Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1892-01-23
THE "sLAsngR" CAUGHT.

Mania for Cutting tho Throats OF
Drunken Men.
New YORK, Jan. 1S.-William Dowd
was arraigncd in the Tombs police
court before Judge Duffy, charged with
cutting the throat of William Miller
at $3.50 o'clock of the same
day, and was committed with
out 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 as
"Jack the Slasher" Unquestionably
it was he who early Friday morning
murdered John Carson in Christie
street Carson was found lying lifeless
on his back, his throat cut from ear TO
ear.
Dowd was arrested, red-handed, with |
in two minutes from the time he com
mitted his latest crime. Inspector |
Byrnes told Sunday afternoon how |
Dowd came to be arrested, and estab- |
lished beyond doubt that he was
homicidal crank and that he
was guilty of slashing William
Miller early Sunday morning and John
Clark January 0. He expected to prove,
he said, that he killed Lawyer Carson
in Christie street last Friday. These
mysterious assaults on intoxicated men
began in the lower part of the eleventh
precinct and the upper part of the
fourth precinct December 81. The VIC
Tins were:
Dec 28-James Helfn-The mucles Of his
| neck were severed by single blow Of a knife
| or razor.
| Jan. 2-George Wilson-Was found lying in
.z1I
the same story of mysterious assailant that
| Helfn had told
| Ian 8-Louis Lawson-Early in the morning
. policeman discovered him bleeding from
| cash across his nose and cheek. He could tell
| no more about his injuries and the way in
| which they had been received than Helm ana
| Wilson could of theirs.
Jan. l0-John Clark-He was found uncon-
| scious from loss OF blood He slashed
| deeply in the left cheek and on the neck.
| Jan. 13-John Donohue-He stated that he
| had been stabbed Just below the heart He
| showed the wound which was not serious.
Jan. 15-John Carson-Found dead with his
| throat cut from ear to ear. This was the first
fatality in the series.
Jan. l7-William Miller-Throat slashed.
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'Connors command who was sent out
Saturday night disguised as an ordi-
nary citizen was William Fl. Masterson.
He was watching at New Bowery and
Chambers street shortly after o'clock
and saw a man slouching along warily
and watchfully on the other side of the
street.
The officer shadowed him until at
the corner of Oak and Roosevelt streets
he saw him fix his attention on u man
whose gait proclaimed him to be intox-
icated. The drunkard staggered and
supported himself by putting his hand
on a railing. The man with the
handkerchief looked in every di-
rection for several seconds and
then slouched toward the intoxicated
man.
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 and dash across the
street, while the drunlsard fell to the
/. walk. Then came a summons for helI
, from Masterson, and he started in pur
suit down Batavia street, followed by
, Officers McCrary, Weidemeyer ant
. Carter. The fugitive was soon caught
When his right hand was drawn from
:. his pocket it clutched razor that wa
I wet with blood.
q While Masterson rushed the pr;sone
: to the Oak street station house, nea
t by, the other officers attended to th
= drunken man, who was bleeding from
8 cash in the throat, which was pre-
}. cisely the same, but not so deep, as tn
v wound on Lawyer Carson. The pris
q oner had given his name as Henry G
l. Dowd, while his victim was recorded
O as William Miller, of No. S26 Cherr,
street.
Dowd was not disposed to talk q
acted in self-defense. Some man jostle
ID him; he feared violence and used tn
razor.
n Inspector Byrnes had several talk
If with him and finally Dowd mad
II the admission that he wa
'e possessed by mania that he coul
i not control, and that was to kill ''
10 Dutchman." He repeated this severe
y times, and his most emphatic declar;
le tion was: 1.-The only reason / have fc
D. doing this is to kill Dutchman, an
N Pm looking for them all the time"
But while at one time Dowd admi
at ted that this homicidal impulse mad
him attack Miller, and after admittin
cSS cS not only that Clark's Identification {
ne him was just and that h
found drunken man lying
le- Christie street Friday morning and CT
~ his throat, and that he had con
es. mitted many such crimes and ha
To- recorded them by day and date, an
that some day he would make fu
statement, he recanted and denied ha
ing committed such crimes or havin
en- made such statements.
Inspector Byrnes learned in Broo
70 lyn that Dowd had been confined
re the Flatbush insane asylum a numb'
of years ago, but had escaped and ha
nd not been recaptured. He also foul