The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-06-26
NEW YORK,s MURDER MYSTERY.
Tho Strange Crime which Is Battling the
Detectives.


Detectives.
The murder of Mrs. Hull, well-to-do
woman and 4 member ofSorosis, stones
throw from Fifth avenue, New York, re-
mains the current metropolitan mystery,
partly because Mrs. Hull was very we'll
known woman, and partly because the
murder was an extraordinary one to
whose perpetrator no clue e'has been dis
covered. The general opinion, both of
the police and the papers, is that the
murder was not the work of professional
criminals, but was done by some one
living in her house. Mrs. Hull was
found on her bed, tied and strangled the
knots were in one case such as only as a
surgeon would be likely to make, and the
examination of her eyes by lighted
candle, to find if she were still living,
was test also needing medical knowl-
edge. The pieces other own clothing selec-
ted to bind her were apparently chosen by
some one familiar with her wardrobe,
and the act was done by those minutely
acquainted with her room. Her husband,
a doctor, is under close surveillance, but
many circumstances render it difficult to
believe that he can be the criminal.
WHO MRS. HULL IS.
Mrs. Hull, at the time of her death,
was 5S years of age. She was married at
16, and two years later went to London
with her husband, where they lived a
number of years. She was described al
that time as a most beautiful woman.
Upon her return to this country she grew
very heshy and lost much of her beauty.
She weighed nearly three hundred
pounds. She was q descendant of the
old and well-known DeForrest family
So proud was she of her ancestry that in
making her signature she invariably pre-
fixed her full maiden name of Jane l.
De Forrest to the name of Hull.
Among the articles which the robbers
secured were the contents of two purses
a valuable gold watch and chain, the
rings which were torn from her fingers
and various other rings. Among these
were solitaire diamond, cluster dia
mond, an emerald set with diamonds
and very valuable cameo ring with {
mosaic setting. a pair of diamond soil
taire earrings is also missing, as we'll a
a pair of valuable cameo earrings and
diamond cross. In all not less thar
81, 800 or $4,000 worth of jcwelry wa
taken.
THE sTRANGENEss OF THE MURDER.
Mrs. Hull when found was tied to til,
bed. There were undoubtedly two o
three persons connected with the tragedy
One theory is that they entered the room
for the. purpose of robbery, that the lady
made strong resistance and they tool
violent means to keep her quiet. A piect
of the bed sheet was tied to one ankl,
and then passed under the bed and tiet
to the other ankle. Her feet were thu
held at opposite sides of the bed. Hel
elbows were pinioned and her hands tied
There was q bandage around her eyes
and some heavy cloth had been twisted
around her neck and wound around he
mouth. Mrs. Hull was evidently smoth
cred and pillow was used for this pur
pose. One or two men held it tightl,
over her face and mouth until she wa!
quiet. Frightened at the thought tina
they might have killed her, they held
candle to her eyes, and so closely tina
the eyebrows were singed. That can
die was used is shown by aspot of tallow
the lady was dead, and the robbers, leav
ing much of their booty behind them
fed. At least this is the theory of some
of the detectives. Mrs. Hull for year.
had been sleeping on the first floor, il
rear of the parlor. Her husband occu
pied room in the fourth story. Th'
couple, to all appearances, we're conten
ted and lived happily. The house is {
handsome one, in the middle of th'
block between Sixth avenue and Broad
way on West Forty-second street. Sew
eral people occupied furnished rooms il
the house.
WHO DID IT?
The question which is now puzzling th,
police is, Who did it? Some contenc
that at least three persons were engaged
in the murder, as it could not have take1
less than that number to overpower Mrs
Hull and bind her in the way in which
she was bound. Everything about The
house was secure and there was no posi-.
bic way of gaining an entrance excep
through the front door. There were nc
signs of a violent entry. 1t is known
that Mrs. Hull has changed servant:
somewhat frequently, and that some o.
those which she has had-all being color.
ed--have had good many callers, and on
this account it has been suspected that
some of these callers may have planned
and executed the robbery. At all events
there seems to be but two reasonable the.
ories. One is that some persons in the
house did the deed, and the other that
some one opened the door and let the
murderers in. a few days ago Mrs. Hull's
pet dog died. 1t was vicious little thing
and perfect watch dog. 1t is now
thought that the dog was poisoned. The
high police officials seem to have settled
down to a positive opinion as to how the
murder was committed. They also think
that they can point out one at least OF
the murderers. 1t is certain that they no
longer consider the case mystery i'm
possible of solution. They have, on the
contrary, made up their minds that the
murder was committed by one or more
persons in the house, and that the ab-
straction of the jewels was not robbery
in fact, but was simply intended to make
it appear that the crime was the work OF
professional thieves. Superintendent
Walling and his assistants are now work.
ing in accordance with this view of the
case, and are hopeful of proving the cor
rectness of it before very long. 1t is un-
derstood that the discovery Of the burn
ing of the dead woman's eyebrows was
one of the first incidents which set the
minds Of the detectives working in this
direction. They argued that the expert
ment of holding lighted candle close to
the eyes of person supposed to be dead
is scarcely one which would suggest itself
to the mind of an ordinary thief or an
unprofessional person, and in following
up the train of thought suggested by this
idea, it is said that they discovered sew
eral pieces of strong circumstantial evil
dence which confirmed their theory. Su.
q