A chilling piece of Iowa’s past has resurfaced — and it reads like something straight out of a crime novel.
Back in December 1936, a tragic murder shook the city of Ottumwa to its core. The victim? A young local waitress named Catherine Leahy. The killer? Her boyfriend — a chef named Franz A. Jacobsen, who lived and worked between Ottumwa and Davenport.
Many Iowans today have never heard of the case, but historical records and newspaper archives confirm it: Jacobsen shot and killed Catherine Leahy, then claimed insanity in court. But a Wapello County jury wasn’t convinced. He was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by hanging.
According to articles from the Cedar Rapids Gazette and other papers at the time, Jacobsen’s final moments came early on the morning of April 19, 1938, at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. Witnesses said he “dropped to death through the twin traps of the gallows.” The event drew a massive crowd — reportedly the largest audience ever for an execution at the prison, with around 150 people present.
Jacobsen had asked Iowa’s Governor Nelson Kraschel for clemency, but his request was denied.
