Evening star., 1895-07-16
DOUBLE MURDER UNEARTHED
Probably the Work Of johnson, the In
suranee Swindler.
Evidence Multipfies That He Tried to
XIII the Whole PitZel
Family.

PHILADELPHIA, July 16.-The finding
| of the bodies Of two of Pitzeps children in
Toronto created a sensation in police circles
| here The authorities are convinced that
| they were murdered by Holmes, who is
| now in prison here awaiting trial on the
[ charge of conspiracy to defraud the Fidel-
ity Mutual Life Insurance Association of
| $4,000. This amount was obtained by
| Lawyer Jeptha D. Howe of St. Louis, rep
resenting the family of B F. Pitzel, who. it
is alleged, was killed In this city by the ex-
| plosion of a chemical, and VINO had short
| ly before been insui ed In the Fidelity Com
| many. 1t is probable that the charge
against Holmes will be changed from con-
| spiracy to murder, as 1t is generally be-
| lieved now that Pitzel is really dead and
Holmes murdered him.
| Just before Holmes was brought to trial
| he made a confession. in which he said
| that he procured corpse in New York,
! brought it to this city, and disfguring 1t
| by use of chemicals, palmed it off success
| fully as the remains of PitZel. After the
| confession Holmes, trial was postponed un-
| til October 1t is believed since the Phila-
! delphia murder antedates the Canada crime
| by year, the man win have to stand trial
! here.
Detective Geyer, who found the bodies of
| case stree September, 1894, when the char
red remains of the bogus or genuine Pit
| Eel were first found. He has followed out
| many clues furnished by President Fouse
| of the Fidelity Mutual Insurance Associa-
| ton and has been confident from the outset
| that the crime Of murder would be finally
] fastened upon Holmes.
President Fouse said today: Everything
| points to the fact that Holmes plotted to
| destroy the entire PitzeI family. and as
Hryl Gr diCo In ft fr,
! BILE that he Was killed there. We found
house on Forest avenue in Detroit where
| Holmes and the boy had been together.
| ard there were traces of a huge fire having
! infer that he burnt the boys corpse.
THE belief is also that he attempted to
| destroy Mrs. Pitzel In Burlington, VT, by
| having her handle can of nitro-glycerine
| that he had left in the house she occupied.
| Should 1t be proven that Holmes murdered
| the children 1t will be strong circumstan-
! tial evidence that he killed their father.
and he will undoubtedly be tried here for
| the latter crime
| Mrs. Pitzel, the mother of the murdered
| children, is at present supposed to be at
| With two of her children, daughter aged
| seventeen and a baby. She went direct to
| GaIva after Holmes had pleaded guilty.
| Excitement at Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS. Ind, July l6.-The an
uouncement that the bodies of two Of the
| murdered Pitzel children haG been found
! buried in a Toronto cellar created a sensa-
| tion, as the children were last seen alive
| by those who knew them in this city. De-
| tective Geyer was here three weeks ago
| searching for the lost childfen. 1t was here
| that he got the clew that led to the finding
| of the bodies in Toronto. He traced the
| children from here to- Detroit and from
| there to Toronto: He twas unable to get
| any evidence that the, boy left this city
aEve, and he went from here believing that
the boy had been murdered and his body
shipped from here in D trunk. The chill
| dren were taken away from here during the
| last week in October. p
The BOY Doubtless Murdered.
! INDIANAPOLIS. Ind. July 16.-The
| Journal today prints an article containing
! the statement that the Pitzel boy, the
brother Of Alice and Nellie Pitzel. whose
| dead bodies are supposed to have been un-
earthed at Toronto yesterday, was beyond
| last, presumably by Holiness the insurance
| swindler, now in custody at Philadelphia.
1t was developed that certain express
| driver, by agreement with Holmes, called
at the old Circle House on that date and
| removed. through the rear door large
| trunk which is believed to have contained
! the boys remains. The driver, Louis by
| name, has identified the picture of Holmes
as the man who. employed him. The three
| Pitzel children were in this city at three
| different hotels for some time under the
1 guardianship or holmes. DetecttVe FRANK
| Geyer of Philadelphia, who has been a
] greater part Of his time in this city re-
Gently working on the case, stated that the
web was being woven around Holmes. and
| that he would. beyond doubt, be found to
| be the murderer OF the Pitzel children.
Holmes to BE Extradited.
| TORONTO, Ont, July 16.-The bodies of
| the two Pitzel children. which were ex-
humed in the cellar of a vacant house
yesterday were today removed to the
| rergue. Drs. Cavan and R. B. Ord are en-
| gagged in a postmortem today to discover
| by what means the little ones met their
DEATH The inquest will be reopened as
soon as the autopsy is completed. Efforts
| will be made to extradite Holmes at once
and to give him the benefit of swift and
sure Canadian justice. Detective Geyer of
! Philadelphia came here imbued with the
| idea that Holmes had rented a house and
| taken the children there to murder them;
that after doing SO he had either buried
| their bodies or thrown them into the bay.
1t is his theory that the children were
| chloroformed in a trunk. 1t remains to be
seen whether the finding Of the postmor-
tenn examiners will bear out the supposi-
| ton that Mrs. Pitzers Saratoga trunk
| figured In the murders