On the morning of September 14, 1972, around 11:06am, owner Mrs. Anna Diedrich called police to check on guests at the Kaukauna Motel on route 4 (Highway OO). They were supposed to have checked out the day before but had not been answering knocks at the door.
Lieutenant Dean J. Ball discovered a woman dead in the room. Another woman in the room was in critical condition and brought to Kaukauna Community Hospital – she had her throat slit roughly 5 inches across, lost a great deal of blood and required surgery. Two razor blades were found in the bathroom, with a blood trail running from there to where the woman was in the bedroom. On the first day, police would not identify the women other than to say they were from Green Bay. “A large number of books and magazines open to pages referring to suicide were found strewn around the room.” Police immediately suspected a suicide pact rather than double homicide, but processed he room fully, taking many photos.
Early verification of their identities was slow because neither woman had ID on them. The presumption of their residence was based on the registration of the 1967 Chevrolet sedan they had been driving – registration was in the name of both women. Certain papers in the room also suggested the women had been in other places in Wisconsin and Indiana since March (six months ago). The dead woman was autopsied at the Appleton Memorial Hospital.
By late the next day, the injured woman was upgraded to fair condition and she was identified as Camille C. Quinn, age 32. Interestingly, visual identification came from Sybil C. Mullen, a secretary of Dr. Weisler in Appleton. Lt. Ball found paperwork connecting the women to Weisler and sought him out. Mullen said both women had been patients of Weisler’s and were undergoing psychotherapy. Both would frequently write the doctor letters talking about the other one, and the tone was usually “quite desperate.” They often tried to get the doctor to prescribe more medication for them, but he felt it had gone too far and “put tight controls on this.” Rev. William J. Alcuin, a priest at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center n Marathon, Wisconsin, was also brought to Kaukauna to identify Quinn. (One source describes Alcuin as Quinn’s “brother,” but I’m not sure if this was literal or religious terminology.)
Camille’s adopted father, Earl Quinn of Heywarth, Illinois, was notified by Chief William C. Nagel, and he said he would come as soon as possible. The dead woman was named as Sue Schutkouske, 39. Deputy Coroner Thomas Verhagen (filling in for the vacationing Bernard Kemps) said a coroner’s inquest could decide otherwise, but he did not see any signs of foul play. Schutkouske had been wearing pajamas and had no mark on her body – a deadly amount of Deporal and Doriden was in her system.
Quinn explained the pair had been traveling frequently over the past year and were in Hebron, Indiana before coming to Kaukauna, because they visited the dead woman’s brother. Quinn said her companion had taken pills and afterward, Quinn put a pillow over her head and sat on her stomach for the next 90 minutes to make sure she was dead. The two had formed a suicide pact “so they could be with God.” Once Schutkoske was dead, Quinn took a rosary and put it in the dead woman’s hand.
Quinn left a note identifying relatives to contact, and then swallowed tranquilizers herself, and cut her own throat several times. She failed in her attempt – which lead to district attorney James Long charging Quinn with assisting suicide for the death of her friend. Long said he would seek to get Quinn mental help in Oshkosh or Madison, noting that both women had undergone psychotherapy in the past and it seemed clear the suicide pact was instigated by mental distress rather than any criminal motive.
Investigation found the two had been nuns together, working at St. Elizabeth Hospital, but left their order 14 years ago. Shutkovske had a degree from Marion College in Fond du Lac, while Quinn appeared to only have a high school diploma from Heyworth High School. They remained friends and were hoping to get employment at Appleton Memorial Hospital. Their most recent local address was 1681 Deckner Avenue in Green Bay, what was known as the San Luis Apartments (this building seems to still be there). On job applications, they had listed each other as „next of kin.“
While Quinn was still recovering in the hospital, she was questioned by deputy coroner Tom Verhagen and District Attorney James Long. The entire interview took 31 minutes. Quinn appeared very unclear on what day it was or how long it had been since she checked in to the Kaukauna Motel. She recalled applying for jobs, including at the Appleton Memorial Hospital. Sue did not join her, because she was suffering from heart trouble. According to Quinn, Sue took no medication for this because doctors did not believe her, but heart trouble ran in Sue’s family – both her mother and father had died of it – and she could not handle any heavy work.
Quinn freely and matter-of-factly explained how she had suffocated her friend after she took Deprol and Doridan(sp), and then failed to follow through with the razor blade. She said this was something they had discussed in the past, and repeatedly told investigators they wanted to „Be with God“ and she was happy for Sue that she was now with God. (Rather than say kill or suicide, she kept using the phrase be with God.)
Quinn was hesitant to talk about the past. When asked if Sue had tried to kill herself before, she refused to answer saying it did not matter now. Her phrasing strongly suggests the answer was yes. She was more willing to talk about how they met. She said Sue left her order in 1958 and was in St. Catherine’s Hospital (where?) for heart trouble, and Quinn worked there. They became fast friends and Quinn then left her order, too.
When asked if they left a suicide note, Quinn said they left a note with Sue’s brother’s name, phone number and address. No message, just who to contact. Coroner Verhagen asked if Quinn left a note and she said no, because she would have asked or the same person. She said Sue’s family knew her better and accepted her more than her own family. „I was adopted and my parents were divorced and one runs one end of the state to the other. Neither have anything to do with each other or with me nor with my sister, or anything. So, Sue was really the only person I had.“