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CHICAGO (UPI) — An unem ployed spinster was found stabbed 6d times and lying dead Wednes day night in the doorway to a Rtoman Catholic church where she prayed for help in finding a job. Police said the victim, Gertrude Lewandowski, 40, died after a “terrific fight’ that crisscrossed her palms with knife slashes. An unidentified suspect was seized for questioning after neigh bors said a man ran from Blessed Sacrament church about the time of the slaying. The victim’s clothes, jewelry and purse, containing 22 cents, were intact and police said there was no apparent motive for the maniacal stabbing. Miss Lewandowski lived with her sister, Dolores, in a second floor apartment a block from the church. Dolores told police her sister was enrolled in a secretari al correspondence course and left the apartment to look for a job. They talked by telephone brief ly about five hours before the vic tim’s body was found and there was “nothing unusual about the conversation,” her sister said. Dolores Lewandowski and her sister planned to visit the church to “pray for a job.” Her purse lay in a pew six rows from the altar rail. Police said the assailant apparently forced Miss Lewandowski to leave the pew and walk to a side entrance where her body was found. The side entrance was the only un locked door to the church. The body was found about 6 p.m. by William Vacha, a regular communicant who notified the pastor, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Ray mond O’Brien, Coroner Andrew Toman said she had been dead about two hours. Miss Lewandowski had been stabbed 44 times in the chest and 20 times in the back, legs and arms. No weapon was found. Andrew Sabala, a carpenter , said he dated Miss Lewandowski, was told of the slaying when he left work late Wednesday. Sabala told police the victim had no known enemies. The killing was the city’s third major unsolved slaying in three days. A livery service driver was kidnapped, killed and dumped in gangland style in midtown Mon day and a convicted dope peddler was found shot and killed in a car Tuesday.
Newspaper Details
Columbus Daily Telegram
Columbus, Nebraska, US
Thu, Jun 15, 1961
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Amber G.
AU 18 Jun 2026
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