Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-20
THE uRrDaEpORr MYSTERY.

name has been Coupled with what APP
pears TO have been one OF the most afro
cIous murders of recent years., The story
OF the whole affair. from start to finish,
has been ghoullsh, and although the cur
tain has fallen on one act Of the bloody
tragedy. there Is still profound mystery
TO be solved.
Some days ago several small boys.
! while playing near Yellow Mill Pond,
| on the suburbs of Bridgeport, Conn,
| discovered the remains of a woman who
had evidently been chopped up by some
| person. more or less skilled in surgery
| or. hatchery. rather. The disjecta mem
| bra were scattered over n considerable
| area and the head. when found. was
| completely severed from the body. All
| the parts-seven in number-were not
| discovered at once, but they were ulti-
mately taken from the water, put to-
gether. and placed on exhibition for iden-
LITIGATION.
IL was the theory of the physicians and
police that the unfortunate woman
whoever she may have been-had sub
mitted to an unlawful operation and
that the person performing it was respon-
sibIe for serious results. To hide this, II
was supposed that the disreputable ope-
rator had either murdered his victim and
dismembered her, or that after her death
from the operation the body had
been mutiated in the manner described.
Indeed, there was a mark on one Of the
cloths covering a portion Of the woman,
which pointed to a certain person, noto-
riously guilty of malpractice, as the per-
Detrator of the crime.
The mystery was discussed far and
wide and detectives. criminal experts,
and reporters Wed with one another IN
seeking clues. Millions OF people read
about the supposed murder and thou
sands viewed the body. The corpse was
identified as that of FIVE different persons.
Among those supposed to be a victim of
the homicide was Grace Perkins. AL
though her parents are respectable peo-
pie of good standing, there were unplea-
SAINT rumors about the young woman.
appeared from home. AS her where
abouts were unknown, her relatives, on
hearing of the murder, became apprehen-
sive. Finally, Frank Perkins, the father
Of Grace, determined to visit the morgue
and view the seven pieces of lifeless flesh
which once had been a healthy young
woman He made a careful examination,
and finally concluded, beyond doubt.
that the corpse was that OF his daughter.
He identified her by chcken-pox mark
over an eyebrow. and by the teeth. Nr. |
Perkins said that Grace had had some
teeth filled and that two were missing |
from the lower Jaw. The mouth of the |
dead woman corresponded exactly TO this |
description.
To make the identification positive, II |
detail the work he had done for Grace, |
and after no had finished the morgue- |
keeper told him that he had described |
exactly the condition of the teeth Of the |
murdered woman.
And so, in view Of these facts the Coro-
to Mr.. Perkins to be taken home for /
burial He left with it on the afternoon
train, but upon reaching Bridgeport he
found bis daughter alive and well, al
though an open grave awaited her sup
posed remains. The family refuse to say
where Marian has been, but 1t is gem
orally supposed she had been on trip
and had married the young man with
whom her name was associated.
This remarkable case is but one of
many involving mistaken identity In
deed. in almost every instance where an
corpse is found, there is some
person who at first recognizes it, but is
forced, by overwhelming
to confess his error
Parents often commit such blunders.
This is well instanced by the fact that
in the Bridgeport case the woman's corpse
was identified as that of five diff
fercnt persons. Mrs. Stamford of
Pa, positively asserted that
he body was that of her daug 1ter,
but her claims appear to have been
tuaNhis NiSNiNuieNN ny AAi'Ht VI NIL itI- |
kins.
The most peculiar part about these mis-
takes is the fact that in almost every
Ease the erring persons really have good
reasons to justify their conclusions. They
ire led astray rather by condolences than
ack OF penetration.
The famous Cluverius case, which has
so dark a place in the criminal history
If Virginia, furnished several examples
If this tendency towards installing the
IDENTIFY Of the dead, and so also did the
letter Phillips case.
Strange 20 say, the remains of women
always appear 10 give more trouble in
his respect than those of men. 1t may
,e, however. that they attract more Of
public attention, and thus increase the
hances for blunders.
= |
'While there was not even n remote
digestion at the meeting of the session
4 Or. Halls successor, the feeling in the {