The Dickinson press., 1889-03-30
MYSTERIES OF MURDERS.
THE BEST DETECTIVES ARE pow
ERLEsS WITHOUT A CLEW.

How the O'Counor Murder Mystery Was
Solved by an Accidcnt-Cases That Have
Remained Unsolved for Many Years and
Probably Always Will.
Assistant Superintendent Of Police Roger
O'Mara is perhaps one of the best known
police officials i'll America 1t is, therefore,
nothing to bc wondered at that The Times re-
ceiNed request to have him give his views in
regard to mysterious murders, with espesial
reference to the Whitcchapcl murders.
There arc three phases of murder, each
ono peculiar in itself, and not allied to tho
other The first one is tho disappearance of
person who has been murdered, and yet no
proof can be established that the person has
really been murdered.
An illustration Of this can bc found in
the London criminal records of 1919, when
Cutom House officer O'Connor was missed
from his desk and never showed up again 1t
was supposed for some time that he had de-
campcd with some of the government funds,
but his accounts being correct and he having
been seen the evening previous to his dsap-
pearance, i'll good health, it was supposed by
some persons that lie l..ight have been muir
'lcrcd. Yet tho detective ability of London,
at that time tho best III the world was for
como days doubtful concerning the fate of
O'Cnnnor Each member of the detective
agencies and each 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 tho
city and died from exposure and privation
Some suggested murder, but could give no
theory Of why ho should be murdered, as he
had little or no money on his person. The
murder theory had been opposed by Il large
majority of the Scotland Yard detectives
and editors of papers. and also by the public
at largo, as no body had been found.
FOUND BY ACCIDENT.
'In tho course of II few days" said Super
intcndcnt O'Alaru, "it was discovered that
O'Connor had been carrying on criminal
intimacy with married LADY, Mrs Maria
Manning, wifo of Fred George Manning, both
husband and wife occupying II good position
i'll society. The superintendent of the Scot
land Yard detective agency visited Man
nins's house, and had nn interview with Mrs
Manning. She was quite cool unI self pos
s.2ssc;l, and readily 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.
,nco remained unaccountablc for some days
longer. But, ;ls no insane man was found
wandering either in tho city or in the
Thames, tho murder theory was again
adopted, and tho detectives called at Man
nnB's hou ono morning and told Mrs. Man
ming they wished to search the house Sho
was cooking goose on Il spit at the time, and
most obiisingly showed them through tho
h,t, T,.,,, a., ,I,.
trunks, presses, cupboar,ls. etc, without
avail The detectives concluded that the
Mnnnin,;s had no knowledge of the dsapj, ar-
ance of O'Connor and cxoncratcd them L,.t
rs they We're leaving the house and pas ll4;,
through the kitchen ono Of the detectives
by accident placed his foot on tho IA, in
front of the fire, above which Mrs. Manning
was cooking the goose. Tho (as sunk lit
Ito under the pressure of his foot, and ho had
it removed, and underneath the flag, ut tho
depth Of three feet, OConnors body was
found in full dress, just rs lie had been muir
dcred
"UConnor was bachelor, 4j years of age,
and occupied sleeping room i'll Il tenement
house, and had IL large amount of his savings
in Il bank i'll his room Mrs. Manning and
her husband knew this, and conspiicd to
murder O'Connor, and Wien he privately
visited tho house sho shot him and Manning
buried him under tho flag in the kitchen
'Il tho detective had not, by pure chance,
happened to step Oh tho flag. O'Connors
murder would never have been discovered
Thus an accidental incident furnished Il clew
thut was all that was necessary to unearth
tho bloody mystery.
Mrs Manning took lis latch key and tho
Keys to lis desks, went to his room md OBJ
tained all the money lie possessed, 5000 Eotl
Mr. and Mrs Manning were hanged in front
of Ilorsemongcr Lane jail i'll 1919.
"A PENNSYLVANIA MURDER.
"Anothcr case of mysterious disappear
ancc," continued Superintendent Mara,
''aftcrward found to bo u double murder was
that Of tho two grandchildren of William
Showers, aged GS years, who murdered both
children and buried them in tho garden. Tho
difficulty was to establish that u murder had
been committed, but when the bodies wcro
found there was no difficulty i'll placing tho
guilt on Showers. Ilo was executed in Lcba-
non county, Pa, last month.
"Anothcr phase of murder is whero the
dead body is found and mutilatcd SO there
could be no doubt that u murder has been
committed yet no available clcw to tho nlur
tcrer The murder of DR. Burcell at No. 81
this head, as also docs tho Nathan murder
lncach Of these eases it was self evident that q
murder had been committed, but, Us no clcw
lad been left no single starting link on which
to found n clcw US to who perpetrated the
deed could bo found, and the murders re-
lnained and over will remain mystery
''Yct another kind of murder l., where the
murder i, established and the murderer
known, yet no trace of him l., to bo found.
''Why tho detectives were unablcto to fathom
tho mystery of tho Nathan and Eurdcll mur-
dcrs was because the murdcrers in both cases
left no clcws to their Identification In the
case Of Maxwell, alias Hugh N. Brooks, who
murdered c. Arthur Prclcr and concealed
his body in q trunk, tho murderer was well
known, and by leaving single clew that he
had started on west bound train, every
other link vas easily found. If the first Ink
ilspaa chain had been undiscovered Ma2weU
would never havo been brought to justice.
My impression in tho B,irdel and Nathan
MURDERS" Mr.. O'.iara said, lis that both
wcro perpetrated by persons living in tho
sa,no Houses with the murdered men. ."-Fitts-
burg Times.
Bound to Be Civil.