Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1865-11-02
The Increasing Difficulties of Grim.
inaIs Escaping Detection.

The reader, will, perhaps, remember
that the italian correspondent of the Lon
don Post told a curious story some months
since about the picture of the murderer
being found upon the rerina of muir
dered Florentine womat's eye-found five
days before the arrest of the culprit; in
deed, five DAYS before the discovery of any
clue to his identity.
He had robbed three women, living
alone, and then cut their throats from ear
to ear while they were in STOPPING atti-
tude. A Florentine policeman, who
claimed to have theory ON the subject
requested permission to photograph the
ewes of the murdered women. His re-
quest was acceded to in one case; photo
grapher of skill and reputation was pro-
cured who took an "impression" of the
eye of the last victim, and enlarged it
until there was very clearly to be seen the
outlines of mans face, with peculiar
and striking mouth, chin, whiskers and
neck. This was on the oath of August
last. On the 29th on Benjamin Di Cosimi
was arrested as Papal spy. There was
no suspicion of his being the murderer at
the time; but, in searching him, articles
belonging to the three murdered women
were found on his person; which fact, to-
gether with other circumstances, left not
a shadow of doubt as to his guilt.
Cosimi has Just had his trial. Owing to
the abundance of the proof rendering it
unnecessary, the Court did not take into
consideration the Photographic testimony,
The Post correspondent, however, in again
alluding to the subject, says: My sole
motive for now referring to this phase of
the affair is simply to state Qeaving each
reader to draw his own conclusions that
the resemblance of the lower portion of
the photographed profile to the actual
mouth, chin, and neck of Di Cosimi, as he
sat in the criminal dock, was absolutely
startling, and that any idea of connivance
in trick on the part of the photographer
An artist of the highest characters
quite disposed of by the fact that Di Cost
mi was not even arrested at the moment
when the photograph was taken; indeed,
he was not arrested until the 29th ult., sew
en- davs after the murder and five days
after the experim ent, and, strange to say,
for reasons wholly uneonnected with his
real crimes"
| Whether or not there be any truth in
this statement of the correspondent, one
can but speculate, as the Spectator re-
marks, on the train of thought suggested
by the mere surmise that murderer may,
involuntarily, and if he could be conscious
of it, we may be sure we may say also
very unwillingly, be compelled to leave
his carte-de-risite on the glazing eye of his
victim and this even when he is most
careful and most competent to obliteratG
every other trace of his dangerous inter
view with the deceased. 1t would be ode
indeed if it turned out to be true that Ma
ture even insists on this involuntary com
pliment this reluctant leaving of his card
on the part of the assassin, to his victim
The Spectator then goes on to say:
Even if this curious story prove to hav
arisen in error or some deception, or +
draw its inference from an insignifcan
and accidental coincidence, instead Q
from any real Photographic correspon
denee between the supposed picture an
the convicted murderer, it is in any cas-
only an exaggeration of the visible ten
dency of all scientific discovery to rende
S it nearly impossible for man to oblite
b rate the traces of what he has done, an
R place any gulf impassable for the rest {
/ the world between his present and his pa;
:, actions. Every fresh generation finds it