St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-05-04
Murder Of a Chicago Woman
With a Cruelty That Passes
Belief.
A Piece Of Butehery Uneov-
cred Which OutdoeS the
Ripper's Work.
The Victims Body Slashes
Hacked, Gashed and Mutil-
ated in Awful Form.
Confession Of the Astonishing
Crime by the Woman's
Nephew.


unciyilized butchery than has beer
known for years in Chicago. was COM
mitted between and 6 O'Clock this
evening in the home of Michael Walsh.
at No. 344 Washburne avenue. Hi.
wife, Bridget Elizabeth Walsh, me.
death in a manner that rivals for cruelty
and horror the fates of numerous vic.
tins in the London Whitechapei district
Her slayer proves to have been her own
nephew, Thomas Walsh, who is now il
the hands of the police.
At the usual time yesterday morning
Michael Walsh left home to go to work
He is teamster in the employ of j. V.
Farwell & Co., and usually went out
early in order to have his team in readi
ness. As he passed through the kitchen,
where his wife was washing dishes, he
bade her goodbye, in accordance with
custom he had for long time followed.
Tonight, in the kitchen where he had
hidden her happy goodbye but a few
hours before, be beheld the ter
rible evidences of her death. and in
an adjoining bedroom found her
remains mutilated and torn as though
that fiend of friends. Jack the Ripper
had changed his scene of operations
from London to Chicago. with the inten-
ton, perhaps, of carrying out the same
line of horrible murders. adding victim
after victim and carrying terror to the
hearts of the community.
A Fearful Discovery.
Contrary to his expectations Walsh
hnmQ
O'Clock. He tried the front door. but
found it locked. He went around to
the rear door leading to the kitchen.
There was fire burning in the stove.
the evening meal had been partially
prepared, and the cooking utensils were
in their accustomed places. But scat.
tered over the floor were little scraps of
| paper, and Walsh stopped to examine
| them. They were pieces OF newspaper.
and without giving the matter a second
! thought, he started in search of his
wife, going to the front of the house.
where he expected to find her.
Fifteen minutes he had searched for
his wife in vain and he began to fear
that some harm had befallen her. The
preparatiOns that had been made for
supper, the fire IN the kitchen stove,
| the general appearance of the house,
seemed to indicate, he argued to him.
| self. that she had not been away long
and that she had not gone with the III
tention of abandoning her work. Sud-
denly it occurred to him that there was
no reason for such a strong and disa-
greeable odor in the bedroom. Not
satisfied with what he had seen
there. he returned only to be
horrified at discovering what he had
not seen when he was in the place the
| first time. The room was partially
darkened, as the window curtains had
| been lowered. He raised them and eX-
| amined the first object that had met his
gaze when he entered a quarter of an
| hour before-the pile of rags.
Uncovered the Horror.
The first piece Of cloth he lifted was
stained with his Wife'S blOOd.an it was
| then that suspicious of his wife's death
| crept into his mind. He threw aside
| the pile. and there, on the blood-stained
| carpet, was the body OF his wife. Sixty
| five gashes. varying in length from
| half an inch to foot, told the story of
| death that had come only after vio-
| lent struggle, as was shown by the dis
| arrangement of furniture and the spat-
| tering of blood. Were there not evil
| dences of human skill In the mutllation
| of the remains, it would be difficult to
| believe that the crime was the work OF
| a man.
Not satisfied with killing his victim,
| the slayer had so horribly disfgured
the corpse that even Walsh himself
| could hardly realize at first that he was
| gazing on the dead body of his own
| wife. From the crown of the woman's
| head to her feet there were cuts in
every conceivable direction. The
| wounds were most numerous on her
| breast and lower limbs. where the flesh
was ripped in places and hacked until
the skin hung i'll threads. Along the
| upper part of her right leg was a cash
over foot in length from which blood
| ooZed i'm little streams. Along either
] side of this wound was row of smaller
! gashes. that had been made with an
| idea of regularity. They were of uni
form length and evenly arranged, as if
| to give horribly artistic finish to the
work. Over each eye was deep cut,
another beneath the right ear, another
along the left cheek, and still another
| on the neck under The chin. In the left
breast, Immediately over the heart, was
a pair of long-bladed scissors that had
been jabbed into the flesh.