Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-04-15
MYSTERIES OF MURDERS.
THE BEST DETECTIVES ARE pow.
ERLESS WITHOUT A CLEW.

THE BEST DETECTIVES ARE pow
ERLesS WITHOUT A cLEW.
How tho O'Connor Murder Mystery Was
Solved by en- Accident-C Cases That Have
Remained Unsolved for Many Years and
Probably Always viii.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Roger
O'Mara is perhaps one of the best known
police officials in America. II Is, therefore.
nothing to be wondered at that The Times re-
ceived request to have him give bis views In
regard to my sterious murders, with especial
reference to tie Whitechapel murders
There are three phases of murder each
one peculiar In itself, and not allied to the
other. The first one is the disappearance of
q person who 1as been murdered, and yet no
proof can be established that the person has
really been murdered
An Illustration of this can be found in
the London criminal records of 1S49, when
Cutom House Officer O'Connor was missed
from his desk and never showed up again. It
was supposed for some time that he had de-
camped with some of the government funds,
but his accounts being correct and he having
been seen the evening previous to his disap-
pearance, in good health, it was supposed by
some persons that he might have been MUIR
dered- Yet the detective ability of London,
at that time the best in the world, was for
some days doubtful concerning the fate of
OConnor. Each member of the detective
agencies and ach editor had his own peculiar
theory of what had happened to O'Connor
Some suspected suicide In the river Thames;
some suggested sudden mental alteration,
through which he had wandered out of the
city and died rom exposure and privation
Some suggested murder, but could give no
theory of why he should be murdered, as he
had little or no money on his person. The
murder theory had been opposed by large
majority of the Scotland Yard detectives
and editors of papers, and also by the public
at large, Us no body had been found
FOUND BY ACCIDENT
In the course of a few days" said Super
intendent O'Mira, "it was discovered that
OConnor had been carrying on criminal
intimacy with n married lady, Mrs. Maria
Manning, wife Of Fred George Manning, both
husband and wife occupying good position
in society. The superintendent of the Scot
land Yard detective agency visited Man.
ning's house, AMI had an interview with Mrs
Manning. She was quite cool aud self DOS
sessed, and really admitted that she had
known OConnor well, but had not seen him
for some time. Her husband also made q
similar statement, and O'Connor's disappear
ance remained unaccountable for some DAYS
longer. But, a no insane man was found
wandering either in the city or In the
Thames, the murder theory was again
adopted, and ths detectives called at Man
ning's house one morning and told Mrs Man
ming they wished to search the house She
COOKING 81 On a emit or fhat
most obhgingly showed them through the
house from the cellar to the attic, searching
trunks, presses, cupboards. ETC., without
avail The detectives concluded that the
Mannings had nc knowledge of the disappear
ance of OConnor, and exonerated them but
as they were leaving the house and passing
through the kitchen one of the detectives
by accident placed his foot on the flag In
front of the fire, above which Mrs. Manning
was cooking the goose The flag sunk lit
tie under the pres sure Of his foot, and he had
it removed, and underneath the flag, at the
depth of three feet, O'Connor's body was
found in full dress, just as he had been mur-
dered
"O'Connor was q bachelor, 43 years Of age,
and occupied sleeping room in a tenement
house, and had a large amount of his savings
in bank in his room. Mrs Manning and
her husband knew this, and conspired to
murder O'Connor, and when he privately
visited the house she shot him and Manning
buried him under the flag in the kitchen
IF the detective had not, by pure chance,
happened to step on the flag, O'Connor's
murder would never have been discovered
Thus an accidental incident furnished clew
that was all that was necessary to unearth
the bloody mystery.
L..
keys to his desks, vent to his room and OBJ
tanned all the money he possessed e600. Both
Mr.. and Mrs Manning were hanged in front
of Horsemonger Lane Jail in 1919
PENNSYLVANIA MURDER
"Another case of mysterious disappear
ance," continued Superintendent O'Mars,
''afterward found to be double murder. was
that of the two grandchildren of William
Showers, aged 6S years, who murdered both
children and buriel them in the garden The
difficulty was to establish that a murder had
been committed, but when the bodies were
found there was NO difficulty in placing the
guilt on Showers. He was executed in Leba-
non county, Pa, last month.
Another phase of murder is where the
dead body is found and mutilated SO there
could be no doubt that a murder has been
committed, yet no available clew to the muir
derer. The murde- of Dr. Burdell, at No 81
Bond street New York, in 1857 comes under
this head, as also Goes the Nathan murder.
In each of these cas- es 1t was self evident that
murder had been committed, but, as no clew
had been left, no single starting link ON which
to found a clew as to who perpetrated the
deed could be found, and the murders re-
mained and ever W III remain a mystery.
"Yet another kind of murder is where the
murder Is established and the murderer
known, yet no trace of him is to be found
"Why the detectives were unable to fathom
the mystery Of the Nathan and Burdel muir
ders was because the murderers in both cases
left no clews to their Identification In the
case Of Maxwell, alias Hugh NJ. Brooks, who
murdered c. Arthur Preller and concealed
his body in trunk, the murderer was well
known, and by leaving a single clew that he
had started on a vest bound train, every
other link was easily found. II the first link
in the chain had BEEN undiscovered Maxwell
would never have been brought to Justice
My impression In The Burdell and Nathan
MURDERS" Mr.. O'NIara said, "is that both
were perpetrated ty persons living In tho
same houses with the murdered men Pitts