Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1860-04-27

pllces, might be. The power Of guessing was
lllimitable and we have seen that the wor.
thy Nurnbergers were not backward in sus-
picion but with all their efforts they could
get no clue. IT'D
Even when the mystery was finally cleared
up. the burglary at Faulwetter's remained
inexplicable and not until some time after
wards, when Faulwetter was murdered by
one of his exasperated clients, was even
| tolerable guess as TO the motive of the bur-
glary arrived at.
Thus, day after day, suspicion rose md
fell fresh lights glimmered through the
ohScurity, but after leading men strange
dance through the mOrass, they were all re-
eognized as will-o wisps and real steady
daylight could nowhere penetrate' Weeks
rolled on. Everything had been done to ex-
tort a confession, but the hardened Obstinacy
of the prisoners baffled every effort. Had
not one of them died impenitent carving
her bold assurances Of innocence to the
| grave ;? What could now be hoped from
such criminals? ? Nothing, except that they
would yield to the persuasion of the rack
| This, as we have seen, had been already
| threatened. and even resolved on ; but with
a natural reluctance, it had hitherto been
| left untried Although the age had learned
was terrible means of Investigation, only
| to be employed in extreme cases, and there
fore the court was slow in proceeding to such
| extremities-yet the age had not arrived at
| the conviction that torture was an infamy
and folly.
| Fortunately for all concerned. this last in
| iquity was avoided. On the Both October,
| exactly four eks after the burial Of Frau
| Maunert, new turn was given to the in
| quiry. Indeed, before that there had been
rumOrs which grew more and more serious,
| and which directed suspicion to quite other
other persons than the accused. But the
| court would not be led away from It's present
| course, by following new and uncertain
| tracks. 1t was felt that the whole city was
| implicated-that justice herself was in peril,
unless the truth could be made evident. At
| length rumOr became so loud, that one of the
Judges sent for the lOeksmiths apprentice,
| Wagner, and in his private house took down
the following deposition
| On Sunday the 18th October, friend of
| his told him at the beer-shOp, that a little
| while before he, Wagner, arrived there, one
| Of Nleister Berger workmen, named the Ber-
| liner, had spoken very abusively Of Meister
| Gosser, the locksmith, and of Blosel his man;
| boldly telling the latter, people suspected him
| of being concerned in the Sterbenk robbery.
| Blosel had quietly accepted all the reproaeh-
es, insults, and vituperation of the Berliner,
| and sat. rs if dumb. in the presence of his
antagonist. The suspicion to which the
| Beriner alluded was founded on the fact that
| BlOsel and G0sser had bought themselves
| silver watches, We're dressed in new suits
| from top to toe, and seemed to be altogether
/ 10 much more prosperous circumstances than
/ formerly. Wagner further depOsed that on
| the Monday after that scene, Meister GOSser
had come to the beer shop, and endeavored
to clear his man from the imputations which
had been cast on him, declaring that he had
received money from his relations in SaxOny,
which would account for his prosperous con-
aitiOn.
On further questioning, Wagner deposed
| that about a week ago a fellOw-workman of
| his had remarked ''BlOsel is cutting
| figure He has had a new coat made. He
stood treat to me in princely style two bot
/ ties of wine at one place and whenever we
| have been together he has insisted on paving
/ for both
Had auv thing else been observed? Yes,
/ this. Since the scene at the beer shop, Blosel
| had not been seen with his watch, which
| previously he had always carried. Moreover,
| Blosel had always seemed very poor came to
/ the beer-shop in a Jacket Now he was very
/ differently dressed. Wagner would say, and
| all his comrades would say so too, that if
| Blosel's conscience was clear he wouldn't
| have put up with the Berliner's language.
/ The Investigation now rapidly changed its
/ course. The prisoners were left alone, while
/ this new clue was eagerly followed up. But
they were only left alone after final effort
had been made with Schonleben. The Court
seemed more than ever desirous to extort
confession. now that the affair threatened to
take a new turn. The idea Of the prisoners
being innocent, after all. and Of having suf-
fered sO-long and so much unjustly, was, of
course, extremely painful, and was rejected
/ as long as possible. Hence the redOubled
| eagerness to get a confession, which should
| Justify the Court in its own eyes and in the
eyes Of men. But SehOnleben would confess
nothing could confess nothing; they might
do what they pleased with him, he knew
nothing Of the robbery. Baffied, the Court
asked him if he had, perhaps. any suspicion
| Of one of the lOcksmiths who had ever done
done work for Sterbenk-and then suddenly
| asked Which of these men ?-and, If either,
on what grounds? 4 light seemed suddenly
to break in upon SchOnleben. He at once
named Gosser. But his grounds were not
very strong. lie said that Gosser was very
poor, being unable to pay three gulden (six
shillings) for a window ornament he had
bought that he had repaired the hOuse-doOr
lock; and that Just before his (Schonleben
arrest, GOsser bad met him in the street, and
asked if he would not soon be ordered to make
a new cash box?
Other evidence now poured in fast. Evidence
trivial for the most part, but helping in It's
cumulative effect, to strengthen the suspicion
| against GOsser and his man The strongest
Indication of all was, that Gosser, who was
VIGOROUSLY IN very straitened circumstances,
had applied for passport to DRESDEN in
tending to visit his relatives there" Instead
of going to Dresden, he went to prison-he,
his wife, and man. His house had been
searched and facts discovered which admitted
of no denial as the accused at once saw
for they confessed all.
Christian Gottlieb Gosser, 80 years of age,
was born in Dresden, where his father, a
shoemaker had honestly earned a livelihood,
but had died not long before the arrest of his
SON Gosser came to Nurnberg in 1889, and
settled there as a locksmith, and lived there
with his wife and two children. Business
was very slack with him /; and it was only by
serious money sacrifices that he obtained
admission to the guild of locksmiths and the
citizenship of Nurnberg. He thus began in
debt; and was not the to clear himself
by energetic and punctual business habits.
He appears to have been one of those
negatively good men who keep from sin so
long as temptation does not press heavily on
them who reject the idea Of a crime with
shuddering at first, and each time with less
and less horror, till having perfectly familiar
lied themselves with it, they end by accepting
it as necessity. He confessed that he had
often had occasion to enter Sterbenk's house,
and had become aware of the facility with
which the counting house door might be
opened by any experienced hand He was
! often in want of the very necessaries Of life
, his family would not or could not, assist him;
and he began to despair of ever honestly