Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-11-01

ihis Vas the day before we left phil.
Was he At home the next dayy.
fart OF the day. He went AMI M
about halt past len In the ,,,o o,t az
ne said he had been al Nick own n
suburb of Philadelphia. He had h fire
hehtioned going away. and said ~
Would go home to Indiana polls. We We rs
nMnoWh mere BY the meme OF IIowa t.d
sr e r., on me io;lS train. The pilron.
remhi nsd with ME In India rapoIis
DAY or two. Then he went away saw
inB ne was going TO ST, Louis. When
ne came back he went With mo Ia NV
mothers home in franklin. Ind From
mere we went 10 indianapolis and
ncw Gays afterwards he went 10
hhiinuelphla, saying the copyln q deal
had been closed. lie returned fror, phil
aue iphla about the 2ith or the mont h.
una ne then went to 81. Louis tf, meet
lawyer Harvey. After he came back
rom philadelphia to indianapolis he
| went twice 10 st. Louis and on one of
~, ,ouse vccaslons he said he was going
70 meet II man from Fort Worth, who
was 70 buy the block In that city.
When he returned from this trim
ne H'iii he had sold the block for .g3. =
wv Sio'OOO In cash and the bnlance
payn ole seml-annunlly After his re-
,utn rom Philadelphia he told me he
mad met Jeptha Howe on the train
lie had tho little girl with him and was
g9lnE, to identify the body or his
clients husband. She identified Pet-
zers picture as the man she had known
IN Fort Worth as b. r. Lyman.
Holmes WAS known as H. NJ. Pratt.
and this he explained by saying lne
business arrangcme nts about the prnp-
cry Were complicated, and he tho ught
IL best to use that name"
Cfoa-eNamine." said the district
attorney.
Mr.. Hotan OF the defense announced
that the prisoner insisted on cond uct.
Ing the ross'eNaminatlon In person.
The court Consented, and Holmes al.
dressed his questions trcmu lousy d.
rect to the woman he called his wife.
she never rn Used her owes and gave her
replies In Il Whisper. The crier repeat.
ed them ale nd She said Holmer On me
In The house Sunday afternoon Sept .sm.
BERG. 1884 locking worried and dlsturb.
ed. He explained that lie had walked
fast
The examination continued at 2 p.
m. Mira, Piezel was recall and
Identified clothing which belonged to
her husband.
The daughter Dessa, also Identified
them aud pictures of Howard, Nellie
and Alice.
Coroners Physician Sedelabot ham ties.
tilted he had procured this clothing
from Piet2el's body when Il was eN-
humed from the Mechanics Cemetery
and Dr. Mattcn testified that the body
eX humed from The pottera field and
me Mechanics Cemetery Were iden IL
cal.
William f. Saucr. of the police, who
was one Of the policemen called into
the Callow Hill street house, also ldent T.
fed Pletzel's picture ms thnt OF the
dead man found lying on the floor
detective Frank p Geyer who traced
Holf nes movements through the couu-
try. Identified letters written by tho
children to their mother and never
mailed by Holmes, Later he WIN tell
the story of his travels. petectlv.
Gcyer, recalled. said he had an inter-.
View with Holmes In the cell room of
the city hall on November 20. 1894.
about the body found in the Callcw I'M
street house, Holmes said to him that
II was not Pletzel's body but "A sub
stltute
HE told me he left the Eleventh
street house on sunday. Septem Der 9.
and went to New York, where he. went
TO "A medical st udent and procured a
corpse. lie put 1t In "A trunk and had
1t aiken by furniture cart driven
TO Jersey City. where IL was sh ippel
on the same train to Philadelphia that
Holmes came over on. He reached this
city about O'Clock in the a fternoon
and met PietzeI In the main ohlce OF
the Western Union Telegraph company
giving him the check for the trunk.
He then went to the Eleventh street
house and that night he went west
He next saw Piet2Cl In Detroit, where
he met him at the postoalce
y asked him where Pletzel and the
children were and he said In South
America. He refused to give me the
name OF the student from whom he
got the corpse, sa ying that the stu dent
EllnungpU ffa In
before he and Holmts had swindled an
insura nee company out OF $1,000 BE.
sides the student was n prosperous
man of family, He would only give his
name In the event OF being brought
up for murder. He said he had told
Pietgel how 10 prepare the subs tltIited
body, 10 place 1t on the floor with the
arms on the breast. put the liquid In
tho mouth and set fire to It. The lquid
had been used for cleaning clothes.
"a few days before his arrangement
for conspiracy to which he pleaded
guilty, 1 saw him in the cell room and
he said the story he had told me about
the substitution of q body was not
true and that the corpse found in the
house was that OF Pletzel. 1 sa i'd
We'll, Holmes. IL that is the case. then
you murdered the children and Pletzel.'
He said mo. / did not"
The detective then related how
Holmes Found PietZePs body as al rea dy
published In a statement by Holmes.
II asked him where the children
were" continued the detective, "and he
said Minnie Williams had them In Lon.
don. The last time | saw Howard
he SAID to me. was In Detroit on the
Wednesday preceding my depa rture
for Toronto. Minnie Williams took din
ner with me at Gleses' hotel and gave
Howard to her. Then took the girls
TO Toronto. | put them on train and
left them at the first station outside the
city. Before leaving Alice pinned
800 In her breast. Alice was to go to
Niagara Fails and walt for Minnie VIII
llams and Howard when they would MI
go to London. II you 30 to New York
the shipping department there viii
show that two boys. a girl and wo-
man went TO London. l told Minnie
to cut Off Nellle's hair and ress her as
a boy TO divert suspi cion'
81 asked him what he had done with
the childrens trunk. and he said he
left them in hotel on West Madison
street, Chicago.
I'm June. In company with Mr. Percy
! saw him In prison and he then told
us he had given Howard to man
named Hatch In indianapolis. and that
was the Ia st he saw OF him The last
he saw of the girls was In Toronto
Detective Geyer was here temporarily