The Penn's Grove record., 1897-11-12

Woman AccbmpIice Tells in Court How
Thorn Murdered GueIdensuppe.
A SENSATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

Crowds BesiSr the Queens County Court
House toAHeur the Story of the uor-
rIble DeAi-To Save Her Own Life
Mrs. Nack Betrays Her Partner
in crinse-Turns States Evidence.
NEW YoRi Cry Special -Goaded by
terror and temorse, Mrs. Augusta Mack
went upon the witness stand in the Queens
County County Court House at Long Isl
and City and confessed that she and Martin
Thorn together had plotted the death of
William Gueldensuppe, the Turkish bath
attendant, who disappeared IN June "a
last; that she lnred him to the place fixed
upon for his assassination aud there waited
until the deed was done; that, with her
accomplish. who had d~ismembered tho
body, she helped to dispose of the dreadful
evidence of the crime.
1t was an intensely dramatic recital-be-
gun in ealmness, and ending In frenzy.
Step by step the wretched woman told Of
the proposition made by Thorn that Guel-
densuppe should be slain, OF her horror
stricken rejection, OF the constant persua-
sion and her final yielding, and the prepa-
rations for accomplishment and conceal
mont. As she went on, Mrs. Mack raised
her voice, until at last her phlegmatic, i'm
perturbable nature could stand 1t no longer,
and she almost shrleked, II am glad this
day has come. | am here before the peo-
pie and before my God. ] free m y con.
science"
Her face became eontorted. and down
her cheeks rolled scalding tears. Sobs
convulsed her, and for Il moment she could
not speak. Then, looking up, she con-
tinued: 'No matter what comes of this;
no matter what hangs over my head. I
don't care what happens to me; they can
hang, they can kill. l tell all"
Martin Thorn, the prisoner at the bar,
was sitting ~sphynx-like when Mrs. Mack
entered the court room. His usually pale
face became paler still as she advanced to
the witness stand, but the only other sign
of emotion he showed was n convulsiye
movement Of the throat and q moistening
Of 1.-THE thin lips. He seemed to be making
a desperate effort to attract Mrs. Nack'sa at
t%ention, but her eyes never once looked into
his. Showily dressed in silk, and with a
ilchu of lace about her throat, she took her
place in the witness chair, and began the
story OF her life from the timc of her mar
riage in Germany up to her meeting with
G~ueldensuppe. and later with Thorn in this
country and the awful events that followed.
TIL woman was IN the stand about four
hours. The other witnesses of the day
were mostly men who knew Gueldensuppe
and who had identified the parts of the
body. The owner OF the house ut Wood
side testified to renting the house to Thorn
under the name of +. Braun, and said that
Thorn introduced Mrs. Mack as Mrs.
Braun. He identified Thorn and Mrs. Mack
In court.
Mrs, Nack's confession necessitated n rad
Teal change in the lines OF Thorn's defense.
William T.. Howe, his counsel, began by
denying that Gueldensuppe had been killed
or that there was any conclusive evidence
onthe subject. Upon hearing Mrs. Nack's
story he abandoned this theory. He had n
long, earnest consultation with Thorn, who
gave an entirely new version Of the affair,
insisting hat the woman had killed Guel-
densuppe with her own han and began to
hack him to pieces before life was extinct.
Thora's-trial. was adjourned late in the
afternoon on account Of the sudden illness
Of Magnus Larsen, one of the jurors.