Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-01-11
THE NATHAN MURDER.
Alleged Discovery of the Murderer
Marvellous Story.


MarvelOus Story.
The Sun signalizes the closing up OF
the year with irst-class sensation. IT
is no less than a five-column letter from
the famous Count Joannes, pretending
to establish the fact of the discovery Of
the assassin who killed the late Benja-
min Nathan, and of his accomplice.
The latter is printed in large type and
with the greatest degree of typograph-
ical display by the Sun, which editor
tally endorses the statements of the
Count. The letter appears to have been
written in delirium of delight over
the result of his ong-continued inves-
LEGATIONS. He is always sFgrand, gloomy
and peculiar" but this discovery has
made him epigrammatical and witty, as
well.
According to the Counts narrative,
he with four other gentlemen formed a
sort of Vigilance Committee for the in
vestigation of the Nathan murder ALI
but himself, however, soon retired from
the fruitless labor He was left alone,
and, as he says:
I received Ito write in aliteration)
numerous letters from Jews and testers,
Gentiles and gentlemen, matrons and
maidens, ladies and larceners, slander-
ers and summers, clergymen and cheats,
priests and prisoners, bombastic bullies,
bankers, brokers, brilliant and bung-
ling burglars, dated in this city, and
from Canada, and from the East, West,
North and South-a collection of COM
positions as would make museum of
mockery or sense, to throw me off my
guard and some denounced death
against me, and in other instances wise,
suggestive conclusions.
Finally, through official aid and his
own inquiries, he found an accomplice
of the murderer in prison. This man
was in the Marine Corps during the
war, as messenger of Admiral Farra-
gut He knew the man who killed Mr..
Nathan There was plot, he said, to
rob the house of Mr.. Nathan, in which
the person alluded to participated
There was no intention to kill Mr.. Ma
than, but the murderer preferred to
take desperate chances than to go to
Sing Sing, and had before this killed
two men, in Nevada.
The Count gives long series of ques-
tions and answers to and from this ac-
complice of the murderer, who was in
prison when the murder was commit
ted. He also said that the murder was
committed by the use of an "iron
rung, " phrase exactly describing the
"dog" found at Mr.. Nathan's house.
This peculiar phrase was used both by
the accomplice and by the suspected
murderer in regard to the fatal instru-
ment. And the accomplice said:
"This iron dog was picked up in
Camp McDermit, Nevada, in may, 1869,
while Jim and I were there. It was used
for opening boxes of clothing, from
which we used to pilfer, and was
of having Drained Piute Indian, and
kept by me in my trunk until [ gave
Jim an order to get it."
We give, also, the questions and an
swers which follow
Count Joannes-Did yon see in the
murderer's possession any jewels, mon
ey, or any valllables that belonged to
the late Mr. Nathan2
Prisoner-I saw three large diamond
studs and gold watch and chain, when
[ saw him, August 3, 1870.
I Count Joannes-Did the murderer
give you any money?
Prlsoner-He gave me five dollars
Count Joannes-About how long a
period before the 29th of July, 1870
the day of the murder-did the subse-
quent killer of Mr. Nathan call and see
you?
Prisoner-About July 20, 21, or %,
1870.
Count Joannes-Did he ask to bor-
row any articles, implements or profes-
sional "screws" of you? If yes, did
you meet his wish? and state what ar
ticles you lent him, and where he went
to get them.
Prisoner-Yes; he asked me for jim
mics, ETC., and said he was going to
"crack" that place in Twenty third
street. I told him to go to my trunk
and get the jimmies, ETC., and he took
the "dog" and revolver, etc.
Count Joannes-Was the implement
now known as the iron "dog" among
the articles you loaned to him?
| Prisoner-Yes!
Count Joannes- the said iron
"dog" ever longer than when you lent
it to him? If yes, why was it short
ened?
Prisoner-It was unhandy to carry
in my pocket.
The evidence of the intelligent sur
geon at the Nathan inquest as to the
death blow from the iron "dog,n was
that it penetrated the forehead brain
and he expressed the blow by his ac.
tion, as from right to left, thence, ap-
parently, by, left-hand man. That
was the mental result from the evi
dence.
In my interviews with the alleged
murderer, he not knowing that he was
accused, he freely rendered to me his
theory Cat last) of the robbery and mur.
der, and during our conversations [ OBJ.
served that he always kept his right
hand in his side pantaloons pocket,
and gesticulated and even wrote with
his left hand.
[ asked him how it was, in his theory
of the murder, that the diamond studs
were taken from the shirt bosom, and
no marks remaining of the bloody fin
gers? "Of course" [ said, E'they must
have been taken out before the mur
DER" when he quickly replied:
| No, HO Iuoy NSIG OftoCT6tOcL dlIu
taken out after the murder; for moth
ing was easier than to wipe the blood
off the hands, as thus, upon the sides
of the pantaloons [satitiaag the action tc
the aOOrds aO5th both honds]. I used
often to do it when [ was butcher"
1t was this expressive action of his
which betrayed the deformity (from 8
factory accident of his right hand, the
thumb of which and one finger are
crooked and paralyzed.
The deformity of bloody hand was
seen upon the walls and the door-lintel,
and especially noticed in the remark
able description in the Sun, July 30,
1870, the day after the Internal deed
In answer to my question as to what
he thought the murderer had done with
the watch and diamond studs, he said,
"He would be fool indeed if he had
not thrown them into the river" At
first he denied, and repeated the denial