Hemlock in the Headlines

November 15, 1921
From the Saginaw News Courier, Tuesday, November 15, 1921, pg. 1, 2.

HEMLOCK PAIR KILLED,
HOUSE FIRED TO HIDE CRIME IS BELIEF.
BLOOD, WOUND, LEAD TO PROBE.

Charred Bodies of Mr. And
Mrs. A.B. Champlain Found
on Bloody Blanket. 22-Year-Old-Son Held.

(Special to the News Courier)
HEMLOCK, Mich., Nov. 15.--That Mr. and Mrs. Adrian B. Champlain, whose charred bodies were taken early this morning from the ruins of their farm home near here, were murdered, and the house set afire to hide the crime is the belief of county authorities investigating the case.
Richard Champlain, 22 years old, their only son, has been locked up in the county jail at Saginaw pending completion of the investigation.

Find Blood in Bed

When the flames had died down, the officers searched the ruins, and found the bodies of the man and woman, lying in bed, in their bedroom on the first floor of the house.  When they lifted the man's body from the bed they found beneath it, on the blanket, which was untouched by the fire, the stains of what they say resembled a pool of blood.  The same condition was found on the part of the blanket beneath the woman's body.
These discoveries aroused the officer's suspicions and when they went back to Saginaw about 3 o'clock this morning they took young Champlain with them.
Subjected to severe questioning at the county jail at Saginaw, Champlain, according to the officers, told a story that conflicted in several particulars with that he had told at the scene of the fire.  He accounted for the blood upon his hands and arms and upon a handkerchief that was found in his pocket, by saying that he fell when he leaped, from his bedroom window, striking upon his face, and that the blood came from his nose.

Arrested for Auto Theft

The Hemlock, Merrill and Saginaw fire departments were called soon after the news of the fire began to spread, but only the two village departments responded as the Saginaw department would be unable to be of any assistance without a water supply.  The firemen, however, were unable to do anything toward saving the building.
Young Champlain, according to the Saginaw officers, has an unsavory reputation.  Neighbors of the family have told the officers that he was "wild" and of exceedingly quick temper, and that he often had caused the parents trouble.
He was arrested last May by Detective Laing on a charge of stealing an automobile in Elyria, Ohio, the officer finding the car in the boy's possession.  The case was settled out of court by the young man's father, who met the Ohio officers in Detroit while on their way here to take him back to Elyria, and arranged a settlement.
One neighbor told the officers that the young man enlisted in the army during the world war, appropriating his father's automobile, driving it to Saginaw, and leaving it in a garage there after enlisting.

November 16, 1921

From the Saginaw News Courier, Wednesday, November 16, 1921, pg. 1.

HEAD WOUND CAUSE OF DEATH, DOCTOR TESTIFIES AT INQUEST.

Mrs. Champlain, Hemlock Tragedy
Victim, Not Burned to Death, Nor
Suffocated, Physician Tells
Jurors.

Head of Hammer Fits Fracture.

Son of Dead Couple, Held Pending
Investigation, Clings to Assertion of
Innocence...Complaint May Be Made Against
Youth After Completion of Inquest...Neighbors
Testify to Young Champlain's Actions
Night of Parents' Tragic Death.

 (By Staff Correspondent)
Hemlock, Mich., Nov. 16--Positive testimony that the wound found in the skull of Mrs. Adrian B. Champlain, who with her husband, was found dead in the smouldering ruins of their farm home near Hemlock Monday night, was sufficient to cause death, and that it is improbable that she was burned to death or suffocated, was given to the coroner's jury which began its investigation into the death of the Champlains' Wednesday noon by Dr. Werner Kersten, who examined the bodies.
Richard Champlain, son of the victims, who is being held pending investigation of his parents' death, was not present at the inquest, nor was he represented by counsel.  No complaint has yet been made against him.  It was expected that none would be made until after the inquest.

Fracture Made by Hammer?

Dr. Kersten said he found in the rear of the woman's head, on the right side, a small round break in the skull, about three-quarters of an inch or an inch in diameter.  He said the break was approximately the same size as the hammer found in the ruins and that the wound was sufficient to have caused death.
He followed this testimony with the statement that he does not believe the woman was burned to death or suffocated.  He said that if death had been due to either of these causes there would have been little or no blood, whereas a considerable amount of blood was actually found on the bedding on which the woman and man lay.

Son's Actions Described