On the diamond, twenty-eight-year-old Marty Bergen had the respect of his teammates as he was regarded as one of the best defensive catchers in the early days of baseball. Off the field, however, he was seen as a most defensive person whom his teammates tried to avoid.

Bergen played four seasons for the Boston Beaneaters, now the Atlanta Braves. Having always been short-tempered and aloof, his descent into darkness quickened following the death of his four-year-old son William in April 1899. He became paranoid that his teammates were conspiring to kill him and began walking sideways so that he could see the “assassins” approaching him from either side.

Bergen had to be removed from a game that October after refusing to catch the pitches; he claimed he was simultaneously fending off knife attacks from invisible assailants.

The Beanater catcher agreed to seek help from both doctors and clergymen, but he refused to take the bromides prescribed to him because he believed they were poison. Bergen’s behavior reached a boiling point that winter as the mercurial Marty morphed into a murderer.

Marty Bergen

On January 19, 1900, Bergen’s father found the bloodied bodies of his son, Joseph, daughter-in-law, Harriet, and two grandchildren in their North Brookfield, Massachusetts, home.

The medical examiner determined Marty Bergen had beaten his wife Hattie and their two children, six-year-old Florence and three-year-old Joseph, to death with an axe. After annihilating his family, Bergen did the same to himself, having taken a straight razor to his throat with such force that he had nearly beheaded himself.

I could not find a picture of Joseph.

After annihilating his family, Bergen did the same to himself, having taken a straight razor to his throat with such force that he had nearly beheaded himself.

Bergen’s neighbors were well acquainted with his erratic behavior but still expressed shock at the brutal crime, saying he was unusually cheerful and upbeat in the days preceding the murders. In addition, for all his odd actions, he always seemed devoted to his wife and children.

Modern doctors generally agree that Marty Bergen was a schizophrenic suffering from manic depression.

Bergen Goes Berserk

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92880889/harriet-v-bergen#

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92880943/florence-mary-bergen

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92881026/joseph-bergen

SOURCES:

• Baseball-Reference
• ESPN