One of the most cold-blooded murders that has occurred in Berks county in years, and the second in a little more than twenty-four hours, happened on the 18th instant near what is known as the Five-Mile House in Cumru township, six miles outside of Reading, Pa.
Lazarus Schouour, aged 55, a prosperous farmer, twice fired a gunshot charge into the body of Charles Reisch, aged 35, a neighboring farmer and leading resident of Cumru township and Reisch died an hour afterwards at St. Joseph's Hospital, in Reading, to which place he was taken in an automobile.
There has been bad blood between the two farmers for several years and several times they figured in court circles. Shonoar according to the story he gave the authorities, saw Reisch pass his house early in the morning. He said he knew his neighbor was on his way to the store and would soon be back.
Schonour armed himself with a single-barreled shotgun and went out into the woodshed to await the return of his victim. In a calm and cool confession to the police, without any signs of remorse, he described how he knelt behind a carriage and rested the barrel of the gun upon the shalt, giving him perfect command of the road. He said:
"I was determined to get square with Heich and waited until I saw him go down the lane from his home. Securing my single-barrel shotgun, I charged it and waited at my wagonshed. I rested the muzzle of the gun on the wheel of a wagon and when Reich passed I pulled the trigger and shot him in the stomach. Reich cried for mercy. I loaded my gun a second time and while he was lying on the ground, I emptied a second charge into his back and finished the job."
Schonnour handed over the gun and said he would willingly accompany them to jail. He was taken to Reading and taken before Magistrate Dumn, where a warrant charging him with murder was served upon him. He was then taken to jail. The murder was one of the most cold-blooded in the history of the county.
Reich, who was slain, leaves a widow and nine small children and his widow is in a delicate condition. Schonour has a wife and five children. Both are well-known farmers.
Submitted by Nancy.
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