It was late in the afternoon on Friday November 13th, 1914 when a well-dressed man pulled up his buggy outside a small home on the south side of San Antonio. The man went inside, and minutes later raised voices could be heard from the dwelling before three shots rang out. A woman ran screaming from the house. Neighbors entered cautiously and they discovered the man, dead on the floor, covered in blood. Some reports said that another woman was draped over his body, sobbing loudly, and bleeding profusely from a slash to her wrist. A .32 caliber revolver and a bloody penknife lay on the floor, and a .25 caliber was nearby.
One of the the most infamous trials in San Antonio history was about to take place.
The story began some years before. In 1873 Otto Koehler left Berlin, Germany and settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where his older brothers ran a mercantile business. At first, Otto was employed by them, but this type of work was unappealing to him. Soon he gained employment at the Griesedieck Beverage Company, and it was here that Otto learned the basic crafts of the brewing business. He also met Emma Bentzen in St. Louis, and the two were married in August 1882. However, the Koehlers eventually set their sights on better things and settled in San Antonio soon after.
Photo: Emma and Otto Koehler….San Antonio Express News
When the Lone Star Brewing Association was established in San Antonio by Adolphus Busch along with a band of prominent businessmen such as John H. Kampmann, Edward Hope, John J. Stevens, A. B. Frank and Louis Berg. Otto Koehler was initially employed at the company as a bookkeeper. He had formed a friendship with Busch in St. Louis while he was there, and gradually over time, worked his way up through the company ranks to eventually fill the role of manager.
However, there were some disagreements, and Otto Koehler broke away from the Lone Star Brewing Association and formed an alliance with John J. Stevens, Otto Wahrmund and Oscar Bergstrom. First, they acquired the Behloradsky brewery, which was now known as the City Brewing Company. It was situated a little further north on the banks of the San Antonio River. Later it became the San Antonio Brewing Association with Otto Koehler eventually becoming president, and it occupied the location of the present day Pearl Brewery site.
Photo: San Antonio Brewing Company…..Pinterest
Otto Koehler went on to become one of the wealthiest businessmen in Texas with interests in mining and transportation companies in both Mexico and throughout the United States. He also acquired and redeveloped the popular Hot Wells Resort, once again turning it into an attraction for San Antonio’s affluent society, who were attracted to the complex, not only for its famous sulphur springs to cure all aches and pains, but also for its gambling, hotel and fine dining.
Photo: San Antonio Daily Light
Photo: San Antonio Sunday Light
Photo: River City Ghosts
Otto and his band of associates sold the resort in 1905 for a hefty profit, a few years after it was revitalized.
Otto’s wife Emma reportedly suffered severe injuries in an automobile accident around 1909 which made her dependent on others to perform menial tasks. However, according to Robert L. Gulley in his book Money, Murder, Sex and Beer, there was no documentation supporting the car accident, and it is suspected that Mrs Koehler, who was very active in society and social circles in San Antonio, was merely fatigued, and it was suspected that she was suffering from a popular “ailment” amongst wealthy women called “neurasthenia,” which included anxiety, headaches and depression.
Photo: Emma Koehler…..courtesy Hotel Emma
Otto Koehler, believing the medics of the day, set about hiring a nurse to tend to his wife. During a trip to Germany in 1911, the Koehlers met Emma Dumke ( known as Emmi ) and recruited her to move to Texas to care for Mrs Koehler. This she did, and it wasn’t long before the amorous Otto Koehler turned his affections to the younger Emma.
Photo: Emmi Dumke…Salt Lake City Tribune
It is believed that Emmi Dumke was becoming uncomfortable with the arrangement of serving Mrs Koehler by day as a nurse and companion….while having an affair with Otto Koehler, all under the same roof.
Later that year, she reached out to her friend Emma Hedda Burgemeister, told her of the situation at the Koehler’s, and soon after she moved in to share Hedda Burgemeister’s small apartment on South Presa Street.
Emma Hedda Burgemeister, who had moved from Germany in 1907, was a tall, attractive blonde, a trained nurse, and an accomplished singer.
Photo: Emma Hedda Burgemeister…Texas Hunting Forum
She trained with singing coach Emmett Roundtree, and oftentimes performed with other pupils at the St. Anthony Hotel in musical recitals.
Photo: San Antonio Light
Upon discovering that the two were now living together, Otto purchased a small home near to Emma Hedda Burgemeister’s apartment, and made it available for both of the young women. When Otto was planning to visit with Emmi Dumke at night, Hedda Burgemeister would make herself scarce. According to Hedda Burgemeister, the relationship between Otto Koehler and Emmi Dumke continued into 1913.
Photo: The home Otto Koehler purchased. Photo by Author….Address is from the Public Record
However, it was that year that Emmi Dumke fell in love with Martin Daschle, a young lawyer from Missouri she met on a trip back to Germany with the Koehlers. She consequently left San Antonio to marry Martin Daschle in St. Louis, Missouri.
According to Hedda Burgemeister, Otto Koehler then turned his attentions to her, employed her for the care of his wife, and declared his love for her….even proposing marriage to her, promising to leave his wife. The Seattle Star Newspaper on December 1st 1914, reported that, Miss Burgemeister was ”a beautiful blonde, petite, vivacious, with regular features and an appealing smile.”
She claimed she refused his proposal for the sake of Mrs Koehler, and told neighbors she was happy with having a relationship with Mr Koehler.
Something apparently changed between Hedda Burgemeister and Otto Koehler, because during the summer of 1914, the Koehlers took their usual trip to Germany, but Hedda was not included in the trip. Instead, Otto Koehler gave her two monetary notes, each for $10,000. Later, some speculated this was his way of “buying her silence” to protect his public profile; however, Hedda claimed they were given to her in case anything happened to Otto Koehler on the overseas trip.
Hedda became suspicious of his behavior on his return, suspecting that there may be another woman who had caught his attention. She hired someone to follow Koehler. She later claimed she did this because she feared he would harm himself after Miss Dumke had left to marry someone else, but there was the suspicion she was trying to catch him with another woman.
The events leading up to the shooting are somewhat clouded by various testimonies; however, it is known that Hedda Burgemeister asked the now, Emmi Dachsel, to return from St Louis because she wanted someone to talk to about the situation she was in.
When Koehler asked Hedda Burgemeister to return the monetary notes he gave her, Hedda feared that he wanted to get her out of the way and claimed that she feared for her life. She requested Emmi Dachsel go to Otto Koehler and ask him to come to the little house to sort everything out. At this time, Hedda also met with a lawyer, Florence Ramer, to change her will, making Emmi Dachsel her beneficiary.
Otto Koehler came to visit on the afternoon of November 13th, 1914. According to Emmi Dachsel, she let Otto Koehler into the house, but he immediately sought out Hedda Burgemeister, who was in her room at the rear of the dwelling. It was reported that soon after he arrived, shots rang out from the back of the house. Otto Koehler was fatally shot three times. One bullet had broken his neck, another had penetrated his skull just below the left eye, and a third had entered the breast. During the incident, Hedda Burgemeister suffered a severe gash to her wrist, which she later admitted was self-inflicted. Hedda later testified that she shot Koehler when he raised his pistol at her, and she fired to protect both herself and Emmi Dachsel. She claimed she slashed her own wrist because, in her words, “I wanted to go with him.”
The first police officers on the scene arrested both Emmi Daschle and Hedda Burgemeister. However, Emmi Dachsel was later released, avoiding any prosecution in the case. Hedda Burgemeister was arrested and held in jail pending a trial.
Photo: Quincy Daily Herald
Otto Koehler’s funeral cortege was one of the largest ever seen in San Antonio with over 150 motor vehicles and 100 carriages making up the procession. An estimated 3,000 people attended the graveside service on November 16th, 1914.
Photo: The Koehler’s grave site…Author
Photo: Author
Photo: Author
Photo: Author
Hedda Burgemeister was charged with the murder of Otto Koehler, but was granted a cash bond at $7,500. Sometime in January 1917, a letter was received by her attorney stating that she was returning to Germany to help nurse wounded soldiers. Hedda claimed in her trial that she was let out of jail and assisted to the station. Upon receiving this correspondence, Judge W. S. Anderson of the 37th District Court subsequently declared her bond forfeited.
Photo: Ardmore Daily Ardmoreite
However in September 1917, it was reported that she had agreed to return to San Antonio from New York where she had been living, with the promise of a fair trial from San Antonio District Attorney D.C. McAskill.
Photo: San Antonio Light
The story, which had captivated San Antonio for almost four years, was about to have its conclusion in the 37th district court. The trial was set to begin on January 14th, 1918, but after some delays with witnesses and legal proceedings, the first testimony was heard on January 17th, 1918.
Photo: San Antonio Light
During the proceedings, both Emmi and Hedda testified as to the events of that November 1914 afternoon, and the Houston Post newspaper reported that when Hedda Burgemeister took to the stand, the crowd applauded her statements, and many women wept openly. Throughout the trial, under intense questioning, she maintained that she shot Otto Koehler in self defense in fear of her life and to protect her friend.
The all-male jury retired to consider their decision at 6:30 pm on January 22nd. At noon the following day, the Foreman of the Jury, L.W. Earnest delivered the verdict, “We the Jury find the Defendant Not Guilty.”
The courthouse erupted in applause and Hedda Burgemeister was mobbed as the crowd congratulated her when she left the courthouse….a free woman.
Photo: Daily Kennebec Journal
It was about 12 months later, in February 1919, when Hedda Burgemeister made headlines again…..but for a very different reason. She got married. Not only married, but her husband was James Monroe Turley, a member of the jury who handed down the verdict in her case. They were married in New Orleans on February 11th.
Photo: San Antonio Light
According to James Turley’s sister Edna, writing in her book Tales From The Manchaca Hills, Edna said, “Although I treated her courteously, I always had a creepy feeling in her presence. I don’t know why, for I certainly felt that she had been within her rights to kill a man who was trying to shoot her. But that didn’t prevent me from being afraid of her.”
Hedda and James Turley remained married until his death in March 1942. According to Edna Turley, “Not only did she ( Hedda ) run an efficient household, but she invested the money Jim made so that they accumulated quite an estate.”
Hedda Burgemeister died seven years later in April 1949 leaving behind a life story full of intrigue and emotion that lives on today as the tale of San Antonio’s “Three Emmas.”
Sources:
San Antonio Sunday Light
San Antonio Light
Houston Post
Money, Murder, Sex and Beer, Robert L. Gully
Tales from the Manchaca Hills, Jane and Bill Hogan as told by Edna Turley Carpenter
San Antonio Express News
River City Ghosts
Hotel Emma
Salt Lake City Tribune
Texas Hunting Forum
Quincy Daily Herald
Daily Kennebec Journal
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