The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1885-04-15
A DEAD MAN In A TRUNK.
A Ghastly Discovery at the Southern
Hotel, st. Louis.
FOUL AND MYSTERIOUS KILLING.
The Head Chopped or and a 'sTraitOr''
Note Attached.
WAS II A POLITICAL MURDER ?
The Alleged Assassin a Dudeish and Dan
dified Englishman, With Connec.
tlons In London-Che Victim
Apparently Il Friend.
WAS II A POLITICAL MURDER 2
MOST HORRIBLE CASE OF CRIME
A Horrible story from sd. LonIs.

Horrible Story from st. Louis.
ST. LOUIS, April H.-Quite sensation
was caused at the Southern hotel be-
tween IL and II o'clock to-day by the
discovery of the horribly mutilated
body of a man packed in a trunk, which
was taken out of room No. SS5. The
stonch from the trunk caused the dis
cOvery. The hotel register reveals the
fact that on March 30 a gentleman reg.
istered as Walter IL. LennOx Maxwell,
Nj, D. from London, and was assigned
to the room. On opening the trunk it
was found that the mead of the man was
severed from the body, and written on
a paper inside the trunk were the words:
$50 perish all traitors to the great
cause."'
The trunk and its contents were ta-
ken to the morgue.
MORE OF THE uoRRIBLE DETAILS.
Mr., Maxwell is described as very
girlish-loo6iug blonde young man,
wearing a dark, woody coat, cut Of Eng
lish stuff, His face cloau-shaven and
ne wore his hair banged fashion, not
parting II. He was seon with company
aud frequently with a looking
gentleman, about feet 10 inches high.
The latter wore a dark mustache and
had dark har. This gentleman regis.
tered as c. Arthur Preller, London, Eng
land, and was assigned to room No. ls4.
-Four days after Maxwell had regis
tered, q telegram was received from
Prellor, asking whether Maxwell was a
gues, of the house. lie was answered
IN the affirmative and ne soon came ON,
and was assigned 10 tho room above
given. Both men occupied room No,
ISL in common a considerable part of
the time, each Of thom calling Tor the
key at times, and the clerk giving it out
TO each indiscriminately, as they
seemed to be good friends and old ac-
qualntances. The mon were mucn re-
marked about the hotel for their
DUDIsH, DANDIFIED ACTS.
Maxwell lett the hotel week pQo
Sunday night, but he had paid his full
weeks board promptly, and IL was sup
posed that he would return any day. No
suspicion was attached to his absence
until the horrible smell called attention
to the room and led to the opening OF
The trunk. When tho trunk containing
the body was opened in the hotel cor
ridor to-day it was found to contain the
body of a middle ogon man, face and
breast up, ana so doubled about the
hips and knees that IL filed
the receptacle. On the side
OF the corpse was printed in large letters
the words: $50 perish all traitors To
the great causo.h Tho trunk and lbs
gastly contents wore Immediately hur.
ried to the -Four Courts. The body as
it appeared in the trunk presented a
HORRIBLE ASPECT.
The face aud parts of the body were
uncoYered, the only garment being q
pair of drawers reaching TO tho knees
They were entirely black and showed
advanced decomposition. The head and
neck were doubled up at one end of the
trunk and the arms were forced down
by the side and under the body. The
legs were bent at the knees
and the thighs, being nearly
perpendicular, as II great force had been
used in putting the body into the trunk.
The face was smooth, the hair lot black,
and, rs far as one could judge, the dead
man couid not have been more than 30
years old. The body was that of a COM
mOil' sized man in height and build.
The only evidence of violence as the
body lay in the trunk,
WAS A CUT OR STAB IN THE BREAST.
The trunk was a medium.sized com.
mon trunk, bound with wooden strips.
The most mysterious and sensational
feature OF the trunk was the inscription
pasted inside near the head. The
second trunk was long, standing near
the freight elevator. The whole corri-
dor of the hotel was filled with n horri-
bic stencil, which seemed to disappear
when the corpse was taken away. IL
soon became evident that the second
trunk, which was very heavy, WAS
emitting a fotid smell also. Attempts
were made to open IL, but IL was found
to be securely locked. IL was also
carted OIL to the morgue, where Il was
opened ana found To contain numerous
articles. IL also contained
MAXwELL's LONDON ADDRESS.
at Ia Papen Building Temple, London.
An envelope addressed i'm his
hand writing To Rev, G., a, Lewis, Il. A.,
cur ator of 81, Paurs, Leeds, Yorkshire,
England. lie came over on the steamer
Cephalonia, from England.
PRELLER
mas Russian passport vized by the
Russian ambassador at London, in 1878,
and passport for 1883 for Spain and
Mexico, vizad by the Spanish minister
and signed ~ Granville, Seven trunks,
four yalises and hat box were left al
the hotel, and contain clothing, etc.,
valued at hundreds OF dollars. This is
believed to make the theory a hoax un-
tonable. The belief is that the corpse is
either that OF Maxwell or Preller. No
one remembers which one of the two
men left the hotel last.
CHIEF OF DETECTIVES BURKE,
after making an examination of tho
rooms at the Southern hotol, saws: al
think the dead man is Preller, who ar
rived at the hotel ON the 3D. instant, and
that he was killed by Maxwell, who
registered there on March 81. The
murder took place in MaNwell's room,
No. lii, and the trunk in which the
body was stored was one which Max
well brought with him from the east.
On last Tuesday he bought the second
trunk found in his room at store on
Broadway, near Walnut street. Into
this he transferred the books,
clothing, papers, instruments,
Photographic views, etc., which Il
contained, probably in a great hurry, as
If they were in confusion. He also
placed the tray ui the old trunk in this
TO give him moro room TO pack the
body In.
MS INTENTION THEN WAS,
probably, TO remove this trunk, which
could pass out of the hotel with tho
least suspicion. There was danger of
discovery, of course, at any moment,
and ON this account no probably
changed his plans and decampod TO
avoid discovery. lie went away with
out taking any of his effects. l have
no idea what prompted the
murder. found black stiH
hat, with large brick in It.,
as Il II had been struck a blow, but at
the same time the body gives evidence
of death from poisoning. IL Is certain
that the men were intimatei and that