As always, I like to let the newspapers of the day tell the story when possible. This is a sad tale of a wife and mother who, in a fit of mental darkness, murdered her husband and baby and then turned her gun on herself.

The year was 1894 and Maria Keller of New York was privately battling her own secret demons. As far as anyone knew, not even her husband knew how bad it was for her. And, if he did, he put on a good front. They were a mild, loving family who attended church. Emil, Maria's husband was a good provider who did not drink and was every bit a loving husband and father.

So, why did this happen? What made Maria, in her late twenties, pull out a .22 caliber revolver from her bed sheets right after recieving a kiss goodbye from her husband before he left for work and kill her family? Of course we will never know for sure. This story probably would have passed into history let it not be for a photograph snapped of the couple and their baby...a group portrait taken of them in their single custom built casket. All three were buried together in the same casket. As far as anyone knows, it is the only photograph taken of the couple. And though it shows what appears as a happy family in slumber, it tells of the darkness that many feel in their troubled lives. For most, we can only hope that something happens for them that changes "their" stories.