The record-union., 1895-07-22
MURDERER HOLMES.
TWO MORE GRIMES ADDED TO THE
PREVIOUS LIST.
Believed to Have Put Ont OF the Way
a Woman and Her Daughter Who
Know Too Much.

CHICAGO, July 21.-To the long list of
murders ana other crimes directly trace
able to the fiend. Ii. Ii. Holmes, must
now be added the mysterious disappear
ance Of Mrs. [. l.. Conner and her twelve
year-old daughter, with a 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. Conner and her child were last
seen in the company of Holmes in this
city in 1893. Since then all trace of them
has been lost, and the shreWdest of de-
tectives, 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 influ-
ence of Holmes, in whose net she had been
trapped, and 1T was not until the dis
closures of his work in connection with
the Pietzel case was made that the
friends began to fear that the lives OF her.
self and her child had been taken.
Mr.. and Mrs. l. d. Conner, with their
twelve-year-old daughter, came from
Davenport, Iowa. to Chicago in 1889
Holmes at that time was beginning to
execute the swindies for which he after
ward became notorious. one Of his
schemes was the drug and jeWelry store
III the EngleWOod flats. Conner, who
was jeweler, was employed to conduct
the iewelrv story, and moved with his
family into a fiat above it. When
Holmes had perfected his plan of rob-
bing his creditors, he pretended to make
a sale of the store and stock to Conner.
| was given position as bOokkeeper.
In a short time Holmes piloted her
from the moral path, and then, wishing
to get rid of Conner. furnished him with
proofs of his wites infidelity Con-
ner promptly abandoned his wife.
and she, it is alleged, became
this she soon learned the character of
| the horrible work he had in hand, and to
q degree 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
Investigating the case is that she was
removed to prevent exposure.
If Mrs. Conner and her child are dead,
as now seems almost certain, the list of
murders with which h dimes is charged
mum bers eight, viz: B. I. Pietzel, the
three PietZel children, the two Williams
girls and Mrs. Conner aud her child, and
| there is a plausible theory for the crime
| in each case. PietZel was murdered to
get the money from the insurance COM
pany into the possession of Mrs. Pietzel;
the Pietzel children were killed to re-
| move the heirs TO the property, and make
the securing OF the property to 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
necessisate the disclosure Of her mothers 8
fate.
During the search yesterday for fur
ther 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 Fitz-
patrick and Norton. 1t belonged to Lucy
Burbank, and was the property of the
First National Bank of this city. It
showed that Miss Burbank was a heavy
deposltor, putting money in the bank
every day, sometimes as high as 5000.
Who the woman is, is unknown. but De-
tectlve Fitzpatrick thinks he Will be able
| to, find her.
Twenty men tomorrow morning, un
| der the direction of detective sergeants.
will continue the search OF the cellar on
! Sixty-third street for traces of the fiend-
| ish work of Holmes. By that time the
! place Will be purified OF gas, which caused
| the explosion on Saturday, and the work
will be done thoroughly. If there are
! any traces Of Holmes supposed victims
Or any mysterious passages, or any pipes
! leading from the vat of dead gas to
| Holmes apartments on the third floor,
| the detectives expect to find thon..