The Topeka state journal., 1897-11-09
sroRY OF THE CRIME
For Which Martin Thorn is Now on
Trial.

New York, Nov. 9.-A murder as
shocking in the hendish details OF us
execution, as ever took ulace in the
confines of a. great city was presumably
committed on Friday, June 2oth' IN
lonely cottage at WoOdside, i. l.
William GOldensuppe TURKISH pain
attendant was the victim, and Martin
Thorn. barber, and Augusta Mack; a
midwife stand accused of being MS
1nurderers. The story of the crime
bristles with details of the degeneracy
of human beings. 1t is a tragedy OF
degeneracy the last act Of which IS YET
to come.
manner the general belief in the Wis
dom of the old saying Murder WIN
Out No murder was ever more
carefully planned nor did murderefS
ever take more pains to cover up theF
tracks by effectualy dispOslng OF tne
remains of their victim. Yet WITHIN
twentyfour hours it was known 70 the
that a murder had been committed and
the pursuit of the butchers had peeh
Two of those youths of the lower
East Side of New York who spend their
summer DAYS in the East river or on
the stringpiece of the piers, were the
accidental discOverers of the horrible
crime The boys were John Mcclure
and James MsKenna. They were pre-
pairing for their afternoon DIP June
27th at the foot of East 11th street
when the sight of rather Stfange
looking bundle floating with the Tue
bastened their movements In a mo-
ment they were in the water and tow
ing the bundle in shore. Once back
on the dock the boys lost no time IN
cutting the stout cord which was
wound around their prize and undOlnS
the roll of OilclOth which formed the
outer covering. But they had not yet
reached the contents of the bundle
There were still other coverings of hea-
Wy brown paper and cheese cloth. Two
bows worked with their hearts in their
mouths until these had been removed
and then there was a yell of terror
and both lads stood hOrrOr-Str1cken
and speechless. There on the pier lay
the mutilated trunk of a man with the
arms folded across the breast. 1t was
the upper portion of the body from the
hipS to the throat. The arms, strange
" enough had been allowed to remain
but the cutting of the neck and the
trunk had been carefully done FROM
the breast a slice of skin had been re
moved and over the spot the untOrtu-
nate mans arms had ben placed as II
TO conceal it. The boys were quickly
surrounded by a surging mass OF peo-
pie who were anxious to view the
gruesome find and then the police
At first it was considered that some
medical student had played grim Joke
at the expense of the sensibihtles OF
the general public but cOrOners ply
sician, after a curSOry examination,
settled the discussion, as to the proba-
biIities and possibilities of the affair,
by declaring that undoubtedly a muir
der had been committed. Then there
was a genuine sensation. Death, ac-
cording to the cOrOner'S physician, had
resulted from a stab wound inflicted
with long knife which had penetrated
the heart The knife had also been
driven through the left shoulder into
the lung. Thinking people as welI as
the detectives, asked themselves
What had become of the other portion
of the body?" But nobody had any
idea as to where an answer would
come from. The tide might make a
rrnr aT-1I q
would would find the missing portions
on the bottom of the river. Before
anything could be done in the dragging
line, another discovery was made
which further deepened the mystery,
but afterwards aided materially in un-
ravelling it. On Sunday morning,
June 9th, a man and two boys while
picking berries in Ogden woods near
Washington bridge, in the far northern
part of the city many miles from East
11th street, found a bundle which was
similar to that picked up the day be-
fore in the East river. The three had
read the account of the peculiar bundle
picked up by the swimmers and imme-
diately notified the police, to whom
they said the newly found package
might contain another part of the body
and in a minute the correctness of
their suspicious were proven. In oil
cloth, brown paper and cheese cloth
was wrapped the lower half of a. mans
trunk. 1t was the half missing from
the East river find.
belong2 What was it's owner in life?
Who was the murdered man? Who
were his murderers? For one person
alone was not concerned in it. Those
were questions to be answered by the
detective force but from the chief to
the humbleSt member it was simply a
case of blank amazement and absolute
Incompetence even to make a begin
ming of unravelIing the terrible mys-
terry. The head and legs were still
missing, thus seemingly rendering it
impossible to establish the dead mans
identity. The head is still missing but
the body has been identified and the
mystery unravelled thanks, not to the
police but to the keen and smart work
of New York newspaper reporters.
Various seni-identifications were made
but hour by hour the case seemed to
grow more and more hopeless. Then
reporter got the idea that the man in
life. judging from his hands. was