Mysterious Deaths At Dunning 1895

August 1895- The murder of George Pucik at Dunning. Two attendants were held responsible for the murder; George Gough, john p Anderson.. A grand jury held them without bail for the murder of Pucik and three other Dunning patients. Michael thacker was 80 years old when he lost his fortune and began showing signs of “melancholia through worry and drink” and was committed to the asylum at Dunning in June 1894. He was found to be physically in good health. His body was discovered with bruises , two inch wound on his forehead and hand prints around his throat. His widow and daughter were told that he had fallen from his bed and killed himself. Despite this account, a death certificate was given to them after Thacker’s burial that stated heart disease and advanced age. His family was convinced that he had been murdered by the attendants at Dunning. Because the family did not have the financial means for lawsuit, they did not prosecute the attendants.

Mrs. Emma Peterson informed the police that her sister Annie Olsen who was committed to Dunning for mania died in the hospital at the hands of one of the female attendants. Mrs. Peterson alleged that her sister’s skull had been fractured by blows to her head and that her sister had complained to her many times about being mistreated by Dunning staff. The body was to be exhumed for an investigation and there is no information available as to what the conclusion was.

John Peetz told the coroner that his sister Kittie Peetz died at Dunning on June 13 1894, also the result of cruelty by the staff. The body was also to be exhumed for an investigation into the allegations.