New-York tribune., 1901-01-17
BODY IN A TRUNK ON A PIER
HEBREW PEDLER FOUND WITH HIS
THROAT CUT FROM EAR TO EAR.
MOTIVE OF THE CRIME BELIEVED TO HAVE
BEEN ROBBERY-vICTIM CARRIED
JEWELRY WORTH SEVERAL
HUNDRED DOLLARS.

A new murder mystery engaged the attention
of the police of this city yesterday A little be-
; fore noon the body of man whose throat had
/ been cut from to found in old
| trunk pile of skids at the bulkhead of Pier
| No. II, East River. Captain Titus and several
| of the brightest detectives went from Police
Headquarters to work on the case.
In a few hours 1t was known that the murdered
| man was Meyer Weisbard, a Hebrew of mid
| die age who had wife and several children
| living on the East Side OF the city He had been
| employed to peddle jewelry for Sif & Alexan-
| der. of No 2SS Madison-st. He left the store of
| the firm with an assortment of jewelry on Tues
| day morning usucl. He heard of as late
| as that day, going about among his
customers. That he murdered for the jew
/ elry and money, amounting in value to a few
| hundred dollars. which he had with him the
| police have no doubt. The detectives were work
| ing hard last evening trying to discover when
! and where and by whom the man was murdered
| and how his body conveyed to the pier
where 1t was found
| The trunk containing the body of the murdered
| man lay the pier all yesterday morning. Some
| of the Iongshoremen at work on the pier noticed
| it. but no attempt to examine 1t was made until
| the attention of Policeman Reilly. OF the Steam
| boat Squad was called to 1t about noon. The
! trunk was within fifty feet Of the wall Of
the Old Slip Police Station. Two longshoremen,
ignorant OF the nature OF its contents, had sat on
/ the trunk and smoked their pipes serenely half
| an hour before Reilly asked to look at il.
NO MARKS ON THE TRUNK.
| There was no tag or address mark on the
trunk. and nobody could tel! who owned It. 1t
| was an old trunk. and evidently had seen much
service. 1t was painted dark notified green,
! and II seemed TO have lock- 1t tied
! lengthwise and across with long piece of ordi-
! nary cothesline. Reilly cut the rope and opened
! the trunk A crowd of loungers had gathered
| TO witness the opening.
When the lid raised the sight which was
| presented caused every to start back with
! a cry of horror. Lying on its left side, and with
| knees doubled up. the body OF man. the
| upper part completely drenched in blood. The
| trunk and body were at taken TO the Old
| slip police station. Captain Titus, OF the De
| tective Bureau hurried at once 10 the station
| and took charge of the case.
! Marks on the body indicated that the man
| had been beaten badly and probably kicked In
| the stomach before his throat was cut several
| Of his teeth had been knocked out. The body
| had been partly undressed before 1t was placed
! in the trunk His overcoat. coat and waistcoat
| had been stuffed into the trunk about the feet.
| The hat and shoes were missing Underneath the
| hean OF clothing was found what is known as a
| Dewey" tablecloth. 1t is cheap OilclOth. such
as is used to cover kitchen tables. In the centre
! is a small picture representing Admiral Dewey
| standing on the bridge Of the Olympia. The
| bottom of the trunk was blood stained, showing
| that the victim was still bleeding when the
! body was put In.
HAD BEEN ENGAGED IN A STRUGGLE.
The victims overcoat and waistcoat torn.
as though he had been engaged in a struggle.
In one of the pockets of TIE inside coat Cap
tain Titus found several bills and other papers,
from which he got the address of a woman. He
at once sent detectives to her house. In half
an hour cab drove up to the station, and the
/ detectives. accompanied by small sized Hebrew
! woman, hurried into the room where the body
| lay The woman took one glance at the blood
stained features, uttered a faint cry. and then
burst into tears Captain Titus led her into
private room, and twenty minutes later she
went away with the detectives in the cab.
| CAPTAIN Titus then told the name of the muir
! dered man and some of the facts about his en-
poyment. He said he wished the mans address
and the name of the woman who identified the
! body TO he kept from the public for time for
! good reasons.
Il have no hesitation in saying" said the
| Captain, that the motive for this murder was
robbery, pure and simple. Everything OF value
was taker from the victim. l believe that the
crime committed in house-probably
| tenement-and that the murderers knew that
Weisoard carried jewelry about with him. L
! have learned that neither the table cover nor
! the trunk belonged to Wesbard. l have also
ascertained that he left the place where he was
employed at o o'clock yesterday morning and
was seen alive at noon He had 5000 worth of
jewelry with him at the time-watChes. small
diamonds and other articles-which he carried
! in bags. He may also have had some money.
| So far I have been able to learn. he did not
sell his wares along the river front or on ships"
/ IDENTIFIED BY CUSTOMER.
/ CAPTAIN Titus said that the woman who iden-
titled the body had been of his customers.
Il have a complete list of all his customers"
he added. 'and my detectives are at work now
every end of the case
Coroner yucca, who arrived at the station
| about 3 D. m expressed the opinion that the
man had been dead about ten hours. His opin-
! ion was shared by Policeman Jefferson Morrell.
who is detailed at the Morgue. and who probably
has seen more bodies of persons who have died
by violence than any one else in the city Captain
! Titus sent for Morrell, he wished to get his
| opinion as to the time of the murder. The body
was sent to the Morgue and the trunk and cloth
| ing were taken Police Headquarters
While detectives were still making search
! last night in the district in which Weissberger
had peddled jewelry. expecting to trace his
movements on Tuesday and find the place of the
murder, other detectives were trying to ind
persons who had the trunk carried TO the
pier c. o. Roberts, cook on schooner, saw
a wagon go the pier and turn about late
Tuesday night There were two men in the
wagon. he said.
The presence of Captain McClusky. the former
chief of detectives at Police Headquarters soon
after the report of the murder mystery was
spread. caused report that he had been sum
moned to give advice. The report annoyed Cap
tain Titus, who said he did not need McClusky's
aid in the
! Captain Titus last night held forty Of his men
at his offlce In case of emergency by y O'Clock
about half of them had gone out probably to
look up ends Of the murder mystery. The Cap
tain said he did not expect 10 leave Headquar-
! ters for twenty-four hc'sTs. and added that he
4ax.~ tL 5arSarl