The San Francisco call., 1896-02-11
CRIMES OF THE PAST.
Mysterious Cases Having Similar
Features That BaffIed the Police
of Old.

"That looks like Henry Bays. work."
was the remark of police official yester-
day morning, referring to the murder by
strangulation of Mamie McDermott alias
May Smith.
And that remark recalled one of three
mysterious murders committed in this
City in the past fourteen years. The vic
tins were all women-two of them of the
class to which Mamie McDermott be-
longed and the other an aged woman who
kept lodging house.
The remark quoted was as to the case of
the elderly woman and was prompted by
the fact, that as in the case of the most re-
cent victim, she was strangled first and
then towel tied around the neck.
This victim was Frederika Drell, 65
years of age, who was murdered in her
home, in an old-fashioned cottage, on a
terrace on the west side of Dupont street,
just north of California. She lived by her
self in this cottage and sustained herself
by renting few rooms. Among her
lodgers was one Henry Bays, an indi-
vidual who was under surveillance Of
the police. On the morning of the 21st of
December, 1884, the old lady, who was in
the habit of sleeping fully dressed on
couch, so that she would be prepared to go
to the door in case the bell rang, was dis
covered dead on her couch, with a twisted
towel tied around her neck. An examina-
ton made when the towel was removed
revealed the fact that her death had been
caused by strangulation by the hand of
human being, and that the tying of the
towel around her neck was an after
thought and act OF the murderer.
A remarkable fact was that Henry Bays
was missing and that the towel around
he layOio 49, +x.,r~ +Hot
been in Bays room. 1t was supposed that
the old lady, who was somewhat miserly,
had In her rooms a large sum of money
concealed and that robbery was the
motive for the crime. The police after a
search discovered Bays, who was making
his way out of the city, and placed him
under arrest. He was held for trial, but
not convicted, as the evidence against him
was purely circumstantial and the jury
was not satisfied that it would justify the
returning of a verdict. So this case was
one of many in which justice was not
meted out to the criminal and it was rele-
gated to the long list of mysterious
murders.
Another murder by stranguiation was
the killing of Caroline Prennell, at lis
Waverly place. On the 25th of May, 1872
the woman was discovered dead, her body
partly on the floor and her lower limbs
resting on the side of a bed. Her body
W do bdhCn W Jl1C dllu NHSn IT.
porter for The CALL visited that institu-
tion he was told that it was a case of apo
plexy. While examining the body the
reporter discovered several slight bruises
on the neck, and placing his right hand on
the throat discovered that his thumb nail
reached the bruise on the left side of the
neck and the fore and middle fingers
touched two bruises on the right side. He
then made the announcement that the
woman had been strangIed, but he was
laughed at. The autopsy subsequently
revealed q crushed trachca, and established
the correctness of the reporters assertion.
This aroused the police to activity, and
an investigation resulted in the arrest Of
one Henri Rec, the woman's protector. The
police wound chain of circumstances so
tightly thar there seemed to be no possible
hope of escape. This chain was TO the
effect that he and the woman had quar-
relied during the day; that shortly before
the woman was discovered dead voices of
TWO persons talking in French were heard,
and Bee was believed to have been the
owner OF one of the voices. The fact of
his having quarreled with the woman,
and the further fact that he told a number
of contradictory stories as to his where
abouts on the night the woman was
killed, were considered such strong points
against him that he was charged by the
Coroner's jury with murder, and, after a
preliminary trial, was held to appear be-
fore the Superior Court. Reuben II.
Lloyd. who was his counsel, said yester-
day: THAT was my thirteenth and last
murder case, and, while l felt sure that
Bee was innocent, for a time it seemed to
me that while none of the twelve l de-
tended before him had reached the gallows,
he would have to go there"
At the time of this murder there lived
in this city a notorious criminal, Charles
Flynn, known to the authorities all over
the State as Charles Mortimer, and a
woman named Carrie Spencer, who went
by his assumed name. She was passion
ately fond of him, but was insanely ieal-
GUS, often getting into fights with Nor
timer because of his attention to other
women. A few days after the murder
Carrie was arrested and at that time wore
earrings that had been stolen from the
dead woman's ears. On her fingers were
the dead woman's rings. She was placed
in the private part of the old City Prison,
known as the tanks, and occupied cell
next to that in which Bee was imprisoned
Each put their heads through the wicket
and conversed, and among other things
Bee told her that he was innocent and was
almost crazy, but felt sure that the MUIR
derer would be discovered. When she
heard this Carrie almost tainted and dis
continued the conversation. She was re-
leased and shortly after Mortimer was ar
Mary Smith, scarlet woman.
when Carrie became sure that there was
no longer any hope for Mortimer she in
some way dropped hint which came to
the knowledge OF Lloyd, who succeeded in
having the police recover the stolen Jew
elry and sufficient proof to lead to strong
suspicion that Mortimer was the man who
had strangled Caroline Prennel. Morti-
mer in an ante-mortem confession said
that he had followed the woman to her
house under the impression that she had
sum of money which he could secure. He
said that while he was in there Carrie got
into fight with the woman, and when she
fell from the bed put one of her feet on her
neck; that afterward she returned to the
house and stole the jewelry. The post
mortem did not, however, support this
statement, and it was the general belief
that Mortimer strsngled the woman, and
being disappointed because he could not
find the money he expected to secure,
stole her rings and gave them to Carrie,
who was passionately fond of jewelry.
Mortimer was hanged in Sacramento.
The third case was that of Ernestine
Carboniel who was murderously assaulted
on the night of the 9Th of June, 1884, at