Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-09-19
"a 60. ..l@S . !. sSsz.8 4
A \. QUEER CASE

=. QUEEk CAo''E'
r. ..' tOrig1nal.1 -- ~
1t was a hot evening and 4: deter
mined. to take a stroll In the park. I
eauntered about aimlessly, looking at
tsother saunterers and: putting Agar.
while night was giving place to twi-
Tight. Noticing crowd collected near
pne OF the little thickets with which the
park abounds, went to see what at
4racted it. Pushing my way forward,
saw young woman lying on her
back, pale and rigid. She had just been
discovered in the thicket, dead. She
had been murdered.
The moment I looked at her it
: seemed that 1 had seen her before.
Indeed, the face was quite familiar.
? Nevertheless I could not connect her
features with those of any human be-
ing I had ever known.
I had been travelling in Europe short
" before this, and had left my family
In Florence, Italy. One day received
from my daughter one Of the pictorial
postal cards SO much used abroad, and
what was my establishment to see ON it
the picture Of the girl who had been
murdered. For awhile I was more
puzzled than ever, but suddenly it &C.
-curred to me that it was the picture
on the postal card that had seen be-
Tore, and not the girl herself. While
In Florence had written several mes
oages on these cards.
expected to go over soon to bring
my family home. l therefore went to
the superintendent Of police and told
him of the matter, offering to investi-
gate it when in Italy. He ava1led him
self of my services, informing me, by
the way, that he had no clew to the
murderer, since the woman had only
no one in this country seemed to have
any motive for killing her.
As soon as l reached Florence went
10 the place where the postal card was
made and after a good deal Of invest1-
CATION was informed that the picture
was that Of a young italian girl who
had been selected from a number OF
competitors to sit as a model for a pic
ture to adorn the card. That Is air the
Information got from the card manu-
facturers, but the police soon found. out
Tor me that the girl was Liza Maron1,
oe Signora Andriano, she having mar
T1ed Andriano soon after having her
picture placed on the postal card. It
was reported that her husband had
treated her badly and she had left him.
This was as far as the Italian police
Investigations carried the case Signora
Andriano was not in Florence, but as to
where she was there was no informa-
ton. Andriano also had left the city
some time after the departure Of his
wife, and his whereabouts were not
known. The most valuable thing OBJ
tanned In this connection was q photo
graph of Andriano which was found in
the possession of one Of his friends to
whom the police went for information.
The photograph was given to me for
the chief Of police in New York.
When l returned to America I called
on the superintendent, gave him what
Information I had collected and the
photograph. He thanked me, remark
Ing at the same time, IF the man is in
America we shall find him."
He had a number Of copies made of
tho photographs which he gave to per-
eons who we've instructed to look
among the Italians in New York He
also sent the copies to the superin-
tendents of police in different cities.
Six months later the superintendent of
police in Philadelphia wrote that one
of his agents had discovered a man
whose face was identical with the pho
tOgraph, but the name was not the
same.
The case progressed no further for q
long while. The man was watched,
but no suspicious circumstances no.
dced. He was dealer in Italian table
oils and wine and of good standing
among the Italian colony of the Quaker
City. He had been recently married,
and by getting the date it was found
that the wedding took place three
weeks after the murder Of the woman
whose picture graced the postal card.
The police instructed the letter carrier
who brought the suspected man his
letters to watch for mail sent to him
under another Lame than the one he
bore. For nearly year no suspicious
letter came, when at last the postman
reported one addressed to the street
and number bearing the name of An
driano. The letter was opened and
found to be from a mother to her son.
The police now considered that they
were we'll on the track of the murderer.
They waited awhile for more points,
then concluded to arrest the man. They
were too late. The bird had flown. He
and his wife had locked up their house
and gone away in the night.
One morning, taking up my newspa-
Per. read that Philippe Vertuci, an
italian, had died the previous day and
ON his deathbed confessed that he had
killed a woman who had been some
time before found murdered in Gen.