Two miles Southeast of Del Valle at Mooreville, on a Saturday Night Mr. and Mrs. Engler and their 25year old, adopted daughter went to sleep as usual after a long day of work. Sometime during the quiet hours of the moonless night an assassin entered their farmhouse and shot Mr. And Mrs. Engler in the head while they slept. Next the murderer went to the daughter’s room, but after hearing the shots she was already running out of the house. The killer chased and eventually caught her in the barn where he killed her and then dragged her back into the house. Hay was found in her hair and clutched in her hands. The next morning at 9:30 AM a neighbor and blacksmith, Mr. Sternnadt arrived to do business. When he knocked and there was no answer, he left. He returned again at 4:30 PM, and still no one answered the door. Suspicious Mr. Sternnadt sent his son around back to check the situation out. it was then that the families fate became known. A $760 reward was offered, but the murderer and the motive were never discovered.

 

More from the Austin History Center: https://www.facebook.com/AustinHistoryCenter/photos/murdermonday-here-we-see-the-wedding-portrait-of-mr-and-mrs-charles-engler-the-c/2615083315200495/?paipv=0&eav=AfYxiEN-sKmLETXWQpglRCfsh26nISZJXdIx8mIa6Iywub3OXZyW_ACRI6An8SsFgKw&_rdr