The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-04-17
The San Francisco FlEND
Suspicion Connects Durant With the
Third Missing Woment.
A VERlTABLE JACK THE RIPPER
The Behavior OF the Prisoner Tends to
Establish His Guilt -Excitcment Over
the Double Crime Is Incrcas.
ing-PrObnbly II Maniac.

San Francisco. April 16.-Theodore
Durant was, last evening. formally
charged with the murder of Minnie Will
liams. The coroner's inquest upon Miss
Williams Will be held today. 1t will be
dual investigation. The police will
produce their evidence regarding the
murder Of both girls. They say they
have more than enough testimony to
convict Durant of murder. A further
mystery Is added to the affair of the
Emanuel Baptist church by the report
that Mrs. Ella Forsyth, who has been
missing for a week, was also a member
| of that place of worship. Her hus-
band. who has been searching diligently
for her, says she left home to go to the
beach to gather shells She has never
been seen since or heard of. and 1t Is
surmised that she may have shared
the same fate of Blanche Lamont and
Minnie Williams.
The city was alive yesterday with
Sensational rumors regarding the hor-
rible tragedy The street in front of
Emanuel Baptist church was blocked
all day with curious and excited
crowds. Police and detectives spent
the day in searching all hooks and
corners of the city for further evidence
which may throw light upon the crime
The police believe 1t impossible for the
butcher of Miss Williams to have ac-
complished this brutal murder without
having smeared with blood some article
of clothing. To find some trace of the
assassin's presence was the object of
their unsuccessful search
The organist's Story.
George King, organist of the church
where the horrible crimes We're com
mitted, made a statement to Chief of
Police Crowley which tends to fix one
crime, at least the murder of Miss La
mont, upon Durant. King says that on
April Uhe day Miss Lamont was
missed), he went into the church about
p. m. to practice on the organ II
saw Durant there, much to my sur
prise. He came down to the organ loft
in highly excited and overheated con-
dition. asked him what was the mat
ter and he replied that he had been
overcome by the gas up in the loft.
He was very weak and pale and asked
me to give him glass Of bromo-seltzer.
l knew he was fitting up an electrical
contrivance about the church and
thought nothing strange about his GO
ing up in the loft"
This is direct evidence of the most
startling nature. Miss Lamont ii will
be remembered, left the high school
about 3 p. m. on the day she was last
seen, April 4. She was seen with Dur
ant. The theory is now that Durant
had just finished his fiendish work
when seen by the organist. Judge
Thompson, Durant's attorney, has re-
ceived permission from the coroner to
be present at the inquest with a stem
ographer, that he may follow the testi-
mony in behalf of his client. King
says that he went to the drug store at
the corner of SiXty-first and Howard
streets and purchased q bottle of
bromo-SeltZer and continued:
When l returned Durant took a
dose, and it seemed to nauseate him.
He asked me how he looked. l told him
he was pale and his eyes were a little
congested. What he did during the time
| was gone / don't know. Afterward
he went into the ladies' parlor to look
into mirror, and / afterward found
on the little shelf underneath a little
clot of blood, as though he had wiped
his finger on 1t. We then carried a lit
tie organ from up stairs down into the
lecture room. Several times he stopped
to rest, and seemed quite weak At 6
o'clock he left and went a short dis
tance with me down the street. / do
not remember whether he went back
to the church or not
Durant a Medical Student.
In addition to this damaging evil
dence, other equally discriminating evil
dence has been furnished. In the
search for the crime many curious
theories have been evolved assuming
that Durant is guilty. One theory for
the motive of the murder Is the crimes
were committed for the purpose of med
ical investigation 1t Is known that
Durant was an ardent medical student.
The theory Is that he was crazed on
the subject, and being unable to con-
duct his investigation in any legitimate
manner, murdered the girls for that
purpose. The condition of the bodies
after they were found tend to carry
out this line of reasoning.
Instead of abating, the excitement
over the horrible crimes Is on the in
crease. Every fresh rumor is an excuse
for an extra edition of the newspapers,
which are eagerly bought by crowds of
people on, the streets. Other crowds
gather In front of the bulletin boards
and haunt the scene of the crimes.