This week’s story begins with a married couple named Henry and Ellen Athey. It was Ellen’s first marriage and Henry’s second. Before marrying Ellen, Henry was married to Mary Crites, who was Ellen’s sister. After Mary died, Ellen married Henry and gave birth to their daughter. Henry also had two children with his late wife. The couple lived near New Philadelphia, Ohio during the late 1800s.

Marc Hoover.

After Ellen suffered a near fatal miscarriage in 1880, she hired Mary Seneff to help care for the children and their home. Mary had an excellent reputation as being a hard worker and was well liked. According to Lydia Crites, Ellen’s mother, her daughter and Mary got along well. Unknown to Mary, Ellen had a violent temper and jealousy issues.

After not hearing from Mary for a week, Sarah Resler, Mary’s sister, became concerned. The sisters always kept in touch with each other. On June 4, 1880, Sarah received a strange letter from Mary. Supposedly, Mary traveled to Indiana to visit their mother.

Sarah and her husband John were suspicious. Sarah knew her sister wouldn’t just leave without saying anything. John and Sarah also considered the letter odd because whoever wrote it had incorrectly spelled Mary’s name as Marry Senneffet.

Knowing Mary had worked for Ellen Athey, The Reslers visited Ellen’s residence to inquire about Mary’s whereabouts. The Atheys claimed Mary had left early on May 29, 1880 to find another job. The Reslers didn’t believe this story and shared their concerns with authorities.

On June 15, 1880, a man named John Kraus saw a large bundle floating in Sugar Creek near a bridge. Kraus and another man dragged the mysterious bundle to shore and examined it. Inside the bundle were the remains of a decomposing woman wrapped in sheets and various materials. The bundle included bricks to weigh the body down. Whoever dumped the woman’s body wanted to make sure it remained in its watery grave.

The medical examiner concluded someone had murdered and then buried the woman. After being buried, the killer dug up the corpse and placed it in the creek. The corpse had a fractured skull and cut marks in its jaw. Defensive wounds were also present.

The medical examiner ruled the murder weapon may have either been an axe or a hatchet. With Mary Seneff missing, authorities asked John Resler to see if the corpse was his missing sister-in-law. Although Sarah didn’t view the body, she identified the blouse on the corpse as Mary’s. John and Sarah confirmed the corpse belonged to Mary.

Since Mary was last seen with Ellen Athey, authorities suspected the Atheys of killing Mary. Henry, Ellen and Alex Crites (Ellen’s brother) were arrested for killing Mary Seneff. After searching the property, authorities detected the powerful stench of human decomposition.

This led them to where Ellen had buried Mary’s body. Authorities also located bricks and other material similar to the items found with Mary’s body. Authorities also found the axe used to kill Mary. Afterward, the horrific story came out.

Ellen told her brother Alex that she murdered Mary with an axe and then buried the body on the property. However, the smell of body decomposition became so powerful that Ellen had to dig up Mary’s body and remove it.

After Ellen dug up the body, Henry, Alex and David Crites (Ellen’s father) wrapped the body and weighed it down with bricks and other materials. The trio then tossed the body into Sugar Creek.

The Athey home also showed signs of a futile cleanup attempt, but authorities weren’t fooled because some of Mary’s blood remained. After the investigation, the authorities only charged Ellen Athey with killing Mary Seneff. Based on overwhelming evidence, a jury convicted Ellen of second-degree murder. She received a life sentence to be served at the Ohio State Penitentiary.

In 1884, she was moved to the Columbus Hospital for the insane where she remained until her death on April 3, 1922. So why did Ellen Athey murder Mary Seneff?

Apparently, Ellen’s anger and jealousy led to her killing Mary. One night, Ellen dreamed that her husband and Mary ran away together. Even if it were only a dream, Ellen refused to lose her husband to Mary. Over 100 years later, it remains difficult to believe that Mary Seneff died because an evil woman had a bad dream.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.