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| Headline from The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, p. 1 |
Shortly before 4am, neighbors of the Jarecki house heard two gunshots. Investigating the disturbance, they found a side door unlocked. This led to a porch, from which they entered the kitchen, and found Seymour Jarecki on the floor, dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
On the floor near Jarecki was his revolver, with two discharged cartridges. A search found a bullet hole through the screen around the porch. The screen was bent outward around the hole indicating that the shot had been fired from within the house. The bullet that passed through the screen was found lodged in a nearby tree.
Jarecki was dressed in his night clothes, but his bed had not been slept in. The rest of the house similarly undisturbed, and no valuables had been taken.
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| Artists rendering of the crime scene. The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, p. 5. |
There were powder burns on Jarecki's chest, indicating that the fatal shot had been fired from point-blank range. There were also powder burns Jarecki's left hand and on the index finger of his right hand, suggesting that he had been gripping the gun when it discharged.
These facts led to two different theories to explain Jarecki's death—murder or suicide.
The murder theory went like this; Jarecki heard a noise in the middle of the night. Grabbing his gun, he went to investigate. Finding an intruder, he fired wildly and missed, the bullet passing harmlessly through the porch screen. The intruder shot back, killing Jarecki, then fled without robbing the house. This idea was buttressed by the fact that Jarecki had been assaulted and nearly killed six months earlier. That assailant was never found, leading people to speculate that the same criminal was responsible for Jarecki's death.
Supporters of the suicide theory argued that all of the facts could be explained without introducing mysterious assailants. There were powder burns on both of Jarecki's hands because he held the gun against his chest to fire it. As a doctor, he knew exactly where his heart was, so it was no surprise that the single bullet passed through that organ. There were no signs of struggle or robbery because there had been none. Why the second bullet fired from the porch? A police officer suggested that when Jarecki first tried to kill himself, the cartridge didn't fire. So he pointed the gun out toward the street to see if it was working. This time it fired correctly and the bullet passed through the porch screen and into the tree. Then Jarecki held the gun against his chest a second time, pulled the trigger, and fell dead.
Background
Seymour Tilford Jarecki was born on October 15, 1871 in New York City. His parents were Max and Amelia Jarecki. He was a grandson of Morris Jarecki and a nephew of Kate Jarecki, both of whom I've discussed recently. That makes him my first cousin, three times removed.
When Seymour was a young boy, his family moved to Denver, Colorado, where his father worked as a cigar maker and held a variety of minor positions in the city government. As a young man, Jarecki returned to New York to study at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1894.
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| Seymour Tilford Jarecki, c. 1902. From, Representative Men of Colorado, Rowell Art Publishing Company, Denver, 1902, p. 100. |
The new Dr. Jarecki moved back to Denver and went into practice. He held positions as a police surgeon in Denver and as an assistant county physician.
In 1898, Seymour Jarecki married Theresa Wisebart. They had two daughters, Clara (b. 1900) and Ruth (b. 1904).
Prior to his death, there were two other mysterious events in Seymour Jarecki's life. In June 1895, two months after being appointed police surgeon, he went missing. There was speculation that he had left town after an altercation with his father, or that he had run off with a young lady. Two days later, he reappeared in Denver but offered no details (to newspapers) about where he had gone.
Dr. Jarecki appears in the Denver papers again in late December, 1903. On the 29th of that month, he was found unconscious in his office with a fractured skull. He had been struck in the head with a large rock. Initial reports said he was in grave condition, but the next day he regained consciousness. He claimed he had been writing at his desk when somebody snuck up behind him. He heard the person at the last moment and started to turn to see who it was, only to be struck and lose consciousness. The police, however, told newspapers that they felt Dr. Jarecki was holding out on them and may have known whoever assaulted him.
The police never found Dr. Jarecki's assailant, and when Dr. Jarecki died in mysterious circumstances six months later, some people speculated that it was the same attacker—somebody who must have had a long-standing grudge against the doctor. One newspaper article speculated that Dr. Jarecki had performed a "peculiar operation" on a young lady and that his attacker and possible murder was her disgruntled husband.
Resolving the case
Despite the newspaper debates about whether Dr. Seymour Jarecki's death was murder or suicide, the police quickly decided it was suicide. A day after the death, a coroner's jury agreed and returned a verdict of suicide.
Additional circumstantial facts may have swayed the police and jurors. After the initial police investigation of Jarecki's death, both the family and the coroner were summoned. When the coroner arrived, both he and the family locked themselves in the house and nobody was admitted for two hours. When investigators were again allowed into the house, they found that the kitchen floor where Jarecki's body lay had been cleaned of both blood and any other evidence. The bed, which initial reports said had not been slept in, had been mussed. Later in the day, police discovered that the bullet which had lodged in the tree was also removed. All of this suggested an attempt to cover up details of Jarecki's death and make it look more like murder.
It also turned out that Jarecki had renewed a pair of life insurance policies the day before his death and appeared to be in financial trouble. He had recently asked to borrow $1,000 from his father, and despite appearances of prosperity, he had a large number of debts. When his estate was probated, there was not enough money to cover these obligations and the administrator was forced to sell the house to cover his debts.
Jarecki's family argued forcefully against suicide both before and after the police concluded the case. They claimed that he always left a fired cartridge in his gun since the gun didn't have a safety catch. This way, he didn't have to worry about somebody accidentally pulling the trigger and firing the gun. Conveniently, this would also mean that Jarecki's gun could only have fired one of the bullets found at the scene of his death.
A boy was also found who said he passed the Jarecki house "on his wheel" shortly before Jarecki's death. He claimed that he had seen two disreputable men loitering outside and shortly later heard the gunshots. Based on the boy's itinerary, however, the police were able to show that he could not have been at the Jarecki's house until at least 30 minutes after the shots were fired.
Aftermath
In addition to covering all of the different theories about Seymour Jarecki's death, the Denver Post carefully covered the question of Jarecki's life insurance. He had policies with four different providers for a total $16,600. The terms of one policy didn't cover death by suicide. A second policy only paid one third of its value in the event of suicide.
Despite the suicide verdict returned by the coroner's jury, one of these policies decided that there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Jarecki had killed himself and paid in full. The second policy initially refused to pay, but Jarecki's widow sued and a jury decided in her favor. They were forced to pay in full on the policy and also cover her court costs.
So what did happen? Did Seymour Jarecki really kill himself? The evidence, of course, is all second hand, filtered through the writers and editors of the Denver Post. Their accounts of the various arguments and counter-arguements weren't always clear about the validity of these claims. Despite these vagaries, I think the evidence was strongly in favor of suicide. I reach this conclusion by applying Occam's razor. All of the evidence from the scene of Jarecki's death could be accounted for by suicide. So there is no need to introduce in intruder or assassin to explain the facts. The lack of any concrete evidence of such an intruder further undermines the murder theory.
Despite my conclusion on this one point, there are still plenty of unanswered questions about Dr. Seymour Jarecki's life and death. What happened when he was assaulted in his office? Was that in any way connected to his death? And if his death was suicide, why did he kill himself? Was it for financial reasons, as the newspaper accounts implied? Was it depression? Or was it something else? As is so often the case, no matter how much you learn about a relative, the know facts always lead to more questions.
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| Seymour Jarecki was my 1st cousin, 3 times removed. The heavy lines in this figure trace our relationship. |
Notes and Sources
Nearly all of the information in this post was taken from the archives of The Denver Post at GenealogyBank.com. Here are the specific references for the key information:
Dr. Jarecki goes missing:
"Jarecki is Missing," The Evening Post, June 14, 1895, p. 2.
"Jarecki Returns," The Evening Post, June 17, 1895, p. 4.
Marriage of Seymour Jarecki and Therese Wisebart:
"Some Notable Events in Social Circles," The Denver Evening Post, June 18, 1898, p. 5.
The assault on Dr. Jarecki in his office:
"Doctor Jarecki, County Physician, Whose Skull was Crushed in by an Unknown Assailant, Suddenly Recovers Consciousness," The Denver Post, December 29, 1903, pp. 1, 5.
"Police are at Work on a Secret Theory," The Denver Post, December 30, 1903, pp. 1, 5.
"No Light on Mystery," The Denver Post, December 31, 1903, p. 14.
Dr. Jarecki's death, and the investigation:
"Shrouded in Deep Mystery is the Killing of Dr. S. T. Jarecki. Was it Suicide? Or Murder?," The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, pp. 1, 5.
"All Family Attended Party Last Night," The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, pp. 1, 5.
"Almost Killed Last December," The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, p. 1.
"Wife is sure he was Slain by a Burglar," The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, p. 5.
"Theories as to the Killing," The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, p. 5.
"Grief of Parents," The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, p. 5.
"Working out the Theory of Suicide," The Denver Post, June 30, 1904, p. 5.
"Who Killed Dr. Jarecki? What was the Motive? Police Anxiously Inquire," The Denver Post, July 1, 1904, pp. 1, 10.
"Certain Jarecki was Assassinated," The Denver Post, July 1, 1904, p. 1.
"Evidence Points to Murder Theory," The Denver Post, July 1, 1904, p. 2.
"Murder, Insist Relatives--Suicide, say the Police," The Denver Post, July 2, 1904, pp. 1, 5.
"Dr. Jarecki was Murdered in his Kitchen, so a New Clew Indicates," The Denver Post, July 3, 1904, pp. 1, 7.
"Seek Solution in Office Assault," The Denver Post, July 3, 1904, p. 7.
"Jarecki could have had Money from Friends if he had Asked," The Denver Post, July 3, 1904, p. 7.
Jarecki's estate:
"Jarecki Estate Assets are Less than Debts," The Denver Post, April 10, 1906, p. 6.
Tracking Seymour Jarecki's life insurance:
"Jarecki's Insurance," The Denver Post, July 1, 1904, p. 2.
"Will Refuse to Pay Policy," The Denver Post, August 15, 1904, p. 2; Conservative Life Insurance Company decides not to pay its $5,000 policy on Dr. Seymour Jarecki.
"Widow of Dr. Jarecki Receives Insurance Money," The Denver Post, August 20, 1904, p. 3; Woodmen of the World decides to pay its $3,000 policy on Seymour Jarecki.
"Jarecki's Death in Federal Court," The Denver Post, January 28, 1905. p. 14; case against Conservative Life Insurance Company.
"Holds Jarecki was Murdered," The Denver Post, June 15, 1905; jury decides against Conservative Life Insurance Company, forcing them to pay it's $5,000 policy plus court costs.
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