The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-20 00:00:00

A WHOLESALE MURDERER.

The following is an account, literally translated from the
lierman papers, of a murder of an exceptionally barbarous
nature, committed last August in Schleswig-Holstein, the
perpetrator of which has recently been condemned to
death : " Timm Thode, a peasant's son, 23 years of age,
murdered with unequalled barbarity his whole house-
hold—viz., his parents, his four brothers, his sister, and a

maid-servant. Timm Thode's confession, made without a
sign of repentance, gives full explanation of the motive
for and mode of carrying into execution the crime. The
accused related that he had been on an unfriendly footing
with his brothers Johann, Martin, and Cornils; his
rlations, also with his father had not been of the best
kind. As regarded the rest of the family, he thought
they were middling.' In the spring of 1866 he took the
resolution to kill his family, in order to put an end to the
continual disputing, then to sell the farm, which would
come to him after their death, and thus to come into the
sole possession of a considerable fortune. The thought of
accomplishing the deed occurred to him repeatedly ; he
busied himself, therefore, not exclusively with the plan of
action, but thought only now and then of its possibility.
The plan of killing them all one after another in their
beds he gave up, as he was afraid the noise resulting from
it might awaken the rest, and he would not arrive at the
wished-for result. On the 6th August he had already laid
ready to hand a five-foot long handspike to kill his bro-
ther with. `I would decoy them one after another into
the barn and strike them dead there,' said he. This in-
tention was not carried into execution, as he did not
succeed in executing the plan in the way related. On
Tuesday, the 7th of August, his parents left home with a
neighbour, Schwarzkopf, in order to pay a visit to some
acquaintances. Timm Thode easily managed to go
behind his brothers, Martin, Cornils, and Reimers, one
at a time, as they were engaged in work, and then struck
the brothers one after the other from behind with the
5-foot handspike, which was thick at the lower end.
Martin falls first by his brother's murderous hand, then
Reimers and Cornils. He strikes Johann over the
head. This one staggers to and fro, and cries to his
brothers. The murderer brandishes the handspike anew,
and then strikes him dead. Now the father must be dis-
posed of. Timm, by telling him the oxen have broken loose,
gets him to come out before the front door, and strikes him
down in front of the farmyard. He brings the remains of
his father back to the house in a cart, and removes the
stains of blood by digging up the earth, which he throws
into the cart as well. Two watchful dogs are in the court-
yard of Johann Thode. These might prove dangerous
to the Murderer ; therefore he must dispose of them. The
ellfiersetn,tai
nceds
ht
ahne
gms thoi
him up,
.pTlahcee.ree a-
upon
raoruenadt ttach
ehtehdrotoathoimf
the
upon he calls the other dog; the animal obeys his call. With
his razor he attempts to cut its throat. He does not quite suc-
ceed, and, bowling, the dog extricates himself from the hands
of the murderer. The mother appears with a lighted candle
at the door, and asks the reason of the noise. It's nothing,'
maintained Timm. Now follows the account of the ter-
rible combat in the small room between sister and brother.
The mother lies on the floor, stunned by a blow from the
hatchet. The sister springs out of bed in order to save the
mother. He strikes out at the sister with a knife, and then
strikes her dead with the hatchet. The mother still
groans ;he strikes her dead also. Finally, he runs to the
servant girl's room, feels about in the darkness for the
head end of the bed, strikes upon it twice with the hatchet,
and the last murder is accomplished. The girl dies with-
out a sound. There, I have them all dead !' are his
only words. He then sets firs to the barn to conceal the
deed, and places the corpses in such a way that they must
be destroyed at the breaking out of the fire. The confla-
gration was nevertheless discovered too early, and led,
besides other facts, to so many grounds of suspicion
against Thode that he himself in the course of the
examination was driven to confess. Timm Thode, lately
brought to trial, was condemned to death. The condemned
man left the court with indescribable placidity."

THE NEW BETTING SYSTEM-At the Mansion
House the Lord Mayor called the attention of the reporter
to a circular, which was being extensively distributed,s
headed " The New Betting System," in which the writer
stated that he had discovered a principle of backing horses
by which winning to any amount was reduced to a cer.
tainty, and promising that RGO per week would be returned
for every £lO invested ; £l6O for £2O ; £330 for £3O ; and
£7OO for £5O. For imparting this system he stated that
his terms were £lOO, and a writtm agreement for £9OO out
of the first £9,000 cleared. The Lord Mayor expressed
his opinion that the whole affair was nothing more nor lea
than a swindle, and he thought the public would do well
to be upon their guard.

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