today gives no hint that at one time it was the scene of a brutal and senseless murder. At the time of the murder, the building was known as Otto Kohls Saloon. The business, operated by Kohls for many years, was well known around the city, and Otto himself was a well-respected businessman. When the murder took place in his saloon on that fateful March 19, 1927, Prohibition had already been in effect for seven years. It might be noted that everyone who lived on the south side of Sheboygan euphemistically referred to it as Otto Kohls Soft Drink Parlor.
At about 12:10 a.m. on the day in question, Kohls related that he had seven patrons at the bar sipping root beer while he began cleaning up the saloon (correction: soda parlor) in preparation to close at 1:00 a.m. As Otto began sweeping the floor, two young men entered the saloon, both of them strangers. It was not unusual for complete strangers to enter the bar, as it was located just about a block east of Highway 17, which at that time was the main road to Milwaukee and ran along the present-day Business Drive. The first man inquired as to where the men’s room was located and was directed to the back of the barroom by Kohls. The second stranger stayed at the end of the bar closest to the front door and purchased a pack of cigarettes. Suddenly, the first man reappeared at the back of the barroom and shouted, “This is a stickup, get your hands in the air.” The startled patrons whirled around toward the rear of the tavern and observed the young man menacingly brandishing two handguns. The stranger near the front of the bar also drew a gun from his pocket. He then ordered Kohls and his patrons to line up against the east wall of the tavern. Once all the patrons were being held against the wall, the first gunman went behind the bar and emptied the cash register of $115.
Scene of the 1927 Jonassen murder at 1219 Broadway, as it appears today. The building has changed little since 1927. Photo by the author.
Coming out from behind the bar, the young thug held the frightened customers at bay while he ordered them to empty the contents of their pockets into his hat. As the two-gun bandit went down the line of terrified victims one by one, the customers complied with the thieves’ order to turn over all their cash and personal possessions. As ordered, rings, watches, several pocketknives and cash were dumped into the young robber’s hat. Everyone cooperated quickly with the robbers except one. Thirty-six-year-old Olaf I. Jonassen, who was described as a rather large and very strong man, apparently decided he was not about to give up his hard-earned cash or valuables to a couple of cocky young thieves.
As the two-gun bandit approached, Olaf, seeing an opportunity, startled the bar patrons as well as the would-be thief by suddenly lunging at him. The force of Olaf hitting the holdup man carried them backward and down to the floor. For several moments, unbelieving witnesses watched as Olaf struggled with the smaller man. At one point, it seemed that Olaf would prevail. The first young thief still standing at the front of the barroom pointed his gun toward Kohls and ordered him to pull Olaf off his partner. Kohls refused, fearing he might get shot in the melee by the second holdup man who was still holding on to his two guns. Suddenly, the roar of a gun being discharged was heard by the frightened patrons. Olaf stopped struggling, and his body went limp, jolting the startled patrons. The furious criminal jumped to his feet and began pumping bullets into the helpless wounded man already lying in a pool of blood. Then his partner ran up to the victim and began shooting into Olaf’s body. During a later investigation, it was learned that eleven shots had been fired, eight of which struck Olaf, three of them in his head.
The brutal killers then grabbed their loot and frantically fled from the building to their car, which had been left standing at the curb, motor running. When last seen, the bandits were fleeing south on Highway 17 at a high rate of speed. Patrons of the bar rushed to Olaf’s side; he lay facedown in an ever-widening pool of blood.
Then one of the patrons remembered that a doctor lived close by. He ran to the doctor’s home and managed to wake him up. Upon learning of the shooting, the doctor hurried to Kohls’s saloon. After a brief examination of the lifeless body of Olaf, the doctor sadly shook his head. Olaf Jonassen was dead.
Blue wisps of gun smoke and the acrid smell of burnt gunpowder filled the air of Otto Kohls’s saloon as police officers arrived. As the first two officers entered the crime scene, they were confronted with patrons who were still in stunned disbelief, trying to comprehend the cold-blooded murder they had just witnessed. Realizing they were on a major crime scene, the officers called headquarters and asked for detectives and additional officers to assist in the investigation. The coroner was summoned, as well as the chief of police. Soon the tiny saloon was filled with grim-faced investigators.
When the cruel young thieves killed Olaf Jonassen, they had no idea that they were depriving the elderly parents of the victim of their sole means of support. Mr. and Mrs. Ole Jonassen had little in the way of financial resources and depended entirely on their bachelor son, Olaf, who lived with them and provided them with their day-to-day needs. Also living in the Jonassen home at the time was eight-year-old Harold Nelson, who happened to be visiting his grandparents at the time. When I spoke to the elderly Nelson many years later, he said that he clearly remembered the night his uncle was murdered.
The following is a brief but poignant statement written about the old man’s recollections of that terrible night:
At the time of my Uncle’s death, I was staying at my grandmother’s house in Sheboygan. I woke up late at night and the house was full of people whispering to each other. At the time I had no idea what was going on. Later on I remember Doc, that was my Uncle Olaf’s nickname, laid out in a coffin in the front room of our home. Looking into the coffin I counted the holes in his head filled with something similar to wax.
The statement was signed Harold Nelson, July 15, 2000.
Now the investigation began in earnest. Descriptions of the armed bandits were given out by phone to all police agencies in the area. The chief of police ordered that police motorcycles equipped with sidecars and manned by two officers be sent north on Highway 17 toward Manitowoc and west on Highway 23 toward Plymouth. Chief of Police Wagner and Detectives Hermann and Rothe took a detective car and headed south toward Milwaukee on Highway 17 to search for the murderers. The Sheboygan officers drove all the way to Milwaukee without sighting the alleged murderers. Once at Milwaukee, Chief Wagner went to the central police station, where he gave them a complete description of the two men and the car that the authorities were looking for. Milwaukee authorities informed Chief Wagner that they already had in custody, on another matter, two men who seemed to fit the description the chief had just given them. The chief then called Sheboygan and asked that Otto Kohls be brought to Milwaukee as soon as possible for a possible identification of the two suspects held by Milwaukee police. A few hours later, Otto Kohls arrived at the Milwaukee Police Department, and officers there arranged a lineup. Much to the disappointment of everyone, Kohls was unable to identify anyone in the lineup. The chief then drove on to Chicago to confer with authorities there.
The next day, the car used in the robbery was found mired down on a muddy side road in the Black River area just south of Sheboygan. A check of the license plates showed that the car had been stolen from the city of Manitowoc several days earlier. Sheriff’s deputies found bloodstain
s in the car, along with some of the personal items that the holdup men had taken during the robbery of the victims and then discarded. Sheriff’s officers then searched summer cottages in the immediate area and found one that had been broken into. Apparently, the gunmen had spent the night in the secluded cabin. After that the trail went cold—the murderers had escaped.
One piece of evidence investigating officers had was the stolen car that had apparently been driven by the killers. Investigators felt that the two escaped thieves had to have some connection in the Manitowoc area; otherwise why would they have been in Manitowoc?
Manitowoc officers began to scour their records looking for any known local criminals who might fit the description of the two murderers. A theory was developing that possibly the wanted men were from the Manitowoc area. A few days after the murder in Sheboygan, which by now had received widespread media coverage, a tip was received from a Manitowoc merchant. The merchant said that a customer had brought in a coat of the type that had been worn by one of Jonassen’s killers. The merchant said that the coat had several dark stains on it that he assumed was dried blood. A label inside the coat indicated that it was owned by Albert Lutzke, who was known to area police. The physical description of Lutzke somewhat fit the description of one of Jonassen’s murderers.
A pickup order was put out on Lutzke, and Manitowoc authorities scoured the county looking for the suspect. The coat was turned over to Sheboygan Police, who sent it to a laboratory to try and determine the blood type. Manitowoc County sheriff’s investigators received information on where they might locate the elusive Lutzke. Officers were directed to a farm that was owned by an associate of his. When the farm owner was asked if he knew where Lutzke might be, he claimed he hadn’t seen him for some time. Dubious officers began to search the property. As the searcher entered the farm home, they carefully searched the house room by room and finally located Lutzke hiding under a bed.
Police Chief Wagner was contacted, and he was informed that a suspect in the Jonassen murder was being held in the Manitowoc County Jail. The chief picked up several of the witnesses to the murder and drove to Manitowoc for a lineup. Again, much to the disappointment of law officers, the witnesses were unable to identify the suspect Lutzke. However, while Lutzke was being held, it was discovered that there were several outstanding warrants on him.
The people of Sheboygan were shocked and appalled by the brutality of the attack that ended in the death of the unfortunate bar patron. As the days since the murder passed, pressure on the Sheboygan Police to effect an arrest increased. After all, things like this just did not happen in Sheboygan. They wanted the guilty parties apprehended and brought to trial, now! The angry citizens of Sheboygan had no idea just how long this would take.
Sheboygan Mayor L.E. Larson stepped forward and made an extraordinary proposal to the common council. He proposed that the City of Sheboygan, during these hard times, offer a $500 (in today’s money $6,200) reward for the arrest and conviction of the murderers of Olaf Jonassen. A resolution was drafted and passed almost without debate. The reward offer brought forth several tips, all of them false. The investigation was stalled, and investigators had hit a brick wall. It began to look as though the killers would never be caught. Almost one month to the day after the murder, an event took place 250 miles south of Sheboygan in the state of Illinois that would change all that.
On April 18, 1927, an event occurred that would have a significant effect on the Jonassen murder. On that early spring day, twenty-one-year-old Arthur Goetzke, an employee of Bolden’s shoe store in downtown Bloomington, Illinois, had just opened the store for the day when he noticed two men peering in the window. Thinking they were perspective customers, Arthur walked to the front of the store. As the two men entered, one of them stopped near the door and the other walked toward the rear of the store. Arthur inquired politely, “May I help you gentlemen?” The young clerk was then startled to hear a gruff voice behind him order, “Turn around.” When Arthur turned around, he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. The gunman growled, “This is a stickup, get in the back of the store.” With a gun barrel jabbing him in the back, the terrified young man was herded into the back room, which was separated from the main store by a curtain. Once in the back of the store, the would-be robbers ordered Arthur to open the store safe. The trembling clerk stammered, “I can’t open the safe, I don’t have the combination.” Jamming the barrel of his gun under Arthur’s chin, the thug demanded to know who had the combination. Arthur, his mouth so dry he could barely speak, said in a trembling voice, “Only Mr. Bolden has the combination.” “And when does he get here?” demanded the holdup man, who was now getting impatient. “Soon,” Arthur mumbled. All the while Arthur was being interrogated by the gun-toting thief, his partner kept casting furtive glances from behind the curtain toward the front of the store.
With Arthur being held captive in the rear of the store, the other bandit moved out from behind the curtain and took up a position near the front door. Before long, the store owner, Mr. Ernest L. Bolden, entered his store, only to have a gun thrust up against his head and be ordered to the back of the store. Under the threat of death, Bolden, with trembling hands, opened the safe. The thieves then snatched $430 in cash and $35 in checks from the safe and ordered both men to lie on the floor. One of the robbers had stepped out of the back room and returned quickly with several pairs of silk stockings, which they used to tie up their captives. The gunmen then fled out the front door and into a car that had been parked in front of the store with the motor running.
After the murder, wanted posters were distributed throughout the Midwest by Sheboygan Police. Author’s collection.
It was later learned that as soon as the bandits left the Bolden shoe store, Mr. Bolden and his clerk were able to free themselves and call police. Witnesses on the street pointed out to the officers the direction the robbers had fled only moments before and gave police a description of the getaway car. The witnesses further told the investigating officers that the getaway car was last seen traveling north on North Main Street at a high rate of speed. As the car driven by the robbers sped down the street in an attempt to escape, it very nearly missed a collision with a car driven by William Smith with his three children, which almost forced them off the road. The robbers were unaware that just a few blocks down the street, North Main Street was closed to traffic because of high water from a rainstorm the night before that had flooded the roadway near a subway entrance. Angrily, Smith turned his car around so as to pursue the reckless driver who had nearly struck him and his family. He had gone no more than a block when he saw the car he was after stalled in a large pool of water beneath a viaduct. Smith then stopped his car and asked his thirteen-year-old son to run over to the car and get the license number so they could report it to police. The bandits, however, noticed the boy behind them and became suspicious of his interest in their car. Putting the car in gear, the thieves began turning over the engine with the starter, which caused the car to move ahead out of the pool of water. The two robbers then jumped out of their car, continued their flight on foot and disappeared. At this time, the Smith family was in the little village of Norman, which is just immediately north of Bloomington. Smith ran to a grocery store and called the Norman Police, informing them of the incident with the recklessly driven car, and advised them that he thought possibly the car was stolen. Smith was still not aware that the car and its occupants were wanted by Bloomington Police for armed robbery.
The Norman Police and all surrounding police departments in the area had been advised to watch all highways in their area and to be alert for any strangers they might encounter. When Smith told the Norman Police about the car he had trouble with, they immediately realized that it could, most likely, be the car that law enforcement agencies were looking for.
As soon as word was given out that the fugitive car was in Norman, the area was flooded with police officers from every jurisdiction nearby. As the manhunt went on, of
ficers received information that two suspicious-looking men had been seen walking along a nearby railroad track. The chief of police from Norman and a detective began walking along the train tracks looking for the bandits. As they searched down the tracks, they saw a large German shepherd dog excitedly running around a clump of grapevines. The dog ran up to the two officers and then turned and ran back to the grapevines. He did this several times, leaving officers to believe there was something in the tangle of vines that the dog wanted them to see. Suddenly, investigators saw a movement in the clump of vines, then a head popped up and they were able to see someone in the hiding place draw what appeared to be a gun. The officers dropped to the ground and ordered whoever was in the brush to come out with their hands up. Much to their surprise, the bandits surrendered immediately and meekly crawled out of their hiding place. Officers quickly placed the two suspects in handcuffs, and both were searched by arresting officers. During the search, investigators found that one of the suspects was carrying two guns. One was a .25-caliber automatic and the other was a .32-caliber automatic. The second suspect was armed with a .38-caliber revolver. They also recovered most, but not all, of the loot from the shoe store robbery. They then marched them out to a nearby road, where they were picked up and taken to the Bloomington city jail and interrogated by detectives.
The two men were identified as Andrew Young and Frank Allgood, both of Springfield, Illinois. As detectives began their interrogation of the two men, they suddenly realized that their descriptions and the weapons they were carrying were remarkably similar to those listed on a wanted poster pertaining to a murder in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A phone call was placed to Sheboygan Police Chief Walter Wagner, who agreed with Bloomington detectives that the two men being held by them could possibly be the killers of Olaf Jonassen.
Sheboygan Tales of the Tragic and Bizarre Page 6