The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-08-17
KILLED GEORGE THOMAS.
PietzeI Was a Partner in This
,::> Crime on the Tombigbee
.>.. T: :. -. =: River.
WAS LURED AWAY IN A BOAT.
For Motives of Revenge and Money
a Wife of the Assassin Told
-. '.*:.: !. of the Deed. =.

COLUMBUS, Miss. Aug. 16.-Another
murder has been traced to Holmes and his
once CO. partner, Benjamin Pietzel. The
particulars of this murder are as yet
meager, but the local officers are now
working the matter up. and it is believed
that valuable evidence will be secured.
The register of the Gilmore Hotel in this
city shows on the 9th of January of the
present year the names of Mrs..M. Holmes
and child, with no place of residence given.
She is described by the hotel clerk, who
remembers her, as a tall, finely developed
and handsome woman. The child was a
light-haired girl, about years OLD, named
Lucy. They remained at the hotel three
or, four days and had little to say to the
other guests. In fact she was very cold
and distant to the ladies who proffered her
some little special attentions. ~:
On the second day after her arrival she
went into the Office of the Justice of the
talk with him.. She made her child leave
the room and directed her to remain in a
photograph gallery: across the hall. She
then made an affidavit before Justice
Foote, charging H. II. Holmes, then in jail
in Philadelphia, with murder. When
asked by the Justice for her proof she pro-
duced a written paper, signed by Holmes,
which she claimed to have found among
her papers in the Chicago castle"
In this document Holmes relates the
story of his murder of George H. Thomas
on the Tombigbee River, six miles below
Columbus. Upon this affidavit requisition
papers were issued by Governor John NJ.
Stone, Mrs. Holmes agreeing to pay the
expense of the Chief of Police of this city
to go to Philadelphia for Holmes Justice
Foote made the woman copy of the al
legged confession and she went away. She
left with him the original confession of
Holmes. She gave as her reason for max
ing the affidavit that Holmes had been
very brutal in his treatment for two years
and she hoped by his conviction to get
some OF his property, as he was worth over
500, 900.
The document states that Holmes, B. F.
Pietzel and the murdered George Thomas
were in this city on or about June 20, 1894.
but that they stopped at different places
and were not seen together on the streets.
Their conduct was such as to leave the
community under the impression that they
were strangers. A few days after their ar
rival they procured small boat and all
three went down the river together. At
this point, the paper says, after going
down the river six miles, Holmes got out
on the bank in search of drink water and
was gone some time, and when he returned
Thomas was dead. Pietzel says his death
was caused by falling from the boat and
striking his head on the rocks; that they
buried the body in the river swamp and
returned to Columbus.
This in substance is what the confession
contained.
The requisition papers came from Jack
son. and Chief of Police Munger arranged
to go to Philadelphia after Holmes, but in
the meantime Mrs. Holmes had quietly
left the city.
1t is the opinion of the officers that it
was the desire of the woman to have
Holmes brought from Philadelphia to this
place, to give him an opportunity to escape
on the way, or else be acquitted of the
charge of murder and released here. This
theory, however, is exploded, ard credence
given to the confession from the appear
ance of B. F. Pietzel, who registered at the
hotel here from Chicago ON June 10, 1894,
about the time the murder is alleged to
have been committed. About this time,
also, Thomas arrived here, stopping at a
different hotel. He claimed to be in the
lumber business, and was here looking for
timber. Pietzel also claimed to be in the
lumber business, and in that way he be-
came acquainted with Thomas.
1t is well remembered that the three
men left here in boat early in the morn
ing, and that just before night the boat re-
turned with only two occupants. There
can be no doubt of the murder of Thomas
in the river swamps. While here Pietzel
was in correspondence with his wife, who
lived at 643 Michigan avenue, ST. Louis.
Judge Orr was interviewed by The United
Press correspondent to-day, and while ad-
uniting the main facts about the confer
ence, he refused to disclose the nature of
his business with Mrs. Holmes, but said
he knew her reason for wanting her hus-
band brought here from Philadelphia, but
would not give it for publication. 1t is
reliably known that Judge Orr has in his
possession Holmes confession OF the muir
der, and this confession is sustained by the
fact that the hotel-registers show the
presence of the three men in this city at
the time the murder was alleged to have
been committed.
CHICAGO POLICE SURPRISED.