Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-07-30
JOSIE BENNETT.

Der &c. A neighbor passing the house
at o'clock in the morning, noticed that
the lights we're out. Early in the morn
ing of September o. DeMaudy found
the woman dead. The body lay upon
the bed, with the upturned face and
bosom covered with bruises. When at
last the woman became unconscious
the stranger searched through the
drawers of her bureau until he found
an old cloth which he twisted into a
rope and tied with deathly tightness
around her neck. Whether he remain
ed to listen to her expiring heart beats,
or to watch the transition from I'M
consciousness to death, was never
known.
The next victim was Marie Contas-
soft, woman of the same stamp. She
was last seen alive at 1870 a. m. on Oc-
tober 20. When they next saw her, she
was lying on her bed, in her night
gown, with pillow over her face. Upon
removing the pillow, it was seen that
the woman had been strangled, first by
mans fingers, and then by a small
cord, tightly tied around her neck. She
had been a woman of slight physique,
and the stranger had had no difficulty
in silencing her, for there was not
the slightest sign of struggle. Many
arrests were made, but no evidence
could be found against any of the pris-
oners. The wretched denizens of the
street were almost paralyzed with ter
ror They could not fly, for they had
no other home. Dumbly, they waited,
wondering who the next victim would
be. They had not long to wait. Six
teen days later, at 2 o'clock in the
morning, Kiku Oyama, a young Jap
anese girl who had come to Denver
from the Worlds fair, was found stran-
gled in her room, at No. 1867 Market
street. She too, had struggled in the
murderers grasp and had compelled
him to exert all his force. He had
found it necessary to encircle her throat
with both his hands and press her
head against the edge Of the bed with
such force as to make deep bruise
in the center of her forehead. When
she became unconscious, he took a
Turkish towel and twined it tightly
around her neck.
For several months after that every
house on Market street was carefully
watched, and every man who came and
went was under the surveillance of the
police. But there was no longer need
of his zeal. The stranger had left
Denver, For nearly year, he remain
ed quiet The theory has been advanc-
ed that this man belonged to the criR-
inal class, and that his months Of quiet
ness were spent in prison for other
offenses. In December of 1895, he turn
ed up in San Francisco, where, on the
22d, he strangled Jessie Williams. This
murder and the two that followed 1t
within three months are still fresh in
the minds of all newspaper readers,
and it is unnecessary to go into the de-
tails. Nor is it necessary to do more
than refer to the strangling Of Mary
Cunningham and the Boston woman,
both of them crimes without motive
and similar, in almost every detail, to
those described above. Enough has
been shown to demonstrate the fact
that all these crimes have sufficient
points in common to afford ground for
the conclusion that they are the work
of the same hand.
Whether the stranger who is still at
large, is mailman, irresponsible for
his outbursts of insanity, or whether he
belongs to that class of perverts that
find delight in the shedding Of innocent
blood, no one can say. He is : danger
Gus man, and 1t is devoutly to be hoped
that he will never be heard Of again.
10, rnAhnunA