Plenty of people had seen what had happened and knew of Charles’ history with Mary Bolinsky. He was quickly apprehended by a posse and brought back to town. The police took him to the place where Mary Bolinsky lay conscious but dying. They wanted her to ID her murderer. A flash of recognition passed over Mary’s face at the sight of Charles and she indicated he was the man who had shot her.

Moments later, Mary died. Charles was still standing over the girl and when she ceased to breathe, he murmured, “I am satisfied.”

It was a shocking crime. Charles was taken to Schuylkill County Jail in Pottsville. He refused to admit to the murder. The authorities, of course, wanted a confession, but they didn’t feel that they necessarily needed one. They had plenty of witnesses who were in the saloon when the murder occurred.

Several days passed, and Wawsen began to act strangely. His head ached and he brooded over his trouble. He said he couldn’t remember the shooting. He told guards he had been robbed of $800. He was gross and unsanitary. His cell was filthy. The jail physician began to suspect Charles Wawsen was, in fact, insane. But at a preliminary hearing, Judge Shay refused absolutely to send Wawsen to the asylum for evaluation. The prisoner was “shamming,” he said, feigning insanity in a desperate attempt to avoid the gallows. The judge implied that Wawsen merely hoped to be transferred to a less secure facility so he could escape.

On the morning of June 14, the prisoners in the jail were awakened by terrified shrieks coming from Wawsen’s cell. Eventually, the jailor managed to calm Charles down enough to learn what was the matter. The prisoner’s teeth chattered as he said Mary Bolinsky’s ghost had confronted him in his cell.

This became a regular occurrence at the jail. Charles appeared to be legitimately terrified. He pleaded for mercy. He swore he couldn’t live under these conditions. He refused to sleep lest she creep in through his dreams. He could be found at all hours of the day and night, on his knees begging the Lord to deliver him from the ghost of Mary.

The foreboding Schuylkill Jail

On June 22, a huge thunderstorm blew into Pottsville and a massive bolt of lightning struck in the yard a few feet from Wawsen’s cell. Recognizing this as a divine sign, Wawsen cried out to the guards. “Take me to the prison office,” he demanded.

There, Charles admitted he had been feigning his insanity. “I shot the girl because she refused to marry me,” he said. He requested clean clothes and was transferred to a new cell. From that moment, Charles’ case was resolved very quickly. He was soon tried and convicted. Judge Shay passed a death sentence on Wawsen and the Board of Pardons refused to take up his case. Governor Stuart refused to commute his sentence or stay his execution. Charles Wawsen was a doomed man.

But Charles had other plans.

Go to Part 3!