The times., 1897-09-27
Preparing for the Trials of Mrs.
Mack and Thorn.
EVIDENCE SEEMS CONCLUSIVE
The Links in the Chnin Which the
Prosecuting Attorney Thinks VIII
Bind the Accused to the Electric
Cilnir-The One Weak spot in the
States Case.

found floating in the East River early In
the summer there seemed very little like
lihood that it would ever be positively
Identified. Other portions Of the body
were discovered but the head was miss
ing, and 1t has not yet been located, The
police promptly surmised that medical
students had tried to dispose Of cadaver
in this unusual manner. Reporters soon
learned that the body OF well-developed
man had regular market value in this
city and that no person with much knowl
edge OF surgery could have welded the
knife. Still, as there was no better ex
planation at hand, the police clung to
this theory.
The mystery was unsolyed and seemingly
impcnetraplc. The first clews proved value
less, and investigation seemed To have no
other Result than q waste of time, IL ap-
peared most likely that the perpetrators
of an awful crime would escape punish
ment.
william Guldensuppe, a rubber. employed
In a Turkish bath on West Forty-second
street, had been missing for several days,
and spme Of his friends called at the
morgue and identified the headless trunk.
They declared that they could not be
mistaken, as the marks on his body and
legs were as familiar to them Us his
features
II was known to his associates that he
had spent much Of his time when not at
work in the company of Mrs. Augusta Mack,
a midwife, who had an apartment over a
drug store in Ninth avenue, just above
IhiTty-fourth street. The woman became
involved in mesh OF circumstantial evi
dencc and was placed under arrest. a
search was then begun for Martin Thorn,
who was also implicated. He was finally
captured through the disclosures of john
Gutha a barber, whom he had :aken into
his Confidence and who betrayed him to
tie. authorities.
There were many broken links in the
chain Of evidence at the time that the
arrests We're lrade. Many OF the most
important discoveries In the case up To
that time had been made by the news
papers, and Assistant District a ttoTneys
MitCtel and nRosaIsky, who had been
especially assigned td the murder mystery,
decided, with Nj Olcott's approval. to
conceal not hing from the public. Each
fact that came to their knowledge was
divulged to reporFers, whose investiga-
tions gradually brought to light the full
story OF the crime.
Mrs. Mack and Thorn. though originally
indicted it this city, have since been trans
ferTedto Queens codnty, where GuIdeusupre
was killed. Their trial VIII soon begin IN
the stuffy little courtroom in Long Island
CITY, where the accommodations are so
c
ness there will be crsmped for space, and
those who are merely curious, and who
lack pull. need not expect to find stand
ing room.
Fntty-two witnesses were summoned be.
fore the grand jury ten days ago. On
the trial they will all have to undergo ex-
animation, and probably not less than a
score Of others VIII lie called. The proof,
at first So difficult 20 obtain. now seems
complete. Assistant District Attorney
Mitchell says he has never known more
perfect ease for the prosecution, and ne is
convinced that both Mrs Mack and Thorn
V i'll be convicted.
The man has talked the woman, so far
as is known. has not said a single word
that would tend 10 irsplicate her. Conse-
quently, it is believed that Thorn's trial
viii present fewer difficulties than that
of Mrs. Mack. So he will be the first to
face jury. His counsel, the veteran VII.
liam f. Howe, speaks confidently, but
gives no tntimation Of what his defense
will be, The confession made to Gotha
is Of itself damning, and Mr.. Howe viii
have need OF ali his cunning 10 break
its force.
The contention was made in the Luetgert
trial i'll Chicago that the woman supposed
TO have been murdered actuallylives. In the
Guidensuppe case this plea would be hard
10 support. The evidence seems on its
face, absolutely conclusive that the Turk
ish bath rubber was murdered. An alibI
woulG be almost out of the question self
defense would seem far fetched, when every
detail shows that the killing was the result
Of a deliberate plan; mental alteration, that
has been claimedin so many forms when no
other plea was plausible, seems impossible
in ThorDs behalf.
Mr.. Howe vaguely says he homes to
estabIis his clients limo cenee. Mrs.
Nack's lawyers are Friend, House 6
Grossman. They will not have to deter
mine what course they viii! pursue until
they have had the advantage of reading
i
only substantial difference in the trials
will probably be that the mans confess
sion, though 1t inculpates the woman, can
not be used against her.
The only thing that bothers District At
torney Youngs, Of Queens county, is that
practically all his ammunition is known in
advance to the attorneys for the defense,
who are, consequently, in position to make
every preparation to meet it, and in that
respect have an unus ual advantage If the
witnesses for the people have any foibIes
of their own or any pet skeletons that
they desire to hide they are destined to
great unhappiness when they are cross
examined.
Mr. Youngs, who Will conduct the prose
cution, is well equipped with nervous en-
| ergy. IIc has made an excellent record
since he became district attorney, last
January, and he would regard it as a
professional defeat in tie event that he
failed 20 obtain convictions in the Mack
and Thorn cases. He has been in politics
for twenty-five years, and the office he
now holds is not the height of his am.
bition. He Is suave, diplomatic and a
splendid story teller Before Jury he
has the reputation OF being forcefuI anc
impressive, though not particularly mag
netic.
Frederick B. House, who will endeavol
to save Mrs. Nacll's life, is nearly OF
| Mr.. Youngs' build and considerably younger
| than the district attorney. He has tried
some of the most important criminal cases
that have come before the courts of this
city In the la st decade His last memora BILE