Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-08-28

GASS<I w Iot1SCs
On the morning Of Oetobel
27, 1877, a shop boy who lived
in the garrct of No. 1 Bruder
gassc, Dresden, slipped on the
landing on which the room cI
the fourth floor Of that hous,
opened, and fell down a long
flight of stairs. He did not in,
iure himself in the least, bu
when he gained his feet ht
discovered that his face, hands
and arms were covered witt
blood. Retracing his steps, he
found the landing on which hi
had lost his footing flooded Will
a slime of half-eongealed blood
The doors Of two suites Of a.
partments opened on the land
ing. The front rooms were oc-
cupied by a wealthy ex-magis.
tratc and servant named Pusi-
nelli, those in the rear by one
Ludwig Geargy, who subject a
portion OF his quarters to a Bo-
hemian man milliner named Jo-
sepa Vincenz Stebich. The
noise Of the boys fall had rous-
ed these last as. we'll as two
dogs which belonged to them,
and which now barked furious
ly, but in PusinellIs rooms all
was silent.
The reason of this silence was
soon explained. w h en- the
door of the sdrant's room was
forced, he was found on the
floor. He had been bathing in
a portable bath-tub. His body
was naked, and in his left hand
he clutched a large sponge.
There were four holes in the
skull and right temple, produc-
ed by the pointed end of a geol-
ogist's steel hammer, which lay
beside the corpse. Through
several of these holes the brain
was oozing. The Jugular vein
had been severed with a razor,
which was also found. 1t was
the blood from this WOULD
which had streamed under the
door, carpeting the landing with
gore:
The rooms had been ransack-
ed in every hole and corner
Many valuable old coins and
antique jewels were gone. A
small American safe, in which
the murdered MAI bad kept a
considerable sum Of money, had
been opened. The key was in
the lock and the drawers had
been rifled. The collection of
old laces had been a hobby with
the dead man. The cases in
which he kept these were brok-
ell and empty. So thoroughly,
yet so discriminatory, had the
place been plundered, in fact,
that, no article but one of abso-
lutte value had been taken, and
the police had no difficulty in
determining the crime the work
Of a practical robber.
An entrance had been effect
ed by a false key. This key
and the proper key Of the door
were found in a-drain In front
of. the house. The robbcr had
locked the door behind him and
then thrown both keys away.
Death or unconsciousness must
have Immediately followed the
first blow, for the position and
Of the corpse exhibit
ed no signs of struggle.
Geargy and Stebich were ar
rested. They asserted their in
nocence, but admitted to have
long thought of robbing their
wealthy neighbor, the exact To-
cation Of whose valuables and
money they had learned from the
girl who took care of his rooms.
They had even on two occa-
sions attempted to force an en-
trance into Pusinelli's apart
ments, but had been scared off.
knowledge of or completely in
the murder, however, they abb
solutely denied.
Each tried to make the case
as black as possible for the 9TH
or. On the nightiot the MUIR
der they had got drunk togeth-
er at a neighboring tavern, and
each swore that the other had
left before him. This was dis
proved by the host, who re-
membered their having left to-
gether, both staggering under
their potations.
Their intoxication might ac-
count for their having slept so
heavily that the noise of the as
sassination had failed to rouse
them. The silence of their
dogs, though, was inexplicable.
The animals were hunting dogs,
whom the noise of a struggle,
ever so slight, and the smell of
blood would render frantic, and
whose barking would inevita-
bly, have aroused the soundest
sleeper. ia'
After a lengthy deliberaiion,