On This Date in Minnesota History: April 4

April 4, 1911 – Minnie Wegner, 23 years old, of St. Cloud, Minn., was shot and killed instantly this evening by Arthur Wold, who immediately turned the weapon on himself at the residence of Miss Wegner’s bother-in-law, C. A. Loudon, in Minneapolis. The shooting occurred close to midnight after Wold had spent his evening in the company of the young woman and her family.

Wold is said to have been desperately infatuated with Wegner, who frowned upon his proposals. Wegner and her mother, Mrs. Fred Wegner, came to Minneapolis Sunday for a visit with the Loudons. The family was at a loss to know how Wold knew the Wegners were in the city. He called this evening, and according to Loudon, spent the evening playing and singing.

About midnight Loudon says he was in the kitchen eating a small luncheon when Miss Wegner entered and said she wished that Wold would leave and that she had a notion to ask him to do so. As she returned to the parlor, Loudon said he overheard Wold say, “Come on in, Kid, I want to talk with you.” The answer and subsequent remarks were too indistinct to be heard, and then Loudon says he heard his sister-in-law say, “No.”

At that instant a shot rang out and Loudon rushed into the parlor. As he entered another shot was fired point blank at his head but he dodged and escaped unscathed. Another shot hit Wegner and she dropped without a moan. Wold then turned the weapon upon himself and fired twice, expiring almost immediately.

Wold, a street car conductor, was recently divorced from his wife. He was about 40 years old and the father of four children. He had been paying marked attention to Wegner for some time past and relatives blame the shooting this evening on unrequited affection.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Shooting Tragedy Enacted Over Unrequited Affection. Minnie Wagner, of St. Cloud, Meets Death at Hands of Arthur Wold.  Rejected Suitor Takes Own Life After Firing at Relative.”; April 5, 1911; p. 1.

Photo taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain Feb. 15, 2016,
as long as acknowledgement included.

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