The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-22
FATE OF MRS. CONNER
1t Is Now Almost Certain That
She and Her Daughter
Were Murdered.
WAS IN THE swINDLER's WAY
The Woman Had Been an Accom-
pIice in His Crimes and Knew
Too Much.

CHICAGO, ILL. July 21.-To the long
list of murders and other crimes directly
traceable to the archfend H. II. Holmes
must now be added the mysterious disap-
pearance of Mrs. l. L. Conner and her II
year-old daughter, with reasonable GER
tainty that they may have been disposed
of in the same manner in which the rest
of his victims met their death. Mrs. Con-
ner and her child were last seen in the
company of Holmes in this city in 1898.
Since then ali trace of them has been lost,
and the detectives who, at the instigation
of the woman's family, have been working
ON the case are now of the opinion that the
finding of the bodies is the only possible
solution of the mystery.
The hunt for Mrs. Conner and her child
has not until lately been made on the
theory that they had been murdered. 1t
was pursued in an effort to locate the
woman and get her away from the infiu-
ence of Holmes, in whose net she had been
trapped, and it was not until the disclosures
of his work in connection with the Pietzel
case were made that her friends began to
fear the lives of herself and her child had
been taken.
Ne. and Mrs. 1. L. Conner, with their
daughter, came from Davenport, Iowa,
to Chicago in 1889. Holmes at the time
was beginning to execute the swindle Tor
which he afterward became notorious.
One of his schemes was the robbing OF the
drugstore on the Englewood fats. Conner,
who was jeweler, was employed to con-
duct the jewelry store, and moved with his
family into fiat above it.
When Holmes had perfected his plan Of
robbing his creditors he pretended to make
sale of the store and stock to Conner.
Mrs. Conner, bright, ambitious woman,
was given position as bookkeeper. In
short time Holmes piioted her from the
moral path and then wishing to get rid of
Conner furnished him with proofs of his
wife's infdelity. Conner promptly aban-
doned his wife, and she, it is alleged, be-
came Holmes counselor and advisor. In
this she soon learned the character of the
horrible work he had on hand and in de-
gree had him in her power. They had
many violent quarrels and in 1898 the
woman and her child disappeared. The
theory of the people who have been in
vestigating the case is that she was ire
moved" to prevent exposure.
If Mrs. Conner and her child are dead,
as now seems most certain, the list of muir
ders with which Holmes is charged num-
bers eight, viz: B. F. Pietzel. the three
Pietzel children, the two Williams girls
and Mrs. Conner and her child, and there
is plausible theory for the crime in each
case. Pietzel was murdered to get the
money from the insurance company into
the possession of Mrs. Pietzel; the Pietzel
children were killed to remove the heirs to
the property and make the securing of the
property by Holmes just that much easier !;
the Williams girls were killed to
get control of $4,000 worth of real
estate in Fort Worth, Tex, and
Mrs. Conner and her little girl were made
away with to get rid of woman who knew
too much and child whose keeping would
be troublesome and might necessitate
the disclosure of her mothers fate. The
rib-like fragment found in the ashes under
the stove in the room in the Holmes build
ing in Twenty-third street, and supposed
to be portion of the remains of the two
Williams girls. was late last night sub jected
to test by DR.. G. P. Sprinfield and pro-
nounced by him to be bits of fire clay.
When matched together the fire clay
formed a section of circle, which if COM
plete, would equal the inside circumference
of large stove.
During the search yesterday for further
evidence of Holmes crimes, bank book
was found in Holmes Office, on the third
floor of the building at Sixty-third and
Wallace streets, by Detectives Patrick and
Norton. 1t belonged to Lucy Burbank
and was the property of the First National
Bank of this city. 1t showed that Miss
Burbank was heavy depositor, putting
money into the bank every day, sometimes
as high as $500. Who the woman is is I'M
known, but Detective Patrick thinks he
will be able to find her.
Twenty men tomorrow morning, under
the direction of detective sergeants. will
continue the search of the cellar of the
house at FOL Sixty-third street with picks
and shovels for more traces of the dendish
work of Holmes. By that time the place
is expected to be purified from the gas and
chemicals caused by the explosion Satur-
day, and the men will do their work thor
oughly. If there are any bones of Holmes
supposed victims or any mysterious sub
terranean passages, or any pipes leading
from the vat of the dead gas to Holmes
apartments on the third floor, the detec-
tives expect to find them.
DEMO UNCED By MRS. HOLMES.
She HitL Not Assist the Murderer to
Escape the Gallons.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND, July 21.-Mrs.
Georgiana Holmes, alias Howard, who is
now in Philadelphia, refused to say, when
interviewed here, what course she would
take in reference to her husband, the in
surance swindler and murderer, but
friend of hers has been found to whom she
talked freely. This friend said tonight
that Mrs. Holmes would turn against her
husband, whom she Is convinced is
scoundrel and a murderer, and will send
him To iustice She is reported tn hava %; ia