Sophia Eberlein

Sophia Eberlein, (1889-1931), was beaten to death by her second husband Jacob Bentz in her home in Harvey, North Dakota. Librarians in the Harvey Library, which was built on the site of her former home and place of death, now believe that the ghost or the "presence" of "Sophie" might be haunting the library. [Jackson, William, "The Best of Dakota Mysteries and Oddities," Valley Star Books, 2003, ISBN 0-9677349-5-9, pp. 29-31]

Murder

Sophia Eberlein was born in Russia and emigrated to the United States. She married Hugo Eberlein, a well-known Harvey businessman, and had two daughters, Lillian and Alice. After Hugo's death in 1928, Sophia married Bentz. One night Bentz bludgeoned Sophia to death while she slept. He did his best to clean up the scene of the crime and tried to make Sophie's death look like a car accident. However, when Sophia's daughter Lillian came home for the funeral, she found blood in the house and reported her findings to the police. Bentz admitted the crime during the investigation and was sentenced to life in prison. He died in 1943 behind bars in the state penitentiary. [Jackson, p. 31]

Unexplained occurrences

In 1990 a new library was built on the site of the former Eberlein house. Librarians report that the library door mysteriously relocks itself after they have opened it, that lights have blinked on and off in the library and that on one occasion one entryway light remained mysteriously on after the librarian flicked off the other lights. One night after everyone had left, a heavy library cart filled with books was moved to block a doorway and the librarian and her assistant couldn't move it back by themselves. The librarian also reports unexplained cold chills whenever she sits in her office, even in the middle of the summer. The librarian's office is built directly over the site where Eberlein's bedroom was. [Jackson, p. 31]

Notes

References

*Jackson, William, "The Best of Dakota Mysteries and Oddities," Valley Star Books, 2003, ISBN 0-9677349-5-9