The New York Times - April 24, 1918

admits killing girl then ends his life

Helmuth Schmidt had an effective M.O. He would place ads using a false name, trolling for young, lonely, immigrant women whom he would slay at the first opportunity.

Schmidt travelled throughout early twentieth-century America using his ruse to lure victim after victim before being captured in Royal Oak, Michigan, on April 22, 1918, for the killing of Agnes Dominick.

Though it is suspected Schmidt may have killed more than thirty innocent women, the true total will never be known. The killer made himself his own final victim by crushing his own skull while in jail.

SEX: M RACE: W TYPE: N MOTIVE: CE

VICTIMS: "Dozens" suspected

MO: Profit-motivated "Bluebeard" slayer of immigrant women, lured with ads in newspaper "lonely-hearts" columns.

DISPOSITION: Jailhouse suicide in Mich. prior to trial on one count, 1918.

Michael Newton - An Encyclopedia of Modern Serial Killers - Hunting Humans