Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-01-19
RIGHT IN THE ACT
Jack the Siasher" Brought
Into Court.
HIS RECORD OF BLOODY DEEDS
a New Yogkes Who Had . Mania fos
Cutting Drunken Meas Threats
Arrested q His Work.


with cutting the throa. of William
Miller at $50 o'clock Sunday morn
ing. and was committed with
put bail There is no doubt
whatever that Dowd is the mysterious
man who has come To be known
in the vicinity Of Oak Station house rs
Jack the slasher" Unquestionably
II was he who early Friday morning
murdered John Carson in Christie
street Carson was found lying lifeIess
on his back, his shroat cut from ear to
ear.
Caught In the Act.
Dowd was arrested. red-handed, with
in two minutes from the time he COM
mitted his latest crime. Inspector
Byrpes told Sunday afternoon how
Dowd came To be arrested. and estsb-
lished beyond q doubt that he WAS
q homicidsl crank and that he
was guilty of slashing William
Miller early Sunday morning and John
Clark January O. He expected to prove,
he said, that he killed Lawyer Carson
in Christie street last Friday. These
assaults on intoxicated mon
began in the lower part Of the eleventh
precinct and the upper part Of the
fourth precinct December 81. The VIC
tins were:
His Victims.
Dec cs-yames Helhn-The muc,es Of his
neck were severed by . single blow Of kuife
CT racer.
Jan. 2-Georg- wiison-was found lying in
Oliver street with his cheek laid open He told
the same story Of . mysterious sssailant that
HELM had tolA
Jan s-Louis Lawson-Early In the morning
policeman discovered him bleeding from .
cash across his nese and cheek- lie could tell
no more about his injuries and the way In
which they had been received than Helm aud
Wilson could OF theirs
Jan I0-John Clark-He was found uncon-
seious from loss OF blood He was slashcd
deeply In the LETT cheek and on the neck
Jan. ls-lohn Dopohue-He stated that he
had been stabbed Just below the heart He
showed the wound, which was not serious.
Jan. l5-John Carson-Found dead with his
throat cut from ear 10 ear. This vas the frst
fatality in the series
JGn f7--William Miller-Throat s,ashed-
How the Slnsher Was Captured.
After Clark had been slashed plan
to capture the slasher was agreed
upon. Twenty detective sergeants and
details of men in citizens clothes were
put on watch. One member Of Capt.
O'Connor's command who was sent out
Saturday night disguised rs an ordi-
nary citizen was William H. Masterson.
He was watching at New Bowery and
Cham bers street shortly after o'clock
and saw a man slouching along warily
and wa.chfully on the other side of the
street.
Picked Out His Victim.
The officer Swallowed him until at
the corner of Oak and Roosevelt streets
he saw him Ak his attention on . man
whose gait proclaimed him to be intox-
icated The drunkard staggered and
supported himself BY putting bis hand
on q railing. The man with the
handkerchief locked in every di-
rection for several seconds and
then slouched coward the intoxicated
man.
Cut His Throat.
In the next three seconds Masterson
saw the man with the handkerchief
seize the other around the neck with
his left hand. make quick motion with
the right hand, aud dash across the
street, while the drunkard fell to the
walk. Then came summons for help
from Masterson, and he started in pur-
suit down Batavia strset, followed by
Officers McCfary. Weidemeyer and
Carter. The fugitive was soon caught.
When his right hand was drawn from
his pocket it clutched razor that was
wet with blood.
His Victim Net Mech Hurt.
While Masterson rushed the prisoner
to the Oak street station house, near
by. the other officers attended TO the
drunken man, who was bleeding from
. cash ia the throat, which was pre-
cisely the same, but not so deep. as the
wound on Lawyer Carson. The pris-
oner had given his name Is Henry q.
Dowd, while his victim was recorded
as William Miller. of No. S26 Cherry
street
Claims Self Defense.
Dowd was not disposed to Talk a,
first All be would say was that he
acted in self-defense. Sorpe man jostlcd
him; re feared violence aud used the
razor. Miller was unable to identify
Dowd. saying when be was assaulted he
had nat noticed the man who cut him.
Inspector Byrnss had several talks
with him and finally Dowd made
the admission that he was
possessed by q mania that he could
not control, and that was 10 kill -
Dutehman." He 70 yeated this several
times, and his most emphatic declsra-
ton was 1.-The only reason I have 70,
doing this is 10 kill Dutchman, and
I'm looking for them all the time.
But while 1T ore tirsc Dowd admit
ted that this homicidsl impulse made
him attack Miller. and after admitting
not only that Clark's Identification OF
him was just and that he
found a drunken man lying In
Christie street Friday morning and GU
his throat and that he had com
mitsed many such crimes and hat
recorded them by day and date. and
that some day he would make q :ui
statement, he recanted and denied hav
ing com mitsed such crimes or havins
made ssch statements
Once W sn Insane Asyinn.
Inspector Byrncs learned in Brock
I'm tina. Dowd had been confined Ia
the Fiathosh insane asylusa a mum bel
of years ago, but had escaped and hat
not been reesetured- He also feuHs
that be had bees = prisoner in
Sing sing. sentenced 20 a fvs-yea
term for cutting q man IN New York
bat had been pardoned through the In
ssreessicn Of some prominent people II
New York after ne had served two