Adolph Luetgert

Who was Adolph Luetgert?

Adolph Louis Luetgert was a German-American charged with murdering his wife and dissolving her body in lye in one of his sausage vats at the A.L. Luetgert Sausage & Packing Company in 1897.

Luetgert, born in Gütersloh, Westphalia, moved to Chicago, Illinois in the 1870s. He married his wife Louisa Bicknese on January 18, 1878. Luetgert ran the successful A.L. Luetgert Sausage & Packing Company and was considered the "sausage king" of Chicago until being accused of murdering his wife and being sentenced to life in prison on February 9, 1898 where he died about a year and a half later.

After the news of the trial became public, rumors spread that Luetgert had actually turned his wife into sausage and sold the "sausage" to unknowing consumers. Although this has been proven to be false as her body was dissolved and burned, the legend persists to this day. Another common legend about the murder is that the ghost of Louisa Luetgert haunts the old factory grounds and the couple's former home in Chicago.