5 True Crime Mysteries That History Has Forgotten About. #4 Is Unbelievable!

The Eric Muenter Case

In 1906, a German sympathizer teaching at Harvard named Eric Muenter poisoned his pregnant wife to death, then fled the country to Mexico. While this crime is disgusting and reprehensible, its what Muenter did next that makes his case quite remarkable.

After re-entering the country, he eventually settled in Texas under the name Frank Holt, and began to work his way back up the academic ladder. Soon, he was a German professor at Cornell University. A self-proclaimed pacifist, Muenter was upset with America’s stance during WWI. Several private businessmen were lending money and support to Great Britain and France, which Muenter despised. So he decided to take action into his own hands.

On July 2, 1915, an explosion shook the U.S. Capitol building, smashing windows, blowing doors of their hinges, and causing quite a bit of damage (though nobody was hurt in the explosion). By the next day, Muenter was in New York City with a sizable amount of dynamite. He managed to sneak a timed bomb aboard the SS Minnehana, an ocean liner carrying explosives bound for England. Another bomb was placed at New York Police Headquarters, which is also believed to be the work of Muenter.

Muenter then made his way to Glen Cove, where financier J.P. Morgan Jr. lived. Armed with two revolvers and a stick of dynamite, he forced his way into the Morgan mansion, eventually confronting J.P. Morgan Jr. himself (though we would like to point out the bravery of the butler who answered the door; he led Muenter to a different corridor of the house, then yelled for the Morgans to hide). Muenter fired two shots into Morgan, but was subdued by the butler and a friend of Morgan’s.

Morgan survived the ordeal, and Muenter was arrested and sent to Nassau County jail. On the evening of July 6th, he jumped to death from his cell. The bomb he placed on the SS Minnehana did eventually go off, but the ship was able to reroute and the fire from the bomb was safely put out. It’s almost unfathomable to think that one man could walk into the U.S. Capitol building and leave a bomb there, and on the very next day walk up to one of the wealthiest man in the country’s door and force his way in.