Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-03-17
A FIENDISH CRIME
The Terrible Secret of an Eng.
lish Fireplace Discovered.
FIVE PERSONS FOUND, 16uRuERED
-Four Had Their Threats Cut and One Was
ssrangled to Death.

Ripper" Although the Bodies Are Not
SIutiIated in the RIppsr'S Styas-Tho
Mans Name IL Williams, aud He Has
Been Arrested in Melbourne. Australia
The Victims Supposed to be His Wife and
Children.
LONDON, March IA tragedy uAparal-
leled in the history of British crime
came to light yesterday through q most
singular chain of circumstances. In
July last a man of tho name OF Arthur
Williams lived in the Dinham Villa, in
Bainhill, fashionable suburb Of Liver
pool. Not much seems to be known
about the antecedents Of Williams. He
seems, however, to have been received in
society, and passed as o well.to-do bach
elor.
He courted Miss Mather, a young wo-
man generally admired for her beauty
and other attractions, and recognized as
a local belle. They got married and went
to Australia, where they were supposed
to be living happily. The people Of
of Rainhill were shocked, a few days
ago, by the news from Australia that
Williams had been arrested there on q
charge of numbering his wife and chill
dren.
AS SOOu dS SnOSS A6S09 SOGSAW ASASG0
about in Rainhill the people called to
mind queer suspicious that had been
afloat about Williams when he occupied
the Dinham Villa. They remembered
that one day q woman and two children
had visited the villa to see Williams, and
from the moment of their entering the
place no one had seen them again. The
affair caused some remark at the time,
but nobody thought OF murder, and the
matter was dropped with the superstition
that the three had gone away without be-
ing seen.
Now, however, the neighhors began
to suspect that there might have been
foul play, and they determined to state
the facts to the police
The police concluded that no harm
could be done by investigating, and they
proceeded to the Dinham Villa yesterday
and began to dig up beneath the fire-
place They noticed, as they begAn,
signs that the place had been disturbed
within comparatively recent period, and
certainly since other work had been done
in the interior OF the villa.
They hardly expected, hover, to dis
cover anything, aud their smazement
was great when, after they had removed
the outer covering, they came upon the
luodies Of two childHen- The body OF one
child indicated that the little one, when
killed, was about z years Of age, and
the other Yves apparently about years
OF age
Both thOdies were wrapped in a damask
table cloth and both had their throats
cut. The remains we're in q fair state of
preservation, and neighbors who had
seen the woman and the two children at
once concluded that these were the chill
dren.
The digging then proceeded with
greater energy than before, and the
searchers soon came upon another body.
This, upon heing unearthed, was found
to be a woman. The throat was also
cut
The police kept digging, while outside
| the news spread and the excitement
grew and thousands rushed to the scene
of the tragedies.
A new force of police was called upon
and a Gordon established around the
villa. 1t was now waning toward even
ing, and the digging proceeded rapidly,
| for runuor grew on rumor and other re-
collections suggested that there were
more victims in the sepulchre beneath
the fireplace
The next body unearthed was that Of Q
| girl Of 10 years. Unlike the former VIC
tins she. had evidently been strangled,
I and it WAS evident, also. that her death
| probably ante-dated that of the woman
and two childrenS The girls body was
removed and the search kept up. A
baby about 1 year old, and with its
throat cut was reached next.
Even the hardened policemen could
not restrain an exclamation OF horror as
the tiny and shrunken body was lifted
up to view.
The work of conceaHng the bodies was
carried out carefully. After q deep hole
had been dug tho bodies Of tho woman
and two children were thrown in, and
cement was poured upon them. Then
the bodies of the two elder children were
thrown in and more cement was poured
into the hole. Next the flag-sSones were
laid over the top of the hole and, finally,
over all, was applied a layer q six
inches of cement, extending over the
entire kitchen.
Up to this hour no moro discoveries
have been made The news has caused
almost frenzy in Liverpool, and the
multitude have rushed to the conclusion
that Williams must be "Jack the Rip
per-" There is no known evidence,
victims we're not mutilated otherwise
than stated above. At least such is the
statement of the police.
The people in Rainhill believe that the
woman aud two children who disap-
peared upon visiting the villa, and whose
bodies were undoubtedly among those
discovered, were q former wife of VIII
sliams and their two children, and that
Williams had got them to visit the villa
for the purpose of getting rid of them
in order that they might not be in the
way of his marriage to Miss Mather.
This, however, is only an impression
based on the circumstances. ,-
At the time of the murder Of Miss
Nather. the wife with whom he went ia
Australia, Williams and his wife were IN
3 Melbourne, and it 10 there that he II
) under arrest.
spends with one description Of ''Jacl
the Ripper the general impression 4
{ that the two men are not identical. Tb'
a wounds ON the bodies already discovered
moreover, show few, IL any, Of the ana
Somical features of the "Ripper" muir
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