Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-02-02
MYSTERIES OF MURDERS.
THE BEST DETECTIVES ARE POW
 ERLESS WITHOUT A CHEW.

THE BEST DETECTIVES ARE POW ERLESS WITHOUT A CHEW. How the O'Connor Murder Mystery Was Solved by an Accident-Cases That Have Remained Unsolved for Many Years and Probably Always Win.
 l Assistant Superintendent of Police Roger 1 O'Mara is perhaps one of the best known police officials in America. It is, therefore
 nothing to be wondered at that The Times re- ceived request to have him give his views in | regard to mysterious murders, with especial reference to the 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 1 a person who has 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- l 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 mur- dered. Yet the detective ability of London, | at that time the best in tho world, was for | some days doubtful concerning the fate of O'Connor. 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 the city and died from 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 a large majority of the Scotland Yard detectives and editors of papers, and also by the public at large, as no body had been found. FOUND BY ACCIDENT.
 "In the course of few days" said Super intendent O'Mara, ''it was discovered that O'Connor had been carrying on a criminal intimacy with a 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, and had an interview with Mrs. Manning. She was quite cool and self pos sessed, and readily admitted that she had known O'Connor well, but had not seen him for some time. Her husband also made 8 tauu V SOlluOT ulSappoHI- ance remained unaccountable for some days longer. But, as no insane man was found wandering either in the city or in the Thames, the murder theory was again adopted, and the detectives called at aIan- nings house one morning and told Mrs. Man ming they wished to search the house. She was cooking goose on spit at the time and most obligingly 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 no knowledge of the disappear ance of O'Connor, 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 It. tie under the pressure 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 a bachelor, 4S years of age and occupied sleeping room in Q tenement house, and had 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 tho detective had not, by pure chance, happened to step on tho flag, O'Connor's murder would never have been discovered Thus an accidental incident furnished 0 clew that was all that was necessary to unearth the bloody mystery.
 Mrs Manning took his latch key and the keys to his desks, went to his room and ob- tained all the money he possessed, .e6OO. Both Mir. and Mrs. Manning were hanged in front of Horsenonger Lane jail in 1S49.
 A PENNSYLVANIA MURDER
 Another case of mysterious disappear ance," continued Superintendent O'Mara, "afterward found to be double murder, was that of the two grandchildren of William Showers, aged 6S years, who murdered both children and buried them in the garden. The difficulty was to establish that 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 bo no doubt that a murder has been committed, yet no available clew to ths mul'- derer. The murder of Dr. Burdell, at No 3l Bond street, New York, in 1857, comes under this head, as also does the Nathan murder In each of these cases it was self evident that a murder had been committed, but, as no clew had been left, no single starting link on which to found clew as to who perpetrated the deed could be found, and the murders re- mained and ever will remain 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 Burdell nlur- ders was because the murderers in both cases left no clews to their identification. In the case of Maxwell alias Hugh M. Brooks who murdered c. Arthur Preller and concealed bis body in trunk, the murderer was well known, and by leaving a singlo clew that he had started on west bound train, every other link was easily found If the first link in the chain had been undiscovered Maxwell would never have been brought to justice My impression in the Burdell and Nathan mia'ders," Mir. O'Mara said, lis that both were perpetrated by persons living in the same houses with the murdered men. .h-Pitts- burg Times.
 Bound to I3e Civil.
 "Count dOrsay" writes: 1T am asked to dine with family whose acquaintance do not wish to keep. Now, should go to the dinner and then cut them afterward, as some