The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-18 00:00:00

THE SUPPOSED MURDER AT

RAMSGATE.

RAMSGATE, SATURDAY.
By the exertions of the police sufficient light has
been thrown on this sad occurrence to lead to the
belief that it is a case not of murder but of delibe-
rate suicide. It will seem, from what follows, that
the object of the deceased was to conceal his iden-
tity, and this would explain almost all the myste-
rious circumstances connected with the case. -
The deceased landed at Southampton at the end
of March from America, and went to the Hotel
de L'Europe, in that town. He there gave a name
which sounded like " Maltinger." He left South-
ampton for London on the 31st of March, and there
put up at Hahn's hotel, America-square, where he
remained till the 7th of April. He wore his left
hand in a bandage, and said it had been injured on
board ship. On leaving the house he stated that
he was a German, travelling for pleasure, and that
he intended to make the tour of Scotland before re-
turning to Germany, but must first go to Paris.
The people of the hotel believed him to be a native
either of Baden or Wurtemberg. During his stay
he appeared perfectly rational, but on an occasion
when asked to write an address card he said he
would do it at once, as his memory had been very
bad since he suffered so severely from brain fever
in America. On the 7th of April he left by the
South Eastern Railway for Dover, and, as has been
already stated, in the same carriage with Mr.
Samuel Kidd. It has been said that Mr. Kidd
noticed two of the deceased's fingers to be want-
ing. The fact was, however, that Mr. Kidd only
observed that the fingers were bandaged—that is
to to say, concealed as they were at the hotel in
London. On the Bth the deceased bought the
hatchet at Mr. Green's shop at Dover, as described,
and stated himself to be a Russian. There is now
no doubt that he was a German.
On the same day he went from Dover to Deal
by omnibus, and while on the way, the deceased
being the only inside passenger, a German Bible
was thrown or dropped out of the omnibus, and
was picked up by a travelling hawker, who
sold it at the Swingate Inn adjoining. The
Bible has been examined by the police, and contains
no name or marks. The motive of deceased in get-
ting rid of it was probably because the possession
of the book would have pointed out the country
to which he belonged, and thus have given a
clue to his identity, for from this time the deceased
always declared himself to be a Russian.
On arriving at Deal the deceased went to the
Walmer Castle Inn, stayed there on Friday night,
and on Saturday came from Deal to Ramsgate by
train. On arriving at Ramsgate he had his beard
and moustaches shaved off. He then put up at the
Royal Oak While there, a gentleman in the
coffeeroom addressed him in French and in German,
but he shook his head, saying, "Me Russ, me
Russ." On Sunday he visited Margate, as already
described, and after dining at the Elephant and
Castle went to the house of Brasier. He then went
for a walk with his carpet bag under his arm, and
returned to the railway without it. The bag was
found near Westbrook empty, and near it two
shirts and a white handkerchief with the marks
picked out. He returned to Ramsgate the same
afternoon, and at half-past five o'clock entered an
oyster shop, where he partook of some refreshment.
At a quarter to seven he was in the inn at Broad-
stairs, and at a quarter past seven he was seen near
Sir Moses Montefiore's wall upon the cliff. At a
quarter past eight a man whose clothes and hat—
the latter of large size and peculiar shape—exactly
resembled those of the deceased, was seen by a
young man named Jackson at the eastern end of
the Parade on Mount Albin. The man walked
rapidly, with his arms folded and his eyes fixed on
the ground. Here all trace of the deceased is lost
till he was found at six o'clock next morning dead,
under the East Cliff.
The following are among the circumstances which
point most directly to suicide. The spot where the
body was found was 25 feet from the cliff, and the
tide had risen some feet above it, high enough to
have washed the body to the place where it lay.
About 80 yards lower down the beach, in nearly a
direct line, cuts were found in one of the chalk
rocks exactly corresponding with the blade of the
hatchet found close by. This rock would be covered
as soon as the water rose above half flood. Now half
flood on Monday morning was about half-past one,
and the death consequently took place between a
quarter-past eight and half-past one. The rock is
as high as a chair, so that a man might easily have
knelt beside it, placed his fingers upon it, and
chopped them off. The hatchet, fingers, boots, and
umbrella (the articles most likely to sink) were found
near this latter spot, while the clothes were found
among the seaweed near the body. Our reporter
was informed by experienced men, who accompanied
him to the spot, that if the deceased had chopped
off his fingers at the rock alluded to, and had then
stabbed himself to the heart and fallen instantly
dead, his body would have been washed by the
regular set of the rising tide in shore, and a little
to the northward, or exactly to .the place where, in
point of fact, the body was found. The knife, which
has been searched for without success, would pro-
bably have been knocked out of the wound' by the._
body washing against the low rocks, and if the knife
had a wooden handle, as man
it might have floated and beeyn sailors' knives have,
a ed out to sea.
The medical evidence was thatthcesrikr in was frayed,
which would have resulted from the body washing
up the beach.

Why, it may be asked, did the deceased chop off
his fingers ? The answer is, for the same reason
that he had previously bandaged them, viz., to con-
ceal his identity. One joint of the first finger and
two joints of the second had been amputated some
years ago, and were perfectly healed. By this
mark the deceased would be recognised, and there-
fore he determined to take all his fingers off. There
was no sign of disease or other injury upon his hand
to require a bandage. The absence of his watch and
ring is now easily accounted for. Both being of
peculiar appearance, and likely to lead to his Aden-
tification, he would destroy them. If there was a
vamp written inside hi boots, to cut off the tops
would effectually get rid of it. The wristbands of
the shirts were torn off, and the marks picked out
with a similar object. The unfortunate man, how-
ever,
bodyforgot
in
athsecislporehouse, and which there is no
of paper which was found near
reason to doubt belonged to the deceased. It con-
tained these words, written in pencil, in indifferent

German :—" Dear Mother, here are five dollars—
little but from a good heart.—Henry Matterigh."
The fact that the deceased's money was gone hats
led many persons to believe that a murder ha d.
been committed. Now, when the body was found
the tide was two hours ebb, and long before that
time country carts may have gone down to the
beach, as is frequently the case, for gravel, or per-
sons may have been, as one was known to be,
looking for shells. It is not improbable that the
deceased was robbed after death. The pockets of
his coat were turned inside out, and two front
pockets in his angola shirt were ripped open. We
may add that it is very doubtful whether the de--
ceased had so much money as has been represented.
The few words addressed to his mother lead to the
belief that he was poor. His clothes were scanty,
much worn, and of the coarsest description. He
never paid in gold, always in silver, and his watelt
was silver and not gold, as has been stated.
Had the unfortunate man been murdered there
are three ways by which the body must have been
carried to the beach, viz., past the harbour, where
police are stationed all night, down Augusta stairs,
where a coastguard is stationed, or by Dumpton.
stairs, where there is another guard. To supposr3
that the man was murdered on the beach is cons-
trary to all the evidence ; to suppose that he waft
carried down past the guard is nearly incredible ;
or indeed that it should have been attempted, when
the body might so much more easily have b(*n
dropped over the cliff.

The facts point, we think, clearly to the cone/a-
sion that the deceased returned from America. a
disappointed man, reduced in means, and that
this circumstance, affecting a brain previously
weakened by disease, led him to determine on
suicide. At first, intending to send his mother some
little money, he changed his mind, an endeavoured
by the means we have described to do away with
all trace of his identity, and thus lead his family to
the belief that he had perished at sea or in a foreign
land.

Melancholy as such a solution of the mystery is
it is some satisfaction to know that what at first
appeared an atrocious murder can be thus explained..
No circumstance that has happened for many years
has created so deep a sensation in East Kent as th44s
shocking affair.

The above explanation is unanimously assented
to by Superintendent Livick, of the Ramsg ate
police, Superintendent Pritchard, of the harb our
police, and Superintendent Stokes, K.C.C., •pvho
have conducted their inquiries with great energy
and ability.

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CIRCUS, OXFORD-STREET and GREAT PORT-
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