On This Date in Minnesota History: February 28

February 28, 1914 – A man, believed to be mad, stabbed Mrs. Clarence E. MacRae six times with a pocketknife this afternoon, and then thrust a stove poker down her throat as she lay unconscious. She is still alive but in critical condition. The brutal assault happened in her grocery store in northeast Minneapolis. She was wrapping up 10 cents worth of apples for the man at the time of her attack.

Northeast Minneapolis¹

Leslie Almquist went into the store just as the man was leaving. He was seized, dragged near the prostrate woman, and beaten with the bloody poker as it was drawn from Mrs. MacRae’s throat. When the boy cried out, the mad man stifled his moans by forcing the poker between his teeth. The boy’s throat was horribly lacerated, and he is also in serious condition.
Mr. MacRae entered the store about 10 minutes after the assault. His wife and the boy lay unconscious on the floor. 

Mrs. MacRae’s engagement ring was missing, and about $30 was taken from a cash drawer. The ring was later found in her purse.

Mrs. MacRae was taken home and her wounds were treated. Her injuries were too serious to permit removal to a hospital and surgical treatment had to be given in the dining room of her own house. Leslie was also taken to his own home.

Their grocery store was on 23^rd Ave. NE between Lincoln St. NE and Johnson St. NE (building is no longer there); their home was around the corner on Lincoln St. NE (built in 1910).²

The neighborhood of the grocery store was soon alarmed. Squads of citizens began to search, independently of the police, for Mrs. MacRae’s assailant. The brutality of the attack made it a case of horror to the community.

Mrs. MacRae had difficulty in telling the story of her attack because of her lacerated throat, and the weakness caused by loss of blood. She said her assailant was well-dressed. He wore a gray suit, a dark overcoat and a soft black hat. Several times before, she said, he had been a visitor at the store.

For a long time he sat in the store, reading a newspaper. She paid little attention to him. It was only when the store emptied of customers, about 3 p.m., that she became more aware of his presence.

He asked for 10 cents worth of apples. She stopped besides the counter to put the apples into a sack, and the man hurled himself upon her. He had a knife in his hand. Three times he struck at her throat. She could feel the blood from these wounds trickling down her neck. She tried to cry out, but this only increased the fury of his attack.

As she staggered away from him in an attempt to reach the door, he struck her in the breast with a full-arm swing. She sank to the floor, face downward. As she lay there, he struck her three more times, in the back, causing her to become unconscious.

A moment later, Leslie Almquist stepped through the door of the store. The madman met him there and pulled him inside. The man’s hands were covered with blood. He beat the boy furiously and swung him toward the stove, where Mrs. MacRae lay. When the bloody work with the poker was over, Leslie too, lay unconscious. The poker was replaced in Mrs. MacRae’s throat.

It was the wounds made by the poker that were the most serious in each case. Dr. C. C. Tyrell treated Mrs. MacRae and the boy. He said there were seven stab wounds on Mrs. MacRae’s body, three at her throat, one in the breast, and three on her back. The boy fared little better, though he was not stabbed. The knife has not been found. Dr. Tyrell thinks it was a pocketknife.

The police surgeon assisted Dr. Tyrell in an emergency operation in the dining room of the MacRae home. It was found that the wounds were all about four or five inches long and very deep. The throat was terribly torn. Dr. Tyrell says the poker must have been thrust far into her mouth again and again.

Chief Martinson personally directed the search for the assailant.

Leslie Almquist spent a comparatively quiet evening under the attention of his physician. He is 11 years old.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Madman Stabs Woman; Poker Thrust in Throat. Mrs. C. E. MacRae in Critical Condition; Boy Also Seriously Hurt. Brutal Attack in Northeast Grocery Store May Result Fatally. Robber-Customer Inflicts 7 Deep Wounds With a Pocketknife. Leslie Almquist, Who Happened on Scene, Second Store Poker Victim. Horrified Community Is Aroused—One Arrest by Police Unidentified.”; March 1, 1914; pp. 1 & 2.

¹https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast,_Minneapolis#/media/File:MinneapolisNortheastCommunity.PNG

²Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Feb. 28, 2018, as long as acknowledgement included.

Attacker of Grocery Store Owner and Boy Customer Caught; see March 4, 2018 blog.

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