The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-16
KNIFE IN VOEPEL HOUSE GONE
A MEAT CLEAvER, WITH v ON
THE HANDLE.

,.v.no,a soo of Murdered widow Ad-
u,t, He Had Quarreiled with ana
struok his Mother Admirers All Ac-
counted For and Tie Cues
The Detectives on the case Of Mrs. voepel.
the oomelv widow who was found brutally
murdered In her apartments at the corner
Of Christopher and Hudson streets about
10 o'clock on Friday morning, are taking
a renew cd interest in the se~veDteen-year-
old son Of the dead woman and her only
child.
Notwithstanding the clear and apparently
straightforward story he told Capt. Martens
of the Charles street station yesterday,
rnere was much In the youths manner
that was calculated to create an unfavor-
able Impression. His faoo Is sullen and
lowering and he showed an utter lnok oil
feeling, let alone grief. at his mothers
death.
The first inquiry young Voepel made
after being released on Friday afternoon
was about his mothers life Insurance.
He wanted to know all about how and when
he could collect IL. The amount involved
Ia small. but young Voepel said he was
anxious TO get the cash TO pay the funeral
expenses. For a bov OF his age and under
the circumstances In which he was placed
he displayed q business alertness that
was marvellous.
But the circumstances that gave the
police q new interest In him yesterday
we're OF a moro precise character than
mere manifestation OF apparent heart
lessness. The first Of these came In q
story brought TO Capt. Martens by the
conductor Of the Christopher street car
which passes the newsstand kept by Mrs.
Voepel as well as the door on the Chris
topher street side leading 70 the apart
ments where the murder was committed,
The conductor said that as he was pass
ing the house some time after the crime
was discovered one OF his passengers, a
man, asked what the crowd meant The
conductor told him OF the murder and
sho wed him the little newsstand which
Mrs. Voegel had kept. AT this the pas
senger said that he had bought a paper
there that very morning at about O'Clock,
that he had bought IL Of young Voepel
and that the youth was trembling 80 vio-
lently and seemed so agitated that he.
the passenger, had asked II he was III,
to which the boy replied that there was
nothing the matter with him. Capt. Mar
tens. when he heard this, started deteo-
tives out TO look for this witness.
One OF the detectives who is working on
the case has known the Voepels for several
years and was well acquainted with the
boys father, who died six years ago. The
father had been a butcher and the deteo-
tive knew Of a certain butcher knife with
the initial v. out In the handle which the
elder Voepel had owned and which after
his death was used by the family TO cut
bread with. He asked the boy yesterday
what had become Of It.. The boy said II
was In its place with the other knives In
the kitchen. The detective insisted Oh
the boy going with him 10 find 1t and he
did so. but the knife could not be- found.
The detectives are still looking for 1t and
one OF the places they will search Is the
sewer catch basin at the corner Of Chris
topher and Hudson streets near the news
stand and near the street entrance 70 the
Noepsl apartments.
The autopsy revealed that the hacking
and slashing of the defenceless woman
were even more horrible than at first indi-
Gated. Instead OF eighteen wounds, as
was reported yesterday, there were twenty
four. One Of the hands was nearly SOW
cred.
Young voepel denied -toutly until YES
terday that he had ever quarrelled wit
his mother. Unde the pressing OF de-
~tectives yesterday forenoon he admitted
that he had quarrelled with her and that
He explained that he did this because he
was 'mad at her He further admitted
that he had struck her before when she
nagged him-that when she struck him
he struck back.
One object Of the boys visit 10 the sta
ton yesterday, the captain said, was to
find " among his mothers papers, now
in the possession Of the police, there was
a deed for her cemetery lot. The deed
was not found, only a card indicating the
number Of the lot.
The body Of the murdered woman lay
In Charles C. Asmussen's undertaking shop
at s55 Blocker street last night and will
be buried to-day.
1t Is the opinion Of several OF the nelghbors
that the woman met her death at the hands
Of some OF the several admirers she had.
The police ran down several OF these yes
terday. among them an elderly gentleman
who Is said to have been Interested in the
buxom widow. They all accounted for
themselves satisfactorily. Capt. 1itus's
men also ran down n picture seller said to
have been In the house of the crime on
Friday but convinced themselves that he
was entirely clear from suspicion.
TIL only possible clues TO his Identity
the murderer left behind him are the four
in-hand black silk craVat found in the dead
woman's hand and a button found on the
foor near her body. The button Is of
English make covered with some kind of
fine cloth, and with a rather peculiar eyelet
fastening In the back. II may have been
torn from the assailant's clothing during
the struggle and il may have been lost by
some one Of the many people who we're in
the fiat after the murder was discovered.
The detectives believe that there are as
good reasons for thinking that the cravat
wac placed Ia the woman's hand as there
are for the assumption that she tore IL from
her assailant's neck. 1t looked as though
it had been creased over the knife blade
after tho manner Of a pen wiper, to wipe
away the blood.
Capt. Martens IL now Inclined TO believe
that the women was first stabbed in the
breast while lying on the bed, that she then
rolled on the floor ard was there finished
with a furious rain of knife blows in the back.
This theory involves the assumption that
the overturned chair and the torn window
shade we're deliberately arranged after
the murder 70 give the appearance OF a
struggle.
About Mrs. voepel's attractive appear
ance and her readiness 10 hiTt mildly with
customers and others there are no two
opinions, but beyond this there is not a
word against her character. She seems to
be spoken of with respect and friendliness